Obama told to quit smoking for good at health check-up

[kpete]

Obama told to quit smoking for good at health check-up
AFP
Published: Sunday February 28, 2010

Barack Obama was urged by his doctor Sunday to quit smoking for good after his first health check-up as US president found him otherwise in "excellent health" and "fit for duty."

Obama's personal physician Jeffery Kuhlman said the results from the physical exam indicated that he would remain healthy for the duration of his presidency.

Under his recommendations, Kuhlman urged the president to "continue smoking cessation efforts" and noted Obama was medicating himself with nicotine supplements in a bid to kick the habit.

Obama, 48, has fought a public battle to give up smoking, and promised his wife he would quit when he ran for president -- but has admitted succumbing to the occasional cigarette several times since moving into the White House.

more:
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Obama_told_to_quit_smoking...

[Mike 03]

1. I read the report, and I don't begrudge the guy for using nicotine replacement,

but what I wonder is what he is eating to get his cholesterol that high when I know he excercises like crazy.

Dairy? Does he have a sweet tooth? Carbs?

I am just interested because I am also fighting the same battle.

[Tim01 2.0]

10. I think it is mostly genetic. I've seen triatheletes with cholesterol trouble. nt

[virgogal]

21. Genes.

[laughingliberal]

23. There really is no evidence which links diet to cholesterol levels

It's amazing the persistence of this idea, though.

[nebenaube]

37. That's funny...

because I fixed my cholesterol issues by switching from beef to bison.

[laughingliberal]

48. Good for you. There has been no study which linked the dietary intake of cholesterol to

cholesterol levels. I once had a doctor tell me to cut out red meat and fried foods (I had a blip up on my level which turned out to be fleeting). I looked at him, innocently, and asked, "Oh, have we now seen a study which linked dietary intake to cholesterol levels?" He took a step back and said, "Okay, no. Taking niacin could help." I thanked him and went on my way.

Triglyceride levels can be changed with diet but my triglycerides were fine.

[Captain Hilts]

34. Your behavior accounts for barely a 3rd of your cholesterol level. nt

[DevonRex]

58. I'd say it's genetic. It runs rampant in my family, too.

The first time mine was ever checked I was in fantastic shape and ate a healthy diet but my cholesterol and triglycerides were high. Then I went on a REALLY strict diet - no red meat, no eggs ever, no sugar, practically no fat at all AND increased my exercise. And guess what? My cholesterol and triglycerides were the same when they tested them 6 months later.

Moral of the story is you can't do anything about your genetics. For somebody like me the only answer is to maintain a healthy lifestyle AND take statins.

[Jennicut]

60. My cholesterol is high as is my parents. I am 34. It is all in the genes.

The diet never worked to bring it down so I am on lipitor. I am also a diabetic so that just adds to all the meds I am on.

[PDJane]

2. good luck on that.......

my father smoked 3.5 packs per day, and only managed to quit briefly around the time of heart surgery.

He used to say that quitting was easy; he'd done it a thousand times. (yes, the sense of humour is genetic)

As a digression, I was the only one of the family who didn't smoke...and I'm the one with the lung condition.

[Bluebear]

3. If he needs nicotine replacement therapy, he has had more than the "occasional cigarette"

I hope he can lick it, it is the hardest thing I have ever done, but if you are a nicotine addict to the point where you need replacement therapy, it's not a once-in-a-while proposition.

[laughingliberal]

24. Not necessarily. I knew many who quit using the gum when it first came out

Some used it for years and did not smoke at all. Basically, their doctors told them if they had to use it for life to stay off cigarettes, that it was better for them than smoking.

[Bluebear]

42. That was my experience. But if you don't 'need' the nicotine drug, you don't need to replace it.

Nicotine replacements are not used by very occasional smokers.

[laughingliberal]

49. I don't believe he claims he was never a regular smoker

I believe it is that he currently still smokes an occasional cigarette. I think he was, before he began his run for the WH, a regular smoker and promised Michelle, when he decided to run, that he would quit.

[seabeyond]

47. occassional cig several times means he hasnt quit smoking, lol. nt

[Fumesucker]

4. He had no problem quitting cocaine and cannabis on his own long ago..

But here he is POTUS and can't quit cigarettes..

And it's the potheads who need "treatment"..

[leftstreet]

5. Why would anyone 'quit' cannabis?

[Fumesucker]

6. The further you get away from high school the harder it is to score?

Oh, and I doubt a current toker could get elected POTUS..

