(07-03-2009, 11:51 AM)iceybabes Wrote: Drinking is just as bad as smoking is on your body. People who drink in excess age their bodies quicker just as someone who smokes a lot does. Make no mistake alcohol is just as much an "aging" thing as smoking is. Drinking not only ruins your liver, kidneys and other internal organs it also damages your brain. The reason you get that "drunk" feeling when drinking is because alcohol narrows the blood vessels in your brain, thus cutting back the oxygen produced to your brain. Thus mild brain damage, because your brain NEEDS oxygen to keep going. Also your cheeks get flushed and your eyes get red, because the vessels get closer to the skin because they have constricted. While smoking yes is bad, it doesn't do near the damage internally as drinking does. Smoking effects your lungs yes but it does not affect your brain nor your ability to make proper judgment. Sorry to go off on this but it kind of rubs me the wrong way when people say smoking is worse than drinking. There is a reason they have AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and not TA (Tobacco Anonymous) Because addiction to alcohol is 10 times worse than addiction to tobacco.

Yes Hyde quit smoking cigarettes but he still smokes cigars. So technically he still smokes, just not cigarettes. Where as Kaz, I don't know if he quit fully or has started again. Quitting after smoking for so long is hard to do. I really wish they'd quit drinking however. But it is their lives and they can do what they want since they are of drinking/smoking age.

Uh, it depends.
I agree that excessive alcohol consumption and alcoholism do terrible things to our bodies, minds and society...but just a minority of alcohol consumers have a drinking problem. Wine and beer are rich in antioxidants, so moderate consumption can bring benefits to our health. I can't say the same thing about tobacco, though...it's true that the more you smoke, the worse it is, but even ocassional smoking causes damage to our bodies. I wish it was just the lungs, i'm far more concerned about vascular disease (permanent narrowing of vessels of your whole body) and myocardial infarction...btw, smoking also affects your brain: by cerebrovascular disease and by inhaling carbon monoxide (present in tobacco smoke). Almost forgot: alcohol doesn't narrow your blood vessels, it's a known vasodilator indeed (flush = dilation of skin vessels)
I'm a doctor and i don't like alcohol that much, so i don't have a personal agenda...i just adhere to the medical consensus that tobacco is one of the worst things ever.

I haven't seen Hyde with those ugly cigars lately, so i hope it was just a phase to quit smoking completely.