My girlfriend has threatened to break up with me several times now unless I cut down to a pack a week. I’m not addicted but it does help me get through my day. I keep trying to tell her that but she doesn’t believe me and keeps saying that it’s actually bad. I want to prove to my girlfriend that smoking cigarettes is actually good for you so that she can stop judging me over it but I can’t find any info online to back that up. Can anyone help me find some resources that list the health benefits of cigarettes? Like how nicotine kills germs or anything like that?

      • livus@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        From their link:

        Important note: smoking may offer a limited degree of protection in some individuals against the development of a small number of diseases, outlined below.

        However, this information is of little relevance to public health, given that the amount of disease that tobacco may be said to prevent is insignificant in comparison with the far greater incidence of disease caused by smoking. Tobacco products kill one in two of their long-term users.

        Why don’t you just get the health benefits in other ways that don’t include cancer?

        Nicotine patches are better than cigarettes and vaping.

          • livus@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Sorry, I didn’t realise the situation was so bad there.

            Here in New Zealand nicotine patches are free to anyone who wants to quit smoking.

            Tobacco on the other hand is highly taxed so it costs around $50 for a pack of 25 cigarettes. (USD$31)

            • sighup@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              yeah the healthcare system in the united states is so messed up, I’m praying every day for a single payer system but americans hate healthcare I guess.

              • safetyvestcoloredcat@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Healthcare in the US is absolutely bonkers. Here in the UK I’ve paid 0 (!) quids for my lung transplant. They only required me to take a break from smoking for about 6 months (that sucked, lol).

              • livus@kbin.social
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                1 year ago

                Sorry, that must be hard. You’re in such a wealthy country but not everyone in it gets to benefit from that, when it comes to healthcare.

                That said, I don’t really agree with the high taxes on tobacco here. It’s an addictive substance, and the massive costs help fuel poverty. I think it should be prescription only instead.

              • NotOverSeether@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                get near instant access and treatment

                allowed to pay more for better services

                THIS IS THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD

                How clueless can you get?

                The only advantage to single-payer system is further encouraging fat people to get fatter. I’ve seen so many fat people clamor for this policy, it’s ridiculous.

      • Uphillbothways@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You’re welcome.

        I quit after over 20 years. It was really, really hard. I still crave them. Won’t start again, just because quitting was so incredibly difficult. But, yeah. I, uh, think about it… Both sides of it.

        Be aware, I cherry picked the information you had asked for from a much larger work. Just “Chapter 3 - The health effects of active smoking” has 37 sections. Everyone but the one I linked above has a list of negative effects. Have a look at the rest of it, too.

        Chapter 3 Index: https://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-3-health-effects

        Don’t just confirm your biases. Look at the whole picture.

        Wish you the best.

      • Sentrovasi@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        When presenting the information to your girlfriend, please be completely honest and make sure to also show the Important Note that the researchers put at the front.

        Important note: smoking may offer a limited degree of protection in some individuals against the development of a small number of diseases, outlined below. However, this information is of little relevance to public health, given that the amount of disease that tobacco may be said to prevent is insignificant in comparison with the far greater incidence of disease caused by smoking. Tobacco products kill one in two of their long-term users.

        Half of long-term smokers die to smoking. Even if you think you can quit, the point of this study is to show that even having looked for benefits, they could only find a negligible amount of benefits compared to the harms of smoking.

      • WookieMunster@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Seriously tho, you just want/hope to find something that justifies you continuing smoking. The truth is, you have to stop. No kind of smoke is good for the lungs; cigs, weed, vape, etc. Stop before it’s too late, and it’s not just cancer that can kill you