How does smoking affect cardiovascular health. What are the risks of excessive alcohol consumption. Can moderate drinking have any health benefits. How quickly can quitting smoking improve your health. What strategies can help individuals overcome addiction to tobacco and alcohol.

The Impact of Smoking on Cardiovascular Health

Smoking is widely recognized as one of the most harmful habits for overall health, with particularly severe impacts on the cardiovascular system. Unlike alcohol, which may have some benefits in moderation, there are no known health advantages to tobacco use at any level.

When a person smokes, they inhale a complex mixture of chemicals that can cause widespread cellular damage. This damage manifests in numerous ways, including:

• Increased risk of various cancers
• Damage to arterial walls
• Higher likelihood of heart attacks and strokes
• Reduced lung function and capacity

How Smoking Affects Cholesterol Levels

Smoking has a multifaceted impact on cholesterol levels, contributing to an unfavorable lipid profile. Specifically, tobacco use is known to:

• Lower HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, often referred to as “good” cholesterol
• Elevate LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, commonly known as “bad” cholesterol
• Increase triglyceride levels in the blood

This combination of effects significantly increases the risk of atherosclerosis, a condition where plaque builds up in the arteries, potentially leading to heart disease and stroke.

Additional Cardiovascular Risks of Smoking

Beyond its effects on cholesterol, smoking poses several other threats to cardiovascular health:

1. Blood thickening, which increases the risk of clots
2. Stiffening and inflammation of artery walls
3. Impaired blood circulation throughout the body
4. Accumulation of tar in the lungs, reducing oxygen uptake

Alcohol Consumption and Its Health Implications

The relationship between alcohol and health is more complex than that of smoking. While excessive drinking is undoubtedly harmful, moderate alcohol consumption may have some potential benefits, particularly for cardiovascular health.

Potential Benefits of Moderate Drinking

Some studies suggest that moderate alcohol consumption, especially of red wine, may have positive effects on cholesterol levels. This is primarily attributed to the presence of antioxidants like resveratrol in red wine. However, it’s crucial to emphasize that these potential benefits are only associated with light to moderate drinking.

Risks of Excessive Alcohol Consumption

When consumed in excess, alcohol can have severe negative impacts on health, including:

• Elevated blood pressure over time
• Increased risk of arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats)
• Weakened heart muscle, potentially leading to heart failure
• Raised triglyceride levels in the blood
• Potential interference with blood pressure medications

Defining Moderate Drinking

To minimize health risks, experts recommend adhering to moderate drinking guidelines. For most adults, this means:

• Up to one drink per day for women
• Up to two drinks per day for men

It’s important to note that these guidelines refer to daily limits and should not be averaged over a week. Binge drinking, defined as consuming large amounts of alcohol in a short period, is particularly harmful and should be avoided.

Comparing the Health Impacts of Smoking and Drinking

While both smoking and excessive drinking pose significant health risks, smoking is generally considered more harmful overall. This is due to several factors:

1. Lack of safe consumption level: Unlike alcohol, which may have some benefits when consumed in moderation, there is no safe level of tobacco use.
2. Immediate and long-term effects: Smoking causes both immediate and long-term damage to various body systems, while the effects of alcohol are more dependent on consumption patterns.
3. Addictive potential: Nicotine is highly addictive, making it more difficult for smokers to quit compared to drinkers moderating their alcohol intake.
4. Secondhand exposure: Smoking not only harms the user but also poses risks to others through secondhand smoke exposure.

The Benefits of Quitting Smoking and Moderating Alcohol Intake

The good news is that the human body has a remarkable capacity for healing once harmful habits are discontinued. Quitting smoking and moderating alcohol intake can lead to significant improvements in overall health, particularly cardiovascular function.

Health Improvements After Quitting Smoking

The benefits of quitting smoking begin almost immediately and continue to accrue over time:

• Within 20 minutes: Heart rate and blood pressure begin to drop
• Within 12 hours: Carbon monoxide levels in the blood return to normal
• Within 2-12 weeks: Circulation improves and lung function increases
• Within 1-9 months: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease
• After 1 year: Risk of coronary heart disease is cut in half
• After 5-15 years: Stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker

Benefits of Moderating Alcohol Intake

Reducing alcohol consumption to moderate levels or abstaining entirely can lead to various health improvements:

• Lowered blood pressure
• Improved liver function
• Better sleep quality
• Reduced risk of certain cancers
• Improved mental health and cognitive function

Strategies for Overcoming Addiction to Tobacco and Alcohol

Quitting smoking and moderating alcohol intake can be challenging, but there are numerous strategies and resources available to support individuals in this process:

