People who smoke pipes or cigars often claim that it is less harmful than normal cigarettes. Well, this assumption is based on old studies, which is nothing but a myth, and it does not stand out with the recent research. Additionally, pipe tobacco also contains nicotine, which makes you more addicted to smoking, just like cigarettes.
Moreover, smoking pipes can cause the same health risks, which include adolescent brain development and blood clotting. So, let’s explore the effect of pipe tobacco on our body and its potential health-related issues.
How Pipe Tobacco Can Affect Your Health? Health Effects And Cancer Concerns
Pipe tobacco is prepared with the loose leaf of tobacco that is dried till it becomes brown. It may take several days and weeks to achieve the results that contain very low sugar and high nicotine. Now, people who smoke well know that these dried leaves are burned in smoldering hardwood fire.
At first time, it seems very healthy for an individual as it doesn’t have any sugar content. Additionally, people claim that it doesn’t have the additive chemicals that cigarettes have, and hence it is safe. At the same time, you have to note that tobacco pipes contain nicotine, which can boost your brain to crave more for smoking.
Though this tobacco is grown and processed naturally, researchers have still found content of heavy metals like lead and cadmium. Additionally, pipe tobacco can produce some harmful chemicals like tar and monoxide when burned. You will be shocked to know that tobacco contains more than 70 carcinogens, which can potentially cause deadly diseases like cancer.
These harmful chemicals are prone to damage your liver, lungs, and even your head and neck. So the question here arises: is it still safer than smoking cigarettes, or may it cause more harm?
Which Can Cause More Harm To Your Body? Pipe Tabacco Vs Cigarettes
Pipe smokers also argue that they smoke occasionally, and hence, their health is not at risk. But the fact is, whether you smoke a cigar once a day or within two to three days, it can’t decrease the risk of cancer. Though the process of harming your body can be slower than that of a cigarette smoker, it is still not zero.
The researchers have also found that a pipe can contain half-ounce of tobacco, which is equivalent to an entire pack of cigarettes. In addition to this, a single piece of cigar has almost 100 to 200 milligrams of nicotine, which is much more than 8 milligrams of normal cigarettes. Therefore, pipe smokers are keener on nicotine and have a greater risk of oral cancer.
However, they claim that they are not addicted to the pipe as compared to cigarette smokers; still, they consume more carcinogens. As a result, their lungs and liver get affected, which turn into deadly diseases like cancer. In this regard, we can conclude that cigars or pipe tobacco are not less harmful than cigarettes.
Effects of Smoking Pipes and Cigars
Smoking cigars, pipes, or even cigarettes can make you inhale 70 types of harmful chemicals that can potentially cause cancer. When you breathe the smoke, all these substances travel through your bloodstream to various parts of the body. This chemical can potentially damage your DNA, which can slow down the production of new cells.
After reaching the specific points, your DNA stops producing cells or might produce them differentially, which ultimately harms different organs. As a result, the damaged organs are unable to heal themselves, which can cause incurable diseases like cancer. The same thing is applied to the secondhand smoker, too, and in fact, it is more harmful than the potential smoker.
Talking about the incurable disease caused by pipe tobacco it can cause damage your mouth, lungs, and liver. Hence, smoking pipes can damage the lungs, the organ which is made to inhale oxygen. Cigar smokers are also at high risk of mouth cancer, which can lead to lips as well where pipe steam rests.
Additionally, smoke from tobacco can also damage the lever cells, which is again incurable. Apart from that, it may also cause your throat, including your voice box and esophagus, which can potentially lead to the risk of strokes. Therefore, it is essential to quit smoking whether you are habitual of cigarette, pipe, or any type of tobacco consumption.
What Are The Potential Ways To Quit Smoking?
Till now, you might have understood how smoking can cause cancer and even death. You know very well that tobacco contains nicotine, which increases the craving for smoking with time. Therefore, it is not easy to quit smoke as compared to alcohol or any other type of harmful substances.
Still, it is not impossible to quit smoking; you just need to make a little effort and have patience. To help you out, we have provided effective tips to leave pipe tobacco smoking forever.
- First of all, you need to identify the thing that triggers you to smoke, which can be a time, place, or even a person who prologue to smoke.
- Second, start avoiding those symptoms that increase your craving.
- Try a 21 to 30-day challenge of not smoking because it takes almost a month to develop a new habit.
- You can also ask for the support of your family, friends, and even your co-workers.
- Involve more in physical activities and follow a balanced diet to get relief from stress.
Following these steps can help you improve your lifestyle and even decrease the risk of various other diseases.
Final Words
No matter you smoke cigarettes or pipe tobacco, they can cause deadly diseases like cancer. Don’t be a myth that smoking pipes is less harmful may decrease the risk of harmful effects on your body. Tobacco contains almost 72 chemicals that can damage the DNA, which is responsible for producing new cells in your body.
Therefore, it is better to quit smoking and start living a healthy life by involving in physical activities and following a healthy diet. You can get help from your friends and family and even consult your doctor for better advice.
References
- O’Connor RJ. (2012). Non-cigarette tobacco products: What have we learned and where are we headed?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3716250/ - U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (1964). Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. Washington, DC: The U.S. Government Printing Office.
https://www.unav.edu/documents/16089811/16155256/Smoking+and+Health+the+Surgeon+General+Report+1964.pdf - Cancer. (2023).
https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/
