Customer Reviews

The Health Benefits of Tobacco

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Dr. Douglass is known for his anti-establishment hyperbole, and it serves him well in creating his saleable persona. While there are very good benefits of limited use of the natural tobacco leaf, this should not cause us to ignore the very real dangers of cigarettes and their additives. Not to mention the stench.

That said, my guess is that the previous one-star reviewer has not read this book. Dr. Douglass does a good job of presenting some of the fallacies of the anti-tobacco lobby and benefits of tobacco. Read the fine print and you'll find that he also does not approve of cigarettes and their additives or over-use of tobacco. He is quite harsh on the tobacco companies.

Benefits of smoking include the well-known protective effect from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. However, sometimes Dr. Douglass can gild the lily, such as pointing to the combination of higher smoking and lower specific disease rates in Asia compared to the U.S. Even though he ignores the fact to gild his hyperbolic lily, I am sure Dr. Douglass must be aware of the reason: green tea. Even the staid NCI (National Cancer Institute) has reported on the protection that green tea catechins offer from cancer. Investigations have borne out the fact that here in Asia green-tea-drinkers who smoke have lower cancer rates than American smokers, but Asian non-green-tea-drinkers who smoke do not have lower cancer rates.

All in all a good book, and it is good to have a doctor willing to stand up to the fascists, but you will have to overlook the hyperbole.

I was skeptical at first. But after reading this book, and all associated sources, Dr, Campbell Douglass makes his case for the health benefits of tobacco. The book is easy to read. I read it in two days. It was so interesting, I could not put it down. He does not advocate heavy smoking, but moderate smoking of pure tobacco, without additives. He is also not inviting non-smokers to become smokers. He is merely citing flaws in numerous studies and proving the benefits of pure tobacco when used properly. Great read for open-minded people. If you are closed-minded or swayed by media/government, don't bother with this book. You won't be able to see the truth. You've already been too brainwashed.

As a non-smoker, I was not looking to find reasons to support any pre-existing view that I had. I just read this book becasue I have read other books by this author, and always found great results with the health ideas that he discussed.

After reading this book, I realized the extent the whole smoking issue is filled with lies and dis-information.

I still might not take up smoking, but after reading this, I know there is a great deal of good we can get from tobacco.

If you are a smoker, you really DO need to read this book, so you can find out the how to make tobacco assist you - reather then making some poor health choices.

Dr. Douglass is an anomaly in what is now deemed to be modern medicine. In an age where it takes great courage to stand apart from the orthodoxy of the now familiar anti-smoking movement, he demonstrates that he is willing to take a social and professional risk by remaining true to the ethics of science, no matter what the cost. By questioning the rationality, science, and ethics of the quit or die movement that has recently gained the ear of so many legislators, lobbyists, and do-gooders in the Western world, he points out the idiosyncrasies of what has now become a modern prohibitionist movement. You can say that he is a rebel of sorts, one with a cause.

He begins by questioning the selective studies of the establishment, which try with much tenacity to blame almost every disease of modern man on the evil weed tobacco. Everything from heart disease, to cancer, to the "dangers" of 2nd hand smoke, he suggests that other factors, such as infection and bacteria for example, might also be overlooked accomplices in the war on modern disease. This is blasphemy of course, but so was the solar system to the clerics in the days of Galileo. By no means does he deny or discredit the "relationship" between the use of tobacco and disease. What makes Dr. Douglass different from the rest is that he urges that we must look at the whole picture. He also urges us to take notice of the political activism that is attached to the issue of tobacco. This is something that he warns has distorted the very premise of science itself. Activism is indeed dangerous to the progression of science. The world is not flat after all.

The issue of a dose response relationship is strongly addressed; if you smoke more, you increase your chances of illness. This is true with alcohol, sugar, salt, and most anything that we humans enjoy. He is the only doctor (that I can think of) that speaks outside of the box by saying, go ahead and enjoy your 5-6 cigarettes ( or 3-4 cigars) a day; and by the way, don't worry about it; sounds like my kind of doctor.

Daring to go where no one will, he bases the thesis of his book on the benefits of tobacco. That's right, the BENEFITS OF TOBACCO. He gives examples like how moderate (emphasis on the word moderate) consumption can protect against what he calls "Senile Brain Disease" (ie., Alzheimer's Disease), Parkinson's Disease, Tourette's syndrome, and Eclampsia, and Atopics Disorders.

He also takes into consideration the social and economic impact of tobacco prohibitionist movement; not only in the Western World, but in the developing world, where believe it or not, tobacco is responsible for feeding and employing many of the world's people in developing nations. Hence, not only do smoking bans put bartenders and entertainers out of work in the 1st world, but they also upend the world economy. The WHO should take note. I won't go into too much detail; there are many interesting tidbits of information that have the potential to make even the most ardent anti-smoker think just a bit differently about that ancient weed called tobacco.... We should all just go out and purchase the book.

Individualists and rebels alike will be intrigued and entertained alike.