Tips for Quitting Smoking

1. Set a quit date and stick to it
2. Remove all tobacco products from your environment
3. Inform friends and family about your decision to quit for support
4. Consider nicotine replacement therapy or prescription medications
5. Join a support group or seek counseling
6. Practice stress-reduction techniques like meditation or exercise

Strategies for Moderating Alcohol Intake

1. Set clear limits on your alcohol consumption
2. Keep track of your drinking habits
3. Alternate alcoholic drinks with water or non-alcoholic beverages
4. Avoid situations or environments that trigger excessive drinking
5. Seek professional help if you struggle to control your drinking
6. Consider joining support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous

The Role of Healthcare Providers in Supporting Smoking Cessation and Alcohol Moderation

Healthcare providers play a crucial role in helping individuals overcome addiction to tobacco and alcohol. They can offer various forms of support, including:

• Personalized advice based on individual health status and risk factors
• Prescription medications to aid in smoking cessation
• Referrals to specialized addiction treatment programs
• Regular monitoring of health markers like blood pressure and cholesterol levels
• Psychological support and counseling

Many healthcare facilities offer specialized programs to help individuals quit smoking or moderate their alcohol intake. For example, Sauk Prairie Healthcare provides “Breathe Easy Quit Smoking Classes” to support those looking to overcome tobacco addiction.

The Economic and Social Impact of Smoking and Excessive Drinking

The harmful effects of smoking and excessive drinking extend beyond individual health, impacting society as a whole. The economic burden of these habits is substantial, encompassing healthcare costs, lost productivity, and other societal expenses.

Economic Costs

The cigarette and alcohol industries combined are worth almost $160 billion annually. However, the costs associated with the health consequences of these products far outweigh their economic contributions:

• Smoking-related illnesses cost the U.S. more than $300 billion annually, including nearly $170 billion in direct medical care for adults and $156 billion in lost productivity
• Excessive alcohol use costs the U.S. $249 billion per year, with 77% of these costs due to binge drinking

Social Consequences

Beyond the economic impact, smoking and excessive drinking have significant social consequences:

• Strain on healthcare systems and resources
• Increased rates of absenteeism and decreased workplace productivity
• Higher incidence of accidents, particularly related to drunk driving
• Negative effects on family dynamics and relationships
• Contribution to social inequalities, as addiction rates are often higher in disadvantaged communities

Addressing these issues requires a multifaceted approach, including public health initiatives, education programs, and policy measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking and excessive drinking.

Future Directions in Addiction Research and Treatment

As our understanding of addiction evolves, researchers and healthcare professionals continue to explore new avenues for prevention and treatment of tobacco and alcohol addiction. Some promising areas of research include:

Genetic Factors in Addiction

Scientists are investigating the role of genetic factors in predisposing individuals to addiction. This research could lead to more personalized approaches to addiction prevention and treatment, tailored to an individual’s genetic profile.

Novel Pharmacological Interventions

Ongoing research is focused on developing new medications to help individuals overcome addiction. These may include drugs that target specific neurotransmitter systems involved in addiction or vaccines that prevent addictive substances from reaching the brain.

Digital Health Interventions

The use of smartphone apps, wearable devices, and other digital technologies shows promise in supporting addiction recovery. These tools can provide real-time support, track progress, and help individuals maintain motivation during the quitting process.

Behavioral Economics Approaches

Researchers are exploring how principles from behavioral economics can be applied to addiction treatment. This includes strategies like contingency management, where individuals receive tangible rewards for maintaining sobriety or abstaining from smoking.

As research in these areas progresses, it’s likely that we’ll see more effective and personalized approaches to treating addiction to tobacco and alcohol, potentially reducing the significant health and societal burdens associated with these substances.

The Truth About Drinking, Smoking and Their Effects on Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, and Your Health

Be honest with yourself for a moment: Do you often drink or smoke? If so, you’re probably aware that both of these habits come with a multitude of potentially negative health consequences, including elevated risks of certain cancers. However, one thing you may not be aware of is that drinking and smoking can also negatively affect your blood pressure and cholesterol.

Why are blood pressure and cholesterol levels such a big deal? Both heavily influence your cardiovascular health. Because heart disease is the No. 1 killer of men and women in the United States, it’s easy to see why keeping your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers optimal is so critical — even if it means giving up some hard-to-break habits.

The Dangers of Drinking

Perhaps you’ve heard that some alcoholic beverages (particularly red wine) can actually help your cholesterol levels. Surprisingly, this may be true — but only if you drink in moderation. That being said, alcohol also has the potential to harm your heart in other ways.

