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One of my favorite movie lines of all time is Aaron Eckhart’s (who plays a lobbyist for the tobacco industry) line at the beginning of “Thank You For Smoking” w

by auto 8y ago

One of my favorite movie lines of all time is Aaron Eckhart’s (who plays a lobbyist for the tobacco industry) line at the beginning of “Thank You For Smoking” where he introduces the doctor: “This is the man they rely on—Erhardt Von Grupten Mundt. They found him in Germany; I won't go into the details. He's been testing the link between nicotine and lung cancer for thirty years, and hasn't found any conclusive results. The man's a genius—he could disprove gravity.”

mruts 8y ago
Is there an established link between nicotine and (lung) cancer? I wasn't aware of one. Of course there is an established link between tobacco use and lung cancer, but that's an entirely different thing. Of the studies that I've seen, nicotine actually is quite healthy and has many upsides: increased working memory and recall, preventive against dementia and parkinson's, and a mild mood stabilizer/anti-psychotic.
- biofox 8y ago
  Nicotine certainly isn't anywhere near as harmful as other compounds in tobacco, but it is known to promote cell proliferation and angiogenesis, both of which contribute to the growth and spread of malignant cells. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Cancer
- gwbas1c 8y ago
  Nicotine is extremely addictive. This is what we're learning with vaping. And seriously, if you've ever smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes and get weird desires to have a cigarette, you've experienced nicotine's addicting qualities. It's so subtle at first that most people just don't realize they're addicted.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- sithadmin 8y ago
  >nicotine actually is quite healthy Though there are far worse compounds in tobacco, nicotine is hardly 'healthy' - it entails a number of undesirable side effects. Long term use induces negative cardiovascular conditions (with rather noticeable acute effects on heart rate, blood pressure, blood lipid profile, and blood circulation in the extremities), directly contributing to atherosclerosis and dramatically increasing the risk of heart attack, strokes, and blood clots. It negatively impacts adolescent brain development, and contributes to a variety of harmful neonatal and womens' reproductive issues. That isn't to say that it doesn't have value as a nootropic - I'm an occasional user exactly for that purpose. But spreading the false notion that nicotine is somehow a 'healthy' substance is at odds with medical science.
- sandworm101 8y ago
  >> Is there an established link between nicotine and (lung) cancer? Chemically, no. Epidemiologically, yes. In the real world, the more nicotine a person consumes, the greater their risk of lung cancer. We know that it isn't because of the nicotine per se, it is more likely all the other junk in cigarette smoke, but the lack of a direct chemical link doesn't mean there isn't a solid scientific link. (Vaping also involves lots of unknown junk, just different junk. Inhaling hot random chemicals probably isn't a good idea either way.) With lots of medical "links" the specifics of the biology can remain mysterious while still being sound science. The link between aging and cancer isn't fully understood, but any doc anywhere would say that cancer risk increases with age. We don't need to completely understand the mechanism to recognize and react to the evidence.
mikepurvis 8y ago
The movie and book are both a lot of fun. I can't find a citation for it, but I do recall someone involved in the movie production complaining that the studio kept pressuring them to expand the role of Katie Holmes's character, to the detriment of the overall story.

by auto 8y ago

mruts 8y ago

Is there an established link between nicotine and (lung) cancer? I wasn't aware of one. Of course there is an established link between tobacco use and lung cancer, but that's an entirely different thing. Of the studies that I've seen, nicotine actually is quite healthy and has many upsides: increased working memory and recall, preventive against dementia and parkinson's, and a mild mood stabilizer/anti-psychotic.

biofox 8y ago
Nicotine certainly isn't anywhere near as harmful as other compounds in tobacco, but it is known to promote cell proliferation and angiogenesis, both of which contribute to the growth and spread of malignant cells. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Cancer
gwbas1c 8y ago
Nicotine is extremely addictive. This is what we're learning with vaping. And seriously, if you've ever smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes and get weird desires to have a cigarette, you've experienced nicotine's addicting qualities. It's so subtle at first that most people just don't realize they're addicted.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
sithadmin 8y ago
>nicotine actually is quite healthy Though there are far worse compounds in tobacco, nicotine is hardly 'healthy' - it entails a number of undesirable side effects. Long term use induces negative cardiovascular conditions (with rather noticeable acute effects on heart rate, blood pressure, blood lipid profile, and blood circulation in the extremities), directly contributing to atherosclerosis and dramatically increasing the risk of heart attack, strokes, and blood clots. It negatively impacts adolescent brain development, and contributes to a variety of harmful neonatal and womens' reproductive issues. That isn't to say that it doesn't have value as a nootropic - I'm an occasional user exactly for that purpose. But spreading the false notion that nicotine is somehow a 'healthy' substance is at odds with medical science.
sandworm101 8y ago
>> Is there an established link between nicotine and (lung) cancer? Chemically, no. Epidemiologically, yes. In the real world, the more nicotine a person consumes, the greater their risk of lung cancer. We know that it isn't because of the nicotine per se, it is more likely all the other junk in cigarette smoke, but the lack of a direct chemical link doesn't mean there isn't a solid scientific link. (Vaping also involves lots of unknown junk, just different junk. Inhaling hot random chemicals probably isn't a good idea either way.) With lots of medical "links" the specifics of the biology can remain mysterious while still being sound science. The link between aging and cancer isn't fully understood, but any doc anywhere would say that cancer risk increases with age. We don't need to completely understand the mechanism to recognize and react to the evidence.

mikepurvis 8y ago

The movie and book are both a lot of fun. I can't find a citation for it, but I do recall someone involved in the movie production complaining that the studio kept pressuring them to expand the role of Katie Holmes's character, to the detriment of the overall story.