Inhaling Cigars

The ill effects of smoking cigarettes is perhaps known to all. And perhaps, many people are looking at other safe alternatives. Most assume that products like hookahs and cigars cause lesser damage than what a cigarette does. Hookahs, because people suppose that the smoke is filtered by the water and cigar because, smokers usually do not inhale the smoke. But to tell you the truth, no tobacco product is safe and tobacco smoking does not, in any way, have any kind of safe level of exposure.

Effects of Smoking Cigars

What differentiates cigars from cigarettes is the quality of the tobacco used in both these brands. In the latter product, the brand of tobacco is never fermented, while in the former it is. And this very process of fermentation is related to the health risks of smoking cigars. During fermentation, the production of cancer-causing nitrosamines in high concentrations. These harmful compounds are released when a cigar is being smoked. As the quantity of these carcinogens is higher in cigars than in cigarettes, this proves the point that smoking cigars is possibly more toxic than smoking cigarettes. Also, the tar that is produced in smoking cigarettes is less compared to the one during inhaling cigars. You may have noticed that the wrappers used in manufacturing cigars happen to be less porous than the ones used in making cigarettes. As a result of this the burning of tobacco in cigars remains less complete than the same in cigarettes. And this in turn makes the concentrations of toxins in them higher.

Also, more the smoke, higher the exposure to toxic compounds. Cigars are larger in size, having more tobacco and that is why they last longer than any ordinary cigarette. So this vouches for the fact that cigar smoking is subjected to greater amounts of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, ammonia, cadmium, and other toxic substances.

As cited above, smoking cigar does not involve inhaling the smoke unlike in the case of cigarettes. And that is why with cigars, the risks of contracting lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and lung disease although higher than non-smokers, are not as high as smoking cigarettes. However whether you inhale or you don't, your lips, mouth, tongue, throat, and larynx are exposed to the smoke and cancer causing elements. Furthermore, your saliva carries the smoke constituents, which ultimately reaches the esophagus.

Coming to another important point, smoking cigars expose the body to high levels of nicotine. According to studies, a single cigar can make up for the complete nicotine content for a pack of cigarettes. So even if you skip inhaling the cigar smoke, your body absorbs nicotine through the lining of your mouth.

Cigars, whether inhaled or not, can lead to painful medical conditions which make the body debilitate day by day and worsen the quality of life. It is however, also true that quitting the habit is not as easy as it is seems to be, especially when one has to suffer from the withdrawal symptoms. But then, there are alternatives such as nicotine replacement products which help in providing measured levels of nicotine to the body. In this way, the user can control his craving for smoke, and may also be able to quit the habit altogether.