Science Forums 2

[HydrogenBond]

In my experience, smoking helps to reduce anxiety. But on the other hand, the habit of needing to smoke partially creates the anxiety that the smoking will help to reduce. In other words, when it is time to smoke, the body will start to get anxious for a cigarette. The cigarettes cures it own anxiety induction. That is why when people quit they feel better, with less anxiety that the urge to smoke often created.

What we need to do is take a more expansive look at the data. Most of the medical problems due to smoking takes decades to develop. An interesting data plot would be adverse smoking related health inductions as a function of years smoking. The first year has much less risk than year thirty. Someone who smokes for one year may not show any significant change. Or their change could be similar to someone living where there is urban smog for a decade or less.

Another useful plot would be the affect of quitting smoking as a function of years one smokes. If quitting helps to reverse the affect, than a dual graph could show the maximum number of years one can smoke, quit and have minimal long term risk. This data could be useful for those who insist on smoking. It gives them a window for having some fun before they create higher risk for themselves. Then they are on their own. This is better science since it increases the number of possible parameters and allows some individuality and choice during low risk years.

Right now the science is more sophomoric. It does not even address the parameters of minimum risk smoking, which could advance the science to junior level. Senior level would be assessing individuals to determine the variable window. There are those who smoked for 30-50 years quit and live to life expectancy. This type of data is not fully addressed by the current approach. It would take an advancement into objectivity to be able to make individual instead of herd type assessments. The herd assessment is easier, but science needs to reach beyond easy and convenient.