Reportedly, singer David Bowie smoked a super powerful type of cigar. Was he putting his life more at risk?
With the recent news of David Bowie’s death at the age of 69, due to liver cancer , we can’t help but wonder if he had anything to do with the time he smoked .
It is said that during the 70’s, Bowie smoked Gitanes, a brand of strong French cigarettes , and then switched to Marlboro Lights before quitting in 2002.
We’re not sure why he switched to smoking light cigarettes , but if he looked like the average smoker , he would most likely think he was doing his body a favor.
In fact, according to a 2009 Pittsburgh University study, 51% of smokers who switched to light cigarettes did so thinking they were less harmful.
UNFORTUNATELY, THAT’S NOT THE CASE
? There are many studies that indicate that ? Light? Cigars ? or? ultralight? Are they the same or more harmful than normal ?, says Michael Fiore, director of the Tacabo Research Center at the University of Wisconsin.
For example, in 2004, a study by the American Cancer Society found that men who smoked these types of cigarettes were as likely to die of lung cancer , as those who smoked normal cigarettes . More recently, Turkish researchers determined that light cigarettes impair the vascular function of the heart as much as normal ones.
When measured with a machine that mimics the smoking process , the? Light? Cigars and? ultralight? They had less tar and sometimes less nicotine than normal ones. Therefore, many people believe they are safer cigars.
However, the smoking machine cannot predict how much of the harmful chemicals a real smoker will inhale . This, because humans inhale smoke differently than the machine.
Even worse, people who smoke cigarettes ? Light? and? ultralight? They tend to compensate for this by smoking differently to maintain a comfortable level of nicotine in the body, says Fiore.
So they may find themselves taking longer and deeper inhalations and keeping smoke in their mouths for longer.
As a result, people who smoke this type of cigar end up consuming the same or more toxins, explains Fiore.
That is one of the reasons why in 2009, tobacco companies in the United States were banned from using the words? Light? and? ultralight? in their products.
Because of this, tobacco companies simply renamed their products. For example, the Marlboro Lights are now called Marlboro Gold.
In most cases, the color of the packaging is the same, so that consumers can easily find their favorites. In fact, a 2013 Harvard University study revealed that after the ban, 92% of smokers said they continue to easily identify their favorite brand and 68% were able to correctly name the type of cigar they consume based only on The color of the packaging.
So it is possible that smokers continue to consume these types of cigarettes (even with the external image change) thinking that they are healthier (or less harmful, to be exact).
Here is a relentless fact:? Smoking kills half the people who do it daily prematurely ?, says Fiore.
This bad habit increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, respiratory problems and, of course, cancer .
Surely you associate smoking with lung cancer (you are certainly correct, since 90% of cases of this disease are related to tobacco ) but it is definitely not the only discomfort you may suffer.
THERE IS NO “SAFE” CIGAR ON THE MARKET.
In fact, liver cancer , which they reported as the cause of David Bowie’s death, can be attributed to the cigar . According to a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, smokers are 51% more likely to suffer from this type of cancer (liver) than non- smokers .
It is important to note that the 6 thousand chemicals and 50 carcinogens, contained in tobacco smoke , affect your entire body by inhaling them, not just your respiratory system, says Fiore.
“Everything that these carcinogens touch, they damage,” he adds. They are absorbed by your bloodstream and travel throughout your body. They pass through the liver and pancreas, where they can cause cancer ; by the bone marrow, where they can cause leukemia and other types of cancer ; and are expelled by the kidneys, causing kidney or bladder cancer.
In conclusion: There is no “safe” cigar on the market, explains Fiore.
Leaving it is difficult, but it is the best option you have to protect your body. Ten years after quitting smoking , the risk of dying from lung cancer is reduced by half that of a smoker. And 15 years later, the risk of heart disease becomes the same as that of a person who has never smoked, according to the American Cancer Society.