[leftstreet]

7. True. Only drunks can

[Bluebear]

9. HIC!!! Imma right, lemme go BUUURRP I can walk myshelf.

[lunatica]

11. He wasn't elected. He was selected for us

By his brother in Florida and the Supreme Court.

[dionysus]

22. studies suggest nicotine is more addictive than heroin...

[pipi_k]

28. I have a friend who is a recovering alcoholic and cocaine addict

(in a program for 20+ years) who also used to smoke.

She has said that giving up the cigarettes was way harder than giving up the booze and coke.

Or, at least it was for her...

[Fumesucker]

33. I've heard that before..

Nicotine is indeed horrendously addictive..

I think though it depends a lot on idiosyncratic personal biochemistry what drugs are the most difficult for a given individual to wean themselves from.

[Mosby]

38. the nicotine in tobacco is horrendously addictive

The Tobacco companies freebase the nicotine in cigs which makes it super addictive, but nicotine itself is not particularly addictive or dangerous.

That's why nicotine replacement systems work.

[Fumesucker]

44. Nicotine used to be employed as an insecticide..

It was banned for that use by the EPA..

So it's not exactly a "safe" substance..

And yes, means of delivery does make a difference in addictive potential..

[Mosby]

65. You can OD on aspirin also

This article explains it better than I can:

Cigarette smoke is a deadly delivery device for a benign but habit-forming
product: nicotine. Nicotine isn't especially dangerous -- about like caffeine.
Good policy toward tobacco use would reduce the grave harm of smoking by
replacing cigarettes with non-smoked forms of nicotine for the addicts. They
might use nicotine safely forever, if harmless delivery systems were widely
available.

Instead, nicotine abstinence is the policymakers' only approach to
tobacco. Like other abstinence campaigns (alcohol prohibition,
sexual abstinence before marriage, just saying "no" to drugs), this one
is both moralistic and ineffective.

snip

Obviously, nicotine use is a popular and tenacious habit. Equally obviously,
tobacco policy is a failure. Surveys show that a majority of current smokers
would like good alternatives to smoking as ways of getting nicotine. But we
will not tell nicotine users that there are safe ways to continue to use the legal
drug they crave. Apparently, our policymakers would rather see those people
get sick and die.

Alternative nicotine delivery could be easy. Nicotine replacement therapy
could work long-term. Gum and the patch are already available, but not to
everyone. Also, they are still approved only for short-term use and can deliver
only small doses -- inadequate for heavy users.

http://www.smokersonly.org/others/Alcabes%20Wash%20Post...

I stopped smoking about 8 months ago, I smoked 2+ packs per day for 30 years. I used the nicotrol inhaler for nicotine replacement but I went by the European guidelines not the US guidelines. In this country the medical orthodoxy insist that you cannot continue to smoke while using a NRT, this is simply not true. The European and Australian guidelines state that you can do both for a while. In my first week I continued to smoke but slowly cut down the number of cigs. By the second week I was using only the nicotrol. Now I like to use one cartridge in the morning during my drive to work. I'm on my last box so I will have to give up the inhalers in a couple months which should not be a problem, I'm still doing them just cause I like it, not because I'm addicted.

The epidemiologist who wrote the above article suggests smokeless tobacco as a substitute, which may be statistically safe, but what's certain is that e-cigs pose almost no health risk but not surprisingly the medical establishment in the US is totally against them being sold here. For them it's all or nothing, why I don't know.

[laughingliberal]

50. That would be my experience

Kicked a heroin habit 33 years ago and have been in recovery for alcoholism for 32 years. Have dozens of failed attempts to quit smoking.

[imnKOgnito]

39. After 14 years of no alcohol and 7 years sans cigarettes

I can assure you that smoking is by far the harder of the two to quit. I never even think about drinking, even when sitting in a bar full of drinkers. But I still have moments where I reflexively reach for a cigarette even after all these years. And, as an aside, I did my own dabbling with cannabis and cocaine in the younger years and never had a problem giving up either of those.

[Tim01 2.0]

8. "But President Obama does it."

And I'll have to try to explain to my son that smoking is bad. Sure, he's going to believe me.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

26. Well, tell him he can smoke when he graduates magna cum laude from Harvard

[Tim01 2.0]

27. Because really smart people smoke? nt

[SemiCharmedQuark]

31. Because saying "but so and so does it" is an excuse.

Usually said by people are looking for a means to justify what they are already doing.

[blogslut]

52. You can tell him

...that former Vice President Cheney tortures people but that doesn't make it right.