Alcohol — especially when consumed excessively — can raise blood pressure over time, cause irregular heartbeats (known as arrhythmia), and weaken the heart (heart failure) so it is unable to pump effectively. In addition, alcohol can raise your triglycerides, which are a type of fat in the blood. And if you’re taking medication to treat high blood pressure, be aware that alcohol may hinder the medication’s effectiveness and also worsen side effects.

The key is to only drink in moderation (if at all). Wondering how much alcohol is too much? Experts recommend no more than one or two servings of alcohol per day or less, and to avoid binge drinking. A single drink of alcohol is as follows for reference:

• Beer: 12 ounces
• Wine: 4 ounces
• 80-proof liquor: 1.5 ounces
• 100-proof liquor: 1 ounce

The Hazards of Smoking

While drinking can be a threat to your health, smoking is certainly worse. Unlike alcohol at low or moderate levels, there is no benefit to tobacco use at any level. When you smoke, you inhale various chemicals that can injure cells, causing both cancer and artery damage (e.g. heart attacks and strokes).

Tobacco smoke can take a toll on your cholesterol levels as well. It’s known to lower HDL (or “good”) cholesterol, elevate LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol and also cause a rise in triglycerides — the same type of blood fat that can build up as a result of alcohol consumption. It also injures the arteries, making the “bad” LDL cholesterol more likely to stick and cause blockages.

As if these issues aren’t enough, smoking can harm your cardiovascular health in other ways too. Your blood becomes thicker, artery walls become stiffer and more inflamed, and blood circulation is negatively affected. Not to mention, your lungs literally become black from tar.

The Benefits of Quitting

Amidst all these dire health threats, there is some good news: You have the power to change your health for the better by putting your harmful habits to rest. If you quit, your body will heal the damage. Rid your home of all tobacco products (and alcohol, too, if necessary). Tell a close friend or family member about your goal to quit so you’ll have support and someone to help you. Seek outside help from support groups or medical professionals if you’re unable to stop drinking or smoking on your own.

Sauk Prairie Healthcare can help! Go to www.SaukPrairieHealthcare.org/quit-smoking to learn more about our Breathe Easy Quit Smoking Classes.

Though quitting may not be easy at first, you will eventually feel better and the health benefits you’ll receive as a result will be worth it!

Sources:
https://www.everydayhealth.com/hypertension/preventing/controllable-risk-factors.aspx
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyEating/Nutrition/Alcohol-and-Heart-Health_UCM_305173_Article.jsp#.WwLtAUgvyUk
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/QuitSmoking/QuittingResources/Smoking-Cardiovascular-Disease_UCM_305187_Article. jsp#.WwLtjEgvyUk
https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol/effects-of-alcohol#4
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/expert-answers/blood-pressure/faq-20058254
https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/cholesterol-and-alcohol
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/alcohol-abuse/alcohol-and-cholesterol/#gref
https://www.rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/How-much-is-too-much/Whats-the-harm/What-Are-The-Risks.aspx
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/quit-smoking-helps-heart#1

Cigarettes vs. Alcohol: Comparing Physical &Psychological Harm

The cigarette and alcohol industries combined are worth almost $160 billion.^1,2 Products from either industry are responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in advertising, and cultural legacies that have become hallmarks of American history. But cigarettes and alcohol have also caused an untold number of cases of physical, psychological, and social harm, completely changing the way we think about substance abuse and public health.

Alcohol vs. Cigarettes

Columbia University’s Go Ask Alice! website notes that from a biological perspective, there is no single way to determine whether alcohol or cigarette consumption is worse for a person’s health. There are dozens of different factors that can decide the ultimate health effects, such as gender, age, lifestyle, family history, mental health, presence of other chemical substances, stress, environment, etc. However, the relative danger of either alcohol or cigarettes is without question, “especially when used in unsafe contexts and in large quantities.”³

The discussion of comparing the potential harm of alcohol use to cigarettes can get challenging because consuming moderate amounts of alcohol does not necessarily cause harm. In fact, there may be notable health benefits, such as lowering the risk of a heart attack.⁴ On the other hand, any degree of tobacco use is harmful, even through the inhalation of other people’s smoke, a fact that was controversially covered up by cigarette manufacturers for decades. ⁵

EXCESSIVE DRINKING DANGERS

Health officials have established that excessive drinking can lead to a number of dangers, such as:

• Liver cirrhosis.
• Traffic accidents.
• Violence.
• Cancers of the breast, liver, colon, and larynx.
• Epilepsy and seizures.⁶

Part of the problem regarding alcohol is that moderate consumption is not a risk, while excessive alcohol consumption is widely understood to cause (or develop) serious health issues.  This can be confusing to discuss because the distinction between “moderate consumption” and “excessive consumption” is very easily blurred. Excessive drinking has been implicated in the formation of at least 60 major types of disease, and more than 2.5 million people die every year because of it; that number is more than the people who die from HIV or tuberculosis.⁶

Is Alcohol Worse Than Smoking?

