Reid wrong about comfort of smoking, research shows
BMJ 2007; 334 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39153.351042.DB (Published 15 March 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;334:555
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The title of this news article is wholly incorrect, as pointed out
above. The research shows that smokers have, on the whole, lower levels
of pleasure. It did not even attempt to assess whether in the course of a
smoker's day, smoking a cigarette was one of the more pleasing moments -
which was what John Reid suggested. He did not suggest that smokers had a
better quality of life than non-smokers.
I feel the article does nothing to contribute to an important debate
on quality of life and smoking; instead it makes an unsupported assertion,
so should be withdrawn.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Reid did not mean that smoking in some way contributed to general
population
wellbeing, rather that in conditions of severe deprivation people have few
reliable sources of satisfaction, of which smoking is often one.
Qualitative
research with women living in poverty who smoke finds that they frequently
talk
in terms of smoking being their only reliable pleasure in life (Bancroft
2003;
Graham, 1993).
Bancroft, A; Wiltshire, S; Amos, A and Parry, O (2003) “It’s like an
addiction first
thing … afterwards it’s like a habit: daily smoking behaviour among people
living in areas of deprivation.” Social Science & Medicine, 56, 6,
1261-1267.
Graham, H (1993) When Life's a Drag: Women, Smoking and Disadvantage,
London: HMSO.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Sir,
That evidence based medicine has become the lynch pin of modern
medical practice is both right and true. However, I have major issues
with its application and specifically with the interpretation of the
evidence itself. This brief article reporting research into the happiness
of smokers is a case in point.
It is suggested that the new research disproves John Reid’s views
that, for some people, smoking is the only pleasure they have. I have
been unable to access the full text of the paper, but the reported results
surely support Mr. Reid’s stated view: if people who smoke experience less
general pleasure than those who don’t, then it is reasonable to conclude
that they may continue to smoke because it is one of the few specific
pleasures they do actually have. Otherwise they are masochists who
continue to deliberately increase their own misery.
Yours truly,
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
It is refreshing that finally a politician comments were proven wrong
by scientific research. This new study published in (Public Health ,2007
Mar 2) shows very clearly that there is no evidence to support Mr. Reid’s
claims that smoking is associated with increased levels of pleasure. In
fact, the results suggested the opposite: that smoking is associated with
less pleasure and poorer quality of life.
I think that the only good outcome of the health secretary’s comments
is that it encouraged this team of scientists and doctors to perform this
study and clearly demonstrate the negative association between smoking and
measured pleasure.
References:
1/ Was John Reid right? Smoking, class, and pleasure: A population-
based cohort study in England. I. Lang et al. (Public Health 2007 Mar 2,
doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2007.01.005)
2/ Reid wrong about comfort of smoking, research shows. Roger Dobson.
BMJ 2007;334:555 (17 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39153.351042.DB
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Cause and Effect
Since when did an association prove cause and effect?
Apparently the authors have decided that the association between poor
quality of life and heavy smoking proves heavy smoking proves lowers
quality of life.
How about the other way around? The worse the life, the more you
smoke, because----smoking is pleasurable.
Did anyone ask the smokers whether they liked to smoke, and whether
it gave them pleasure?
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests