The study apparently did not bother to distinguish between smokers who inhale the smoke (i.e. cigarette smokers) and those smokers who do not (i.e. most cigar and pipe smokers). Regardless, my take on the statistical effect of reducing "all cause" mortality is that it simply reflects what most tobacco users have know all along: nicotine reduces stress levels, and smoking something you enjoy also reduces stress levels. Reducing stress levels (and reducing the stress hormones that accompany it) has been understood for years to reduce "all cause" mortality, most likely by reducing chronic inflammation.
Bo
Thanks for the post, I get a huge kick out of catching these little gems from the governement and watching how they so very delicately ignore the obvious inferences which might be positive towards tobacco despite them being so obvious.... same holds true for all the hit pieces published by govt backed researchers over the years... especially when you know the facts and can read through their BS, it provides a great deal of insight into how their "messaging machine" works in the various other government agencies and public policy...
The Medical world is certainly aware of many of the benefits which nicotine in its various forms and administration methods, its just not in their interest to promote those benefits because the tobacco companies arent allowed to pay the kick backs that the pharma companies do, in the form of Dine and Dash presentations which are aimed at informing doctors about the applications of new drugs on the market or new applications for old drugs etc... Theres also a fair amount of research showing nicotine significantly reducing the impact of Alzheimer's symptoms, from a Dr at Vanderbuilt if I remember correctly...
as to the effects that smokers have been aware of the whole time, certainly, animals and the rest of natural world has evolved to be very very good at self regulation and finding things around us that our body is requesting, humans may actually be some of the worst at doing it at least in our contemporary evolution, but we still do it.. Its pretty straight forward (atleast on a basic level of explanation) Nicotine is a stimulant, by definition Stimulants are on the other side of the spectrum of depression, which makes them "Anti-depressants". That's why you want to smoke more when drinking alcohol, your body is trying to regulate itself out of the depressive effects of the alcohol... nicotine also speeds metabolism, which is why you smoke after meals, similar to why people drink coffee after meals, to speed up digestion lol
