Leonard Nimoy: Smoking Is Illogical 401
An anonymous reader writes "My boyhood hero, actor Leonard Nimoy,
has developed lung disease. To those still smoking and in the grips of marketing induced denial, he says 'quit now.' Small acts of goodness make the universe a better place."
two spock quotes come to mind (Score:3, Informative)
It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.
--Spock in 'Errand of Mercy'
Nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a shipload of illogical humans.
--Spock in 'I, Mudd'
Re:Seriously - GTFO (Score:5, Informative)
Better link for The Virginian [youtube.com]. The doctor with him looks familiar too, good old DeForest Kelly, another old hand in the Westerns.
Re:Illogical (Score:5, Informative)
You're 82, Leonard. Holding yourself up as an example of the ravages of smoking after reaching the age of 82 is illogical. Refusing to accept death at 82 is illogical. Go with grace.
His problem is that 'grace' isn't really one of the features of COPD. First the coughing starts. Then you begin to experience difficulty breathing and shortness of breath. These become more severe until you can't maintain adequate O2 saturation without supplemental oxygen. Then they become more severe until you can't maintain adequate O2 saturation with supplemental oxygen. Then you die. Available treatments are largely aimed at easing the symptoms, and rarely effective in halting the disease's progression.
It's hardly the worst (there's a lot of competition); but a long, futile, struggle to breath isn't a pretty exit. If he's really lucky, something else will kill him fast and first.
Re:Seriously - GTFO (Score:5, Informative)
Nimoy didn't get lung cancer, he got COPD.
Smoking does heavily increase your chance of getting lung cancer but it's not the sole cause of it. Smoking does make you far more likely to suffer from one or more of a very large array of nasty illnesses during your lifetime. It also reduces your life span significantly.
Quit smoking if you care at all about the risks of illness and disability that smoking causes. Or accept that you are a nicotine junkie and that you are lying to yourself about your habit because you can't face withdrawal.
Re:Beta is illogical (Score:5, Informative)
Looks like some moderators are participating in the protests by modding on topic comments "offtopic".
As to quitting smoking, it depends on your genes and when you quit. My mother and her husband quit 30 years ago when he developed emphysema, he died from pretty much all his organs shutting down last year, Mom's only now starting to get COPD at age 85, but all but three of her twelve siblings are alive and in their nineties.
Generally, though, they say if you quit before you're 40, by the time you're 50 your lungs will be as healthy as a 50 year old who never smoked. And the more you smoke, the more damage there is to the lungs.
If I get COPD it will probably be from reefer, all smoke is bad for your lungs. But at least pot doesn't cause cancer.
Re:Beta is illogical (Score:2, Informative)
As we said a few days ago [slashdot.org], we're slowing down the rollout. And we aren't "getting rid of" the classic site any time soon.