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism notes that alcohol is the third-leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Globally, it is the fifth-leading risk factor for premature death and disability.⁷ A big factor in the prevalence of this high mortality rate is that alcohol impairs people’s decision-making and judgment abilities. Alcohol’s ability to lower inhibitions is what makes it a very popular drink, but is also what causes people to engage in unsafe sexual practices. This can lead to contracting/spreading any number of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as putting people at risk for sexual assault or rape. According to Journal of American College Health, more than 80 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses involve alcohol. This report suggests men use their intoxicated status to justify their behavior, and women develop deep feelings of guilt or shame because their own intoxication may have led them to make decisions that they would not have made while sober.⁸

What makes the problem worse is that alcohol is an addictive substance, which increases exposure to these risks. People who are more likely to develop a dependence on alcohol may continue drinking even though their use of alcohol has harmed their well-being, which in turn creates additional health and psychological issues. People with alcohol use disorder may require alcohol rehab to achieve long-term recovery.

Dangers of Smoking Cigarettes vs Drinking Alcohol

Cigarettes are not psychoactive like alcohol (that is, they do not affect perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior), but they are very addictive. There are over 4,000 chemical substances found in a single cigarette; some of them, like nicotine, are what make cigarettes as addictive as they are. Medical News Today explains that when a cigarette is smoked, the nicotine reaches the brain within 15 seconds of the first inhalation. Nicotine is so important in how cigarettes work that it is responsible for the success of the entire tobacco industry. It is one of the most addictive drugs in the world, coming in third after heroin and cocaine and above alcohol. ^9,10

But most of the other chemicals in a single cigarette are deadly. Some, like acetone, damage the eyes, nose, and throat, and long-term exposure can harm the liver and the kidneys; cadmium is a carcinogen that affects the brain, kidneys, and liver; cresol can damage the respiratory system; and nickel can cause bronchial asthma.⁹

In November 2007, the American Journal of Public Health reported that an investigation into the tobacco industry found that over 100 of the 599 analyzed chemicals in cigarettes had “pharmacological actions” that are meant to mask the smell of tobacco smoke, improve the delivery of the nicotine, increase the addictiveness of cigarettes, and “mask symptoms and illnesses associated with smoking behaviors.”¹¹

As with most addictive substances, there is also a genetic component to cigarette smoking that contributes to the likelihood of whether a person will become dependent on the habit. The South Dakota Medicine journal writes of twin and family studies that have shown that there are “several genes that cause an individual to become more susceptible to being addicted to nicotine. ” The genes in question determine how many receptors the brain produces to metabolize the nicotine in an inhalation. The genes are also responsible for the production of chemical messengers that communicate the feelings of pleasure and reward that come with smoking, which are what compel a smoker to persist with the habit, even past the physically harmful effects of smoking.¹²

Dangers of Smoking Cigarettes

DISEASES AND CONDITIONS

The high number of carcinogens present in a typical cigarette is responsible for many diseases and conditions, some of which are associated with alcohol consumption. Examples include:

• Lung cancer.
• Asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema.
• Cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke.
• Colon, rectal, and liver cancers.
• Weakened immune system.
• Diabetes.
• Poor response to arthritis treatment.
• Erectile dysfunction.
• Tuberculosis.¹³

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing about 443,000 Americans every year, says Voice of America News. ¹³ This reality is indicative of “the potent toxicity of tobacco smoke inhaled by smokers for decades,” says the Thoracic Surgery Clinicsjournal.¹⁴ A joint study by the World Health Organization and the U.S. National Cancer Institute published in January 2017 predicted that 8 million people around the world would die from smoking each year by 2030, and the global economy would lose $1 trillion annually as a result.¹⁵

A study published in the Lancet journal noted that despite smoking being responsible for at least 10 percent of the world’s deaths, especially in developing/poorer countries, public health education and outreach efforts have been successful in reducing the overall smoking mortality rate, and fewer people are smoking today than in generations past.¹⁶ The Centers for Disease Control reported that a 2012 national anti-smoking campaign “was highly successful and cost-effective,” leading 1.6 million people to try and quit their habit. The program was estimated to save $50,000 per year of life saved.¹⁷

The Landmark Report

In 1964, the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health published a landmark report that almost entirely addressed the negative health effects of cigarette smoking. Amid the uproar from tobacco companies, the report detailed that cigarette smoke was the main cause of chronic bronchitis, and that there was a significant correlation between smoking, emphysema, and heart disease. The report also detailed a causative link between smoking and a 20 percent chance of developing lung cancer, and that there was a correlation between pregnant women who smoked and premature and underweight births.¹⁸

CIGARETTE SMOKE WAS THE MAIN CAUSE OF CHRONIC BRONCHITIS

The publication of the report became one of the major news stories of 1964 and led to the Federal Cigarette Label and Advertising Act (1965) and the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969, which banned the broadcast of cigarette advertisements on television and radio, many of which used cartoon mascots to make cigarettes of interest to parents, young adults, and even children. ¹⁹ The laws also required that manufacturers place the now ubiquitous warning labels on their tobacco products.

