People with drug habit deny risks

Dear Dr. Gott: I have an 82-year-old neighbor who is a chain cigarette smoker. He feels there is no proof that smoking causes lung cancer. He says that over the past 20 years, smokers’ deaths have decreased from about 42 percent to 28 percent of the population, while during that same period, the lung cancer death rate has greatly increased. A visit to our local library confirmed these statistics, much to my surprise. Can you explain this?

Dear Reader: Most people who have a drug habit – be it narcotics, alcohol or cigarettes – engage in denial (“it won’t really hurt me”) and invent wonderfully imaginative excuses to justify their addiction.

I can recall no sounder or more valid medical conclusion than this: Cigarette smoking is associated with lung cancer – as well as heart disease, chronic pulmonary disorders and malignancies of the mouth and throat. These relations have been repeatedly demonstrated in numerous studies performed both here and abroad. There is simply no doubt.

Your neighbor’s proclivity to play games with cancer-mortality data is understandable but hardly productive.

For example, there are more people now than there were 20 years ago, fewer smoke and all of us are living longer. Therefore, one would expect an increase in deaths from diseases that are not directly associated with tobacco. The fact that “smokers’ deaths” have decreased from 42 percent to 28 percent (if, indeed, this is fact) and that lung cancer has been on the rise indicates to me that fewer smokers are reaching old age, and those who do may die from lung cancer.

Statistics are tricky; they can “prove” almost anything you want. My reaction to your neighbor’s fantasy is “posh!” He should stop smoking.

To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “Pulmonary Disease.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Dear Dr. Gott: I’m taking Questran Light for high cholesterol. Since I began this treatment, I’ve lost a great deal of hair and my knees ache. Is there a connection?

Dear Reader: I doubt it. Questran Light, a nonabsorbable drug to lower cholesterol, has not been reported to cause hair loss or joint pain.

Nonetheless, the Questran is undoubtedly affecting cholesterol metabolism in your body and, perhaps, this primary effect has led to secondary consequences. Ask your doctor about this.

Remember that whether or not you are prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, the cornerstone of therapy continues to be a low-fat diet.