IS SMOKING BAD FOR US OR NOT?

White Ribbon, Volume 20, Issue 2, 1 March 1948, Page 6

IS SMOKING BAD FOR US OR NOT?

By Our London Science Correspondent

and smoking Smoking has I ned in Brisbane cinen triction enfoi ative measures that affects those who are fortunate enough I anything lo smoke .it all.

\\,u \ the medical truth about smokinj ? Is ii bad for us ot i

\ made in the Journal of Pharma Nicotine, earch wort I bad effect "ii fertility. Rats injected with nicotine failed to have litters far more frequently than 'hat did 1 had tar smaller htterv N ,w nicotine has far less effect on aerally than on man, 10 that it isible that the dcclin< human fertility is partly caused by increased smoking. IV Raymond Pearl found from ■ study of over 6,000 men that the per- : tSOO-SOSOkers, moderate smokers, and heavy smokers living to be 70 ' 1 was 45.9, 41 4, and spectively. No doctor has gives I satisfactory reason why tins should be On the Other hand, tobacco is very useful, as most of us know, against metaphorical "cold feet." but that is g mental effect rather than a physical one.

Experiments that tobaccosmoking lowers the temperature of ind feet by tightening up the a>

d-vesseli and reducing the amount f blood flowing through them.

Tobacco-smoking raises the level of sugar in the blood. This is exactly what some people need, and exactly what others must avoid.

It would appear ihat on this count smoking would benefit some p< and hurt others. The dirty pipes has been claimed as ot" cancer of the tongue.

In all it cannot be said that thci vr> >tn>vg evidence that tobi i menace to health, but. as the Br Medical Journal frankly points out sinoker has been able \o prove that it ever does anyone am

Hut it is the psychological sid< king that is probably more important. Smoking is a habit which gi on us. We usually claim to because it is soothing to the sen

Now there is no physical way in which smoking can be said to SO the ncnous system. Probably. ■ J body chewed straws it would have as useful an effect.

The thief effect of smoking precise!) the same as that of tin. sucking; it is the adult way Ot ing any anxiety or disappointment worry. It is an organized and c form of nervous fidgeting.

In women it is usually an asser* of equality, or evidence to whom it may concern of nonchalance or emancipation.

By helping us in our anxious moments it performs a very UK social service, and if we all had to - smoking suddenly there would 1" increase of bad tempers, of nervous breakdowns, even perhaps of j crime.

All this has nothing to do with the nicotine content; it is purely psychological It makes no difference whether you inhale or not.

The psychological effect at the present moment of the tobacco s h is one of elation when you mai to get an extra ounce.

Where.cr Igo I find self-appointed heroes; people who are feeling an added pride in themselves for the in which they are exeicising - control.

But this thumbs-up stage will . way to a thumbs-in stage soonc later.

T: it is not actually thumbs it l be chewing gum, or snuff, or Straws, or nail-biting, or nervous drummin. the table, or new brands of if words, or a revolution. Some of those are cheaper than tobacco, none needs dollars.

"The Courier Mail." Brisbane. May 14, 1947.