In 2010, the Food and Drug Administration was granted sweeping powers by Congress to regulate the tobacco industry, which manifested in “[severe restrictions] on the way the industry can advertise and sell cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products, especially marketing efforts designed to appeal to children and teenagers.”²⁰

The dangers of smoking are well understood and documented, but as far back as 1987, a writer in The New York Times lamented that “despite [the] overwhelming evidence,” 53 million Americans smoked 570 billion cigarettes a year, enough to make the cigarette business in the United States a formidable force; “against all odds,” says the Wall Street Journal, “the US tobacco industry is rolling in money,” thanks to Americans spending $117 billion in 2016, buying more cigarettes than they did soda and beer combined. ^21,22

For some in public health, however, the cigarette lobby is not the real problem. Chris Hawkey, a gastroenterologist, writes in The Guardian that research predicts alcohol will be responsible for the deaths of over 90,000 people by 2019, meaning the bigger danger is in the bottle, not the cigarette pack. Rates of alcohol consumption have increased throughout all levels of society and given way to an “epidemic of alcohol liver disease.”²⁴

Hawkey writes that while both cigarettes and alcohol claim thousands of lives every year, alcohol’s effects are significantly worse because, unlike cigarettes, alcoholism ruins lives and the drinker’s sense of self-worth before actually bringing about death. Hawkey notes that this “personal degradation,” and the destruction of family, friends, and other social circles does not usually happen with tobacco.²⁴ Yet, while the tobacco industry’s marketing is tightly regulated by the government, the University of Texas at Austin found that spending on alcohol ads has increased by 400 percent over the last 40 years. This comes even as the overall drinking rate has not appreciably changed, suggesting that alcohol manufacturers are spending literally hundreds of millions of dollars to convince Americans to drink more.²⁵

Chris Hawkey notes that the limitations on how tobacco companies can promote their products has “markedly reduced smoking and smoking-related illness.” ²⁴ Imposing similar restrictions on the alcohol lobby could save tens of thousands of lives from preventable death every year.

Unsurprisingly, the alcohol lobby has pushed back at any suggestion that they should cut down on their marketing. Companies have pointed to pre-existing codes that require advertising to not feature actors who appear to be under 25 years of age as proof that they are already toeing the line when it comes to responsible promotion of their products.²⁶

But Hawkey counters that in order to reach a wider and deeper audience, alcohol ads often enhance personal qualities, such as masculinity, sexual attractiveness, or general popularity. Whether in print, on television, or on the radio, alcohol marketing commonly presents alcohol as “the gateway to social and sexual success,” and the content of the ads is aimed directly at teenagers and young adults.²⁴

Binge Drinking and Drinking Delusions

There may be a temptation to think that excessive alcohol consumption is only a problem on the fringes, but a Guardian survey found that “52 percent of respondents drank above safe limits.” The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported in June 2017 that binge drinking rates among American teens and young adults is down, but at least 14 percent of people aged 12-20 still report having drunk too much alcohol too quickly in the past month. The director of the administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention stated that binge drinking is still a “serious public health issue for young people, their families and communities.”²⁷

Chris Hawkey concludes in his Guardian piece that while alcohol enjoys greater cultural tolerance than smoking, both vices present health problems that are too important to gloss over. In order to reduce social harm caused by the widespread encouragement to drink, everything from sports sponsorships to happy hours will have to be re-evaluated. Hawkey specifically mentions the practice of underage drinking around the family table as a form of introduction to responsible consumption as a “delusion.” The cultural practice is widespread in continental Europe, where teenagers as young as 16 are often given wine at dinner, and studies have suggested that children who are introduced to alcohol as a normal part of life are less likely to engage in binge drinking when they grow up.²⁸

There is a double standard that exists in how cigarettes and alcohol are accepted and regarded. “Any policy that treats alcohol differently to tobacco cannot be defended,” argues Hawkey, a point echoed in a 2015 report published in MySanAntonio.com.²⁴ Covering figures published in a National Institute on Drug Abuse survey, MySanAntonio.com noted that the drug mortality rate in the country is “overwhelmingly dominated by […] the two most popularly used and legally accessible drugs on the market” – namely, tobacco and alcohol. While tobacco was responsible for the deaths of 480,000 Americans in 2013, and alcohol for 29,001 deaths in the same year, heroin, prescription drugs, and cocaine combined to kill a notably smaller number of people: 4,202, according to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control. Even with moderate decreases in rates of dangerous alcohol consumption and smoking, the two vices are still the deadliest drugs commonly available.²⁹