I've been reading Dr. William Campbell Douglass' health newsletters for around 20 years. I'm a Pastor, and concerned for the health of my body, so I do a lot of reading of health newsletters and articles. Dr. Douglass is my favorite. It was after reading his information on smoking that I got into smoking cigars myself.

Tobacco, per se, is not the problem. The biggest problem with smoking cigarettes is the additives, along with the fact that you inhale cigarettes, so your lung cancer risk is increased. As Dr. Campbell points out, however, there are many "up sides," even to smoking cigarettes, especially if done in moderation. But cigars and pipes are your best bet, since you don't inhale those, but you still get the benefits of the nicotine. Actually, there is a stronger relation between medical radiation (such as X-rays, and especially CT scans, which are often equal to around 100 X-rays each, or more) and lung cancer, than there is between smoking and lung cancer. And taking a hot shower with chlorinated water can do as much lung damage as inhaling a pack of cigarettes!

Here is a summary, in brief, of various health benefits that have been attributed to smoking by numerous scientific studies, most of which are found in Dr. Douglass' 400 page, well researched, and well footnoted book, The Health Benefits of Tobacco, as well as in numerous articles that he's written:

*Smokers have 50% less Alzheimer's disease.
*Smokers have 50% less Parkinson's disease.
*Smokers have 50% less prostate cancer.
*Smokers have 50% less uterine cancer (or endometrial cancer).
*Smokers have 50% less ulcerative colitis.
*Smokers have 30% less colon cancer.
*Smokers have 5 times less osteoarthritis.
*One study of 300 women showed that those smoking a pack a day for four years had a 54% decrease in breast cancer over those who did not smoke at all.
*Thyroid cancer is significantly less common in women who smoke.
*Moderate smokers have less gum recession than nonsmokers. Smokers are actually at lower risk from gum disease than non-smokers.
*Nicotine prior to major surgery reduces memory loss due to that surgery.
*Nicotine stopped the growth of antibiotic resistant tuberculosis in laboratory tests, even in small amounts.
*Smoking lowers rates of sarcoidosis and allergic alveolitis (both of these are lung disorders).
*Smokers have less acne.
*Smokers suffer less obesity.
*Tourette's syndrome improved within 24 hours while wearing a nicotine patch.
*In various scientific studies, smokers have been shown to have 50% less cancer in general [Those who inhale cigarettes immoderately have an increased risk of lung cancer, but many other types of cancer risk are still reduced by smoking, even among cigarette smokers. - JKB].
*Even in the case of lung cancer, Japanese men, who are twice as likely to smoke as American men, not only live longer but also remarkably, have lower rates of lung cancer.
*Attention Deficit Disorder patients showed dramatic improvements as well with nicotine.
*Smoking has been shown to stimulate alertness, dexterity, and cognitive capacity.
*Smoking can also counter both depression and excitability.
*Smoking inhibits blood clotting, thereby dissolving harmful clots in the arteries and relieving ischemic heart disease.
*Smokers also have a much better chance to survive, heal, and do well after heart angioplasty.
*Nicotine produces new blood vessel growth around blocked arteries.
*Smoking by women during pregnancy has been shown to significantly decrease the risk of high blood pressure, eclampsia, Down's syndrome, and many other conditions related to pregnancy.
*Smoking by men was shown to cause a lowering of cholesterol.
*Children of smokers have a lower incidence of asthma.
*Study after study failed to find any consistent, positive correlation between smoking and musculoskeletal birth defects. In fact, many studies show a negative correlation - that is, smoking during pregnancy could result in fewer defects than not smoking. (Dr. Douglass even recommends that pregnant women smoke cigars in moderation!)
*Studies have shown that nicotine acts as an analgesic, or painkiller, in humans.
*And yes, it's a little-known, but true and verifiable fact, that smoking INCREASES testosterone levels.

Proverbs 27:9, "Perfume and incense [nice smelling smoke] bring joy to the heart."

It's nice to see a prominent physician challenge the anti-smoking fascists. Bravo Dr Douglass !

A dear friend of mine strongly endorsed this book. He has since died at age 63 years of age from bladder cancer which
as many know is directly linked with cigarette smoking. That he was a heavy smoker is no surprise. The logic of this book
might appear appealing but it is nigh on delusional. Smokers who want a "doctor" to bless their habit might like
this book, but being against big pharma and mainstream medical practice does not make Dr. Douglass correct.
Light up folks, but at great risk to your health as my dear friend sadly found out.

Well, as with so much PR of various industries, there are all sorts of deceptions going on in this book PR! - A Social History of Spin. It's important to distinguish between tobacco and cigarettes which have dozens of chemicals added to them. Tobacco and many other substances have a long history of use and can have some benefits Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances, but the tobacco of the cigarette industry is quite different from the organic leaf people used to smokeOrganic Scherazi Iran Smoking Tobacco Herb 100 Seeds - Nicotiana. Recently, some cigarette makers have 'spiked' their cancer sticks with additional nicotine to hook consumers to their product. Moreover, the cigarette industry works tirelessly to overcome regulations on their manipulative marketing practices Frontline: The Merchants of Cool.
The cigarette industry is renown for its deceitful and lethal practices Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris, but this book is especially shameful.

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