Smoking yes Or No When Diving.......

[caroln]

Originally Posted by mwhities

Well, the two I've dove with, I could taste the smoke on the regs. They've dove the same regs for 6+ years. Maybe yours hasn't.


Michael

That is gross. I think I'd puke if I tasted smoke on the regs. Just the smell is nauseating enough.

[wgt]

I believe that the OP was inquiring concerning the potential inadvisability of diving by heavy smokers. Somehow, the thread became subverted to testimony concerning the palatability of buddying with a smoker.

Originally Posted by scubadiving

I just arguing with a friend, about whether you should dive when a heavy smoker, it seams to me, doing anything that reduces the bodies ability to breath oxygen, when deep diving must be a bad thing, I’m not criticising smokers, each to there own, but diving is a risky business even when healthy, any opinions?


From


Scuba Diving For Life

[bdinnocenzo]

I was a heavy smoker when I first started diving. Four packs a day -- no, I'm not kidding, 4 packs a day. This was back in 1982 when smoking was socially acceptable. I would literally light up before my feet hit the ground in the morning and smoke all day.

Then I started diving. As with most new divers my air consumption was huge. I asked my instructor is smoking had anything to do with it. True or not he said it did. Since I loved diving so much and wanted to get the most out of it I quite then and there. That was in 1982 and I haven't had a cigarette since. After 14 years of smoking I just quite! I attribute my long term success of kicking the habit to diving and diving alone. I had never tried to stop smoking before that point, but as I said, diving was a huge motivator for me.

So for me, diving and smoking did not mix and I'm a happy and healthier man because of diving!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

-Bill

[mwhities]

Originally Posted by bdinnocenzo

I was a heavy smoker when I first started diving. Four packs a day -- no, I'm not kidding, 4 packs a day. This was back in 1982 when smoking was socially acceptable. I would literally light up before my feet hit the ground in the morning and smoke all day.

Then I started diving. As with most new divers my air consumption was huge. I asked my instructor is smoking had anything to do with it. True or not he said it did. Since I loved diving so much and wanted to get the most out of it I quite then and there. That was in 1982 and I haven't had a cigarette since. After 14 years of smoking I just quite! I attribute my long term success of kicking the habit to diving and diving alone. I had never tried to stop smoking before that point, but as I said, diving was a huge motivator for me.

So for me, diving and smoking did not mix and I'm a happy and healthier man because of diving!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

-Bill

Bill Good job! I'm proud to hear this! I still wouldn't have dived with you though. Will now!

Michael

[MSilvia]

I've been a smoking diver, and I've been diving with a lot of smokers. I've found it curious and counter-intuitive, but in my experience some of the folks with the very best RMV rates were smokers.

One buddy once suggested it was due to reduced lung capacity, but I'm not sure I buy that.

[texdiveguy]

Originally Posted by MSilvia

I've been a smoking diver, and I've been diving with a lot of smokers. I've found it curious and counter-intuitive, but in my experience some of the folks with the very best RMV rates were smokers.

One buddy once suggested it was due to reduced lung capacity, but I'm not sure I buy that.

RMV rates are just 'part' of the very negative issues that smoking and diving combine.

[MSilvia]

Originally Posted by texdiveguy

RMV rates are just 'part' of the very negative issues that smoking and diving combine.

I'm sorry... did you take what I said as an endorsement of smoking? It wasn't intended to be.

Aside from reiterating that smoking is bad, do you have any thoughts on how it could be that, in some cases, smokers seem to have RMVs superior to those of healthy non-smokers?

[bubbletrubble]

Originally Posted by MSilvia

I'm sorry... did you take what I said as an endorsement of smoking? It wasn't intended to be.

Aside from reiterating that smoking is bad, do you have any thoughts on how it could be that, in some cases, smokers seem to have RMVs superior to those of healthy non-smokers?

@MSilvia: I'm not surprised that heavy smokers might have better RMVs than non-smokers. Smokers have a higher probability of having one type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) known as emphysema. In this disease process, the lung air sacs (alveoli) pop out and become thin-walled. As a result, their ability to exchange gas is diminished. These alveoli then have a greater propensity to trap air, decreasing the amount of air that moves into/out of the lungs. This is the same reason why a small person with smaller lung volume might have a lower RMV than a big person with larger lung volume. Hmmm. Perhaps we should correct the RMV for actual functional lung volume. That would make it more of an apples-to-apple comparison.

There are many reasons why divers shouldn't be smokers. Bad for the heart. Bad for the lungs. Diminished oxygen carrying capacity of the blood (due to carbon monoxide displacing oxygen from heme). Increased risk of pulmonary barotrauma and spontaneous pneumothorax. Increased chance of AGE. There's also the increased risk of cancer. I generally hate referring to ScubaDiving.com articles but there's a particularly good one on smoking and how it relates to diving. Here's the link to it. It's a good read with simple/clear explanations of the disease process involved.

To those smokers out there: Please consider kicking the habit.
To those smokers who have stopped: Congrats! You'll probably live longer and better.

[texdiveguy]

Originally Posted by MSilvia

I'm sorry... did you take what I said as an endorsement of smoking? It wasn't intended to be.

Aside from reiterating that smoking is bad, do you have any thoughts on how it could be that, in some cases, smokers seem to have RMVs superior to those of healthy non-smokers?

I simply stated a fact!

It might also be stated that RMV's are just a single part of effective healthy diving.

I noted your 'earlier' statement of being a past smoker/diver....congrats for being aware enough that smoking is a big time down fall the divers who choice to smoke and dive......I know also that there are FAR more non smoking divers with FAR superior RMV's then those that do smoke.....I have yet to meet a smoker whom dives that beats my non smoking RMV.

[Sansho]

I know I read an article sometime recently on smoking and diving, but dang if I can't find it. So, over to DAN, who did one study that concluded "that smoking cigarettes, independent of other risk factors, may cause divers with DCI to manifest more severe symptoms than non-smokers" and the advice to stop smoking since "Cigarette smoking compromises heart and lung function, and nicotine can constrict blood vessels resulting in hypertension".

I'm sure the article I can't put my hands on said something like avoid smoking 24 hours before and after diving.