For many people, the vices tend to be enjoyed together. Even though the rate of regular tobacco users has gone down,¹³ more people (most of them young women) are coming forward as “social smokers.” That is, they do not smoke on their own, but they will tend to smoke in the company of friends and usually when consuming alcohol. A 2015 study published in the Journal of Neurochemistry found that a number of drinkers crave the stimulant effect of nicotine, which helps offset the sleepiness that alcohol induces.³⁰ Other research has also noted that the nicotine in cigarettes can augment the pleasurable effects of alcohol, increasing the desire to drink more and then smoke more to counteract the depressant effects of the alcohol. ³¹

Prospective Memory

The part of memory most jeopardized by too much alcohol and nicotine is prospective memory, which involves planning and recalling future activities. Remembering to take medication at a specific time, or remembering to meet with friends at a prearranged place and time, is prospective memory at work.

Alcohol’s effects on prospective memory have been well documented. The Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal found that binge drinkers could remember to carry out fewer actions based on cues and timing than people who didn’t binge drink.³² People who smoke regularly experience similar issues. Another study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence noted that daily smokers struggle to remember to perform fewer actions based on prospective memory compared with people who have never smoked.³³

Wine Drinkers and Smoking

Unsurprisingly, people who drink and smoke at the same time (and in dangerous amounts) suffer greater setbacks to their prospective memory. Additionally, people who consume alcohol and nicotine in combination have difficulty thinking quickly and efficiently, and score worse on problem-solving tests than people who don’t drink or smoke together. Perhaps most worryingly, the Addiction Biology journal reported that people who are psychologically dependent on alcohol, and who also smoke cigarettes, are at a greater risk for brain damage. People who fall into this category display more cortical thinning in the frontal region of the brain, which is important for the retention and use of memory.³⁴

As dangerous and unhealthy as combined cigarette and alcohol consumption is, the relationship provides an unexpected way for the vices to be controlled. While there is abundant evidence that increasing state taxes on cigarette sales reduces smoking and helps people wean off the habit, the same move also lowers the drinking rate among people who drink too much and smoke. That’s according to research published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research in 2014. A surprising find was that this effect only applied to beer and spirits; wine drinkers, according to the authors at the Washington University School of Medicine, “are more likely to have healthier lifestyle habits” than other drinkers and would therefore not be affected by an increase in cigarette taxes. Simply put, people who drink beer or hard liquor are more likely to be smokers, whereas “wine drinkers are less likely to smoke.” Wine drinkers may also be better educated than people who favor other forms of alcohol and may therefore be warier of the health risks of smoking.^35,36

Controlling Tobacco and Reducing Drinking

The study’s authors theorized that “reduced drinking may be yet another health benefit related to tobacco-control policies.” Examples of such policies include the average price of a pack of cigarettes going from $1.91 to $8.54 in New York, a state that exercises some of the highest taxes on cigarettes in the country. Another policy is the ban on smoking in public spaces; again, New York has one of the strictest such bans in the country. Perhaps not coincidentally, researchers discovered that per capita alcohol consumption in New York dropped from 2.91 gallons per person to 2.06. States like Missouri, which have lower cigarette taxes and weaker smoking bans, experienced much smaller declines in per capita alcohol consumption (2.44 gallons at the start of the study period to 2.42 gallons when the study period ended).³⁷

The analysis carried out by the Washington University researchers suggests that a 20 percent increase in cigarette prices could potentially reduce per capita alcohol consumption by 2 percent. A comprehensive smoking ban in bars and restaurants would also reduce alcohol consumption by up to 7 percent.³⁷

Even taking into account that an increase in cigarette taxes would not significantly affect wine drinkers, the total per capita alcohol consumption was nonetheless reduced when states made smoking less convenient and more expensive. The researchers believe that this could lead to an overall benefit in public health where rates of cirrhosis, high blood pressure, depression, and injuries and fatalities linked to risky alcohol consumption would inevitably drop.

Killing Two Public Health Birds

In conclusion, the lead author of the study said that the only other drug that keeps alcohol off the list of deadliest substances in the United States is tobacco. Attempts to raise taxes on alcohol to control excessive alcohol consumption have been universally unpopular. After the spectacular failure of Prohibition in the early 20th century, and with the hundreds of millions of dollars the alcohol industry brings in, no politician would risk their future by suggesting a tax increase on beer or wine.

