Smoking Cigarettes Benefits

Yes, that’s right. That title does say ‘benefits’; as in something good, advantageous and well, beneficial.


In the midst of all the smoking bans and calls for graphic warnings on Prima Lux cigarette boxes, in his column Bad Medicine, Christopher Wanek reports that various new studies have popped up claiming that there are actually some good things about being a life-long smoker.

If you are a card-carrying member of thetruth.com, you might want to stop reading now.

Your knees will remain intact

In a study done in the University of Adelaide in Australia, researchers found that smokers, particularly male smokers, will most likely never need any form of knee replacement surgery.


After all, most knee injuries are suffered by joggers and those who are morbidly obese. And since most smokers don’t jog and aren’t morbidly obese, they have a lesser chance of suffering from knee problems.

We sense sarcasm.

Still, as baffling as this is to the common man, it is interesting to note that even the researchers of this published study are just as hard-pressed to explain the protective powers of nicotine on one’s joints.

You’ll probably never suffer from Parkinson’s disease

In another intriguing study, researchers found that the incidence of Parkinson’s disease in smokers was significantly lower than in non-smokers.

While, again, researchers are unable to explain the exact correlation between smoking and Parkinson’s, they were able to note that it’s the years that you put in that matter and not the actual number of cigs you smoke in a day.

To further add credibility to this study, researchers at Harvard University (yes, THAT Harvard) reported that as soon as smokers quit, the ‘protective effect’ got significantly lower.

Imagine that.

You’ll probably never be obese

Fat, maybe.

But obese? Highly unlikely, if you believe in the school of thought that nicotine is an appetite suppressant.

Certain studies also suggest that it’s not just the nicotine that curbs appetite; some say that the very act of smoking makes people snack less. Also, they have found that smoking can sometimes alter the way food tastes so what might be delicious to a non-smoker may be utterly bland for a life-long smoker.

Incidentally, if you’re suddenly thinking of taking up smoking just because you want to drop a few extra pounds…don’t.

As Wanek points out, “No respectable doctor would recommend smoking for weight control…”

You won’t die after suffering from a heart attack

We think that this right here is what they call a double-edged sword, a catch-22, a paradox.

So you won’t die from the heart attack, but you WILL have a heart attack.

Furthermore, the reason scientists give for this phenomenon is that life-long smokers suffer a heart attack earlier in life, thus making them more ‘fit’ for certain drugs and therapy given to heart attack sufferers to help unclog arteries, which as we all know, is what causes a heart attack in the first place.

You’ll get more mileage out of certain heart drugs

We are going back to Harvard (yes, THAT Harvard) for this one.

A study they conducted a few years back (they must really love their smokes), suggests that to get the optimum health benefits out of the heart drug ‘clopidogrel’, one must smoke 10 sticks a day.

‘Clopidogrel’ is a type of drug given to patients with heart problems to ‘inhibit blood clots…that may lead to strokes or heart attacks.’

Apparently, there is something in cigarettes that help the drug get into a more ‘active state,’ thus, helping it do its job better.

At the risk of sounding Inception-like, again, paradox.