[Tim01 2.0]

55. Seriously. This is sending a strong message to kids.

Actually a couple messages. And one of those messages is that really there are certain things that everybody says you shouldn't do. But actually, everybody does all that stuff. It is normal to talk about what is right and wrong, and then violate those rules behind closed doors.

[blogslut]

56. So, you actually have that little faith in your parenting?

How sad.

[Tim01 2.0]

57. You may want to check in with reality now and then.

There is a long long long list of parents who say " My kid would never......", that often ends with somebody pregnant or somebody in jail.
To suggest parents can just teach kids to do what is right,and they will, is incredibly naive. Kids learn from example. If they see people saying one thing, and doing another, they will learn.

I think I did pretty much everything my parents told me not to.

[blogslut]

63. Okay

So I guess there's really no point in parenting then. I wish I had known that before I raised my kid. I wasted all those years when I could have gone on the road with the circus. I guess I better call her up and tell her not to bother graduating from university this spring because, well, she should have never taken my advice and done well in school.

[DevonRex]

61. I kind of doubt this person even has kids. nt

[kaybea]

64. a couple of those doors being at Abu Ghraib where kids were sodomized in front of their fathers

but the real big deal is smoking or getting your pole waxed by an intern. Why? One's a ni--, community organizer type, and the other's a bubba.

[DevonRex]

59. That's some stupid right there. Sounds like you're the one making excuses

for something your kid hasn't even done yet.

Sadly your post wasn't funny enough to over. It just makes me

[gateley]

12. I haven't heard his smoking mentioned in a long time. Poor Obama.

If the gum isn't working, he might try another approach. I wish him continued luck -- once you're finally successful, the freedom is so liberating!

[Union Yes]

13. Fire up a joint instead. Give peace a chance. knr nt

[Codeine]

54. Many of the pot smokers I know

are total right wingers with a penchant for supporting war.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RamboLiberal]

15. As NY Daily News poll put it

If you had to deal with Republicans everyday - you'd smoke to.

Then add on the Blue Dogs & wimp Dems.

[DRoseDARs]

16. I wonder if he invited Jeff to a health summit to look for a bipartisan compromise.

Maybe a year from now the two of them can come to an agreement to hold another one.

[Captain Hilts]

35. Ouch!

[DRoseDARs]

45. You can be sure that, like the Republicans, Dr. Kuhlman would throw a shit fit...

However, unlike the Republicans, Dr. Kuhlman would have good cause to.

[Moochy]

51. Bipartisan Stop Smoking Plan

He can stop buying them altogether, and only bum them off of Republicans.

[Chemical Bill]

17. I could have told him that. n/t

[RB TexLa]

18. Advised to quit smoking. Doctors provide advice.

[OhioChick]

19. Tough to quit smoking while dealing with idiots in DC, I imagine. n/t

[Skittles]

20. I commiserate with Obama on this battle

yes INDEED

[virgogal]

25. For his sake I hope he can quit,but it must be tough with all that

he has to deal with.

I wouldn't want to deal with Mrs Obama on this,though. Poor guy.

[amborin]

29. said Obama had the unreliable type of colonoscopy

the unreliable scan

[cbdo2007]

30. Good, then maybe he'll be around to meet his grandkids some day....

[Bosso 63]

32. I don't smoke, but with that job i would be tempted to start.

[Bobbieo]

36. He should give acupuncture a try. A couple of jabs in my ear worked for me some 20 years ago

I quit within a week!!!!

[imnKOgnito]

40. Funny

I never remember them publicly saying that Bush should give up his midnight drinking binges.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

41. I wish him luck. I am so thankful I never started smoking.

[Kalyke]

43. I'd rather him smoke than eat over-processed food.

Smoking's much healthier than HFCS, MSG and other preservatives.

One in four Europeans smoke versus one in four Americans, yet they live longer:

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-3111969/HEALTH-...

Access to health care, better foods and more exercise. Smoking really isn't a factor anymore, according to the World Health Organization because pollution is so high.

Oh well.

[Mira]

46. I lost 3 European Relatives to Lung Cancer in the last couple of years... N/T

edited to add: They were heavy smokers, and they were all a touch over 50.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

53. I'm from a family where everybody lives past 90. My sister, a smoker, died at 67. -nt

[liberal_at_heart]

62. He is in the quitting process

It took my father in law 7 tries to finally quit. I will give the president a break on this issue. It's public policy I'm concerned with and I won't give him a break on that.