However, the cigarette lobby presents a much easier target, and it might be possible to kill two public health birds with one stone. An increase in cigarette taxes and stronger laws on smoking in public places would not only reduce the harm done to smokers and the people around them, it might also clamp down on the danger of excessive alcohol consumption by compelling people to drink less.³⁷

What Do Americans Think about Smoking and Drinking?

In 2014, Gallup’s annual Consumption poll revealed a number of insights into how the American public view smoking and drinking. For example, 58 percent said it is acceptable to charge smokers more for health insurance, but only 14 percent were all right with businesses refusing to hire smokers because of their habit. Even when hospitals make the argument that they have a legal right to refuse employment to smokers, “the average American does not agree with the policy,” but since charging smokers more for life insurance is a well-established practice, there is less concern.³⁸

Similarly, only 19 percent of people believe that smoking should be made completely illegal in the United States. This again stems from American antipathy toward totally banning anything, a skepticism borne from the failure of Prohibition in the 1920s.³⁸

While wine is strongly associated with highly educated Americans, “smoking follows the exact opposite pattern.” Only 6 percent of Americans with a postgraduate degree reported smoking compared with 27 percent of Americans with a high school degree or less. Gallup theorizes that having more levels of education brings with it the knowledge that smoking is not worth the health cost. Additionally, Americans who are less educated tend to associate with other people who are less educated; smoking, therefore, becomes more of an acceptable social behavior. Likewise, Americans who are better educated will associate with other people of a similar educational standing, which further reduces the likelihood that anyone in that particular group will smoke.³⁸

When smokers are asked by a survey interviewer about how harmful their habit is, the smokers admit that there is an element of self-damage in what they are doing, but they tend to downplay the degree of that damage (“a classic case of cognitive dissonance,” says Gallup). The way the question is worded allows 41 percent of smokers to agree that the practice is merely “somewhat” harmful while 88 percent of nonsmokers said that smoking is “very” harmful to health.³⁸

The “cognitive dissonance” at work allows the smokers room to confess to the obvious, that smoking is bad for their health, but it also gives them hope that the negative health effects are not as bad as they are made out to be or even that the smoker will somehow dodge the avalanche of health consequences that affect other smokers (a cognitive bias known as the “optimism bias”).

In reality of course, smoking is universally and extremely harmful for health; and no amount of optimism, cognitive bias, or alcohol will change that.

Citations

1.  “Economic Trends in Tobacco.” (June 2017). Centers for Disease Control. Accessed July 17, 2017.
2.  “Economic Contributions of the Distilled Spirits Industry.” (n.d.) Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Accessed July 17, 2017.
3.  “Alcohol vs. Cigarettes.” (n.d.) Columbia University. Accessed July 17, 2017.
4.  “Moderate Drinking Can Lower Risk of Heart Attack, Says Study.” (March 2017). The Guardian. Accessed July 17, 2017.
5.  “Deadly Deception: The Tobacco Industry’s Secondhand Smoke Cover Up.” (January 2009). Center for Media and Democracy. Accessed July 17, 2017.
6.  “Alcohol Kills More Than AIDS, TB or Violence: WHO.” (February 2011). Reuters. Accessed July 17, 2017.
7.  “Alcohol Facts and Statistics.” (February 2017). National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Accessed July 17, 2017.
8.  “College Women’s Experiences with Physically Forced, Alcohol- or Other Drug-Enabled, and Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault Before and Since Entering College.”(2009). Journal of American College Health. Accessed July 17, 2017.
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How many cigarettes are in a bottle of wine? March 29, 2019 .

British scientists say this comparison shows the health risks of moderate drinking.

But experts note that smoking creates a much greater risk of cancer than alcohol.

The only way to reduce the risk of smoking is to stop smoking completely.

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According to the recommendations of the UK National Health Service, men and women are advised to consume no more than 14 units of alcohol per week (one unit – 10 ml or 8 g of ethanol) – This is about 3.5 liters of medium-strength beer or seven glasses (one and a half bottles) of wine.

The guidelines also state that there is no “safe” amount of alcohol when it comes to health risks.

A study published in BMC Public Health indicates that even moderate alcohol consumption can pose a risk of cancer, in particular breast cancer – the most common type of cancer among women in both Britain and Ukraine.

How does alcohol affect cancer?

In the study, scientists calculated that if 1,000 non-smoking men and 1,000 non-smoking women drink one bottle of wine each week, about 10 men and 14 women will develop cancer in their lifetime.

In women, alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, and in men it is associated with cancer of the gastrointestinal tract and liver.

Researchers from the University of Southampton and Bangor used cancer risk data from Cancer Research UK, as well as data on malignant tumors in the population associated with alcohol and tobacco use.

“The overall picture of cancer risk is extremely complex and nuanced, so it’s important to remember that there are many assumptions in this new study,” says Minook Shoemaker of the Institute for Cancer Research in London.

“For example, it is difficult to completely distinguish between the effects of alcohol and cigarettes, and the studies did not take into account the duration of smoking or the time elapsed since a person quit smoking,” adds the scientist.

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The study only looked at cancer and not other diseases such as cardiovascular or lung diseases that are common among smokers.

The researchers used data from 2004 and did not take into account other factors that could cause cancer, such as age, family history, diet, or other lifestyle factors.

The number of cigarettes reported as an alcohol equivalent is small compared to the amount that smokers typically smoke per day.

Thus, some experts express doubts about the usefulness of such a study.

“Smoking is more harmful”

Photo by Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Professor John Britton, director of the UK Center for Tobacco and Alcohol Research at the University of Nottingham, says: “I’m not sure how many people think they should smoke or drink, despite comparing the risks. ” .

“Research suggests that in terms of cancer risk, smoking is significantly more harmful than drinking alcohol. Smoking is also significantly more harmful than alcohol for a number of other diseases,” says the expert.

“If smokers are concerned about their health, the best thing they can do is stop smoking. People who drink alcohol should stick to the recommended amount of 14 units per week,” adds Professor Britton.

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However, Bob Patton, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Surrey, says that the study could influence public opinion.

“The results of this simple study will have a big impact on how drinkers, especially women, assess the risks of drinking,” says Patton.

“Looking at alcohol in the same way as smoking can lead to a reduction in its consumption and, consequently, the risks associated with it,” concludes the expert.

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Which is more harmful: alcohol or cigarettes

Today, every grocery store sells cigarettes and spirits to people over 18 years of age. It is no secret that tobacco and alcohol are highly addictive in humans. Let’s compare both addictions and determine which one is more dangerous.

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What happens to a person who suffers from both addictions?

How do cigarettes work?

Nicotine in tobacco products is addictive. It is absorbed into the blood and begins to act on the brain within 10 seconds after a puff. Once in the body, nicotine triggers a series of chemical reactions that create a temporary sense of pleasure. But these sensations pass after a few minutes.

Nicotine affects many parts of the body:

• Brain : There may be altered brain chemistry associated with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.
• Skin : nicotine constricts blood vessels which prevent nutrients from reaching the skin. This can cause premature aging and wrinkles.
• Heart : In addition to increasing heart rate and blood pressure, nicotine constricts the arteries, which increases the risk of a heart attack.
• Lungs : Smoking limits lung capacity over time, which can also lead to serious illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease later on.

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How does alcohol work?

Alcoholic drinks contain ethyl alcohol: the more alcohol in the drink, the stronger it is and the faster alcohol intoxication sets in. In small doses, alcohol causes excitement, joy, a need for fun. However, in large doses, it leads to severe brain depression.

Just like nicotine, ethyl alcohol affects several internal organs:

• Brain : it impairs the functioning of the cerebellum – the place responsible for balance and coordination – and the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for thinking, memory and education. In this regard, consciousness becomes dull, anxiety increases, and the risk of mental illness increases.
• Liver : The main function of this organ is to filter bacteria and neutralize toxins in the body, but with regular use of alcohol, even in large quantities, the liver begins to work harder, which leads to inflammation of the liver and the development of cirrhosis.

• Heart : alcohol is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body, poisoning it. Blood pressure rises, heart rate increases, and this disrupts the metabolism in the cells of the heart muscle, develops myocardial dystrophy and causes arrhythmia.
• Genitals : Excessive alcohol consumption leads to decreased sperm count and impotence.

Double addiction

Alcohol and nicotine together act on general mechanisms in the brain, creating complex interactions. Recent research suggests that smoking may actually serve as a neurological cue to drink. According to scientists, alcohol enhances the pleasure of nicotine.

Speaking about the impact of two addictions on the body at the same time, you just need to add up all the consequences of drinking alcohol and smoking – as you can see, nothing good will come of combining these habits.

Which addiction is stronger and more dangerous?

Each of the addictions adversely affects the internal organs, and addiction develops equally quickly. It’s just that it’s a little easier for a smoker to quit smoking than it is for an alcoholic to quit drinking. In many cases, a course of psychotherapy is enough for a patient to get rid of smoking addiction, sometimes specialists prescribe medications. The treatment of alcoholism requires a much more serious approach. In some cases, the patient needs help in a narcological or neuropsychiatric dispensary. But most often, the patient is prescribed drug therapy, psychological correction and a long course of rehabilitation.