Smoking - Elderly and Young

Have you ever watched a 40's or 50's movie in black and white? I love them. They always have great story lines. What also is always present is the amount of cigarette smoking that went on in them, always a filter less cigarette. The cigarette smoking was always made to appear "romantic" and "high class". The actors would always be dressed to the nines, with a drink in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. Who knew then what problems would lay ahead for many of those same smokers.

Being a registered nurse myself, I have seen the end results of decades of smoking. Some of the problems are obvious and expected. Such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema Cancers of the mouth, throat, and lungs as well as cancers of the kidneys, pancreas and cervix. It also affects a variety of heart diseases along with peripheral vascular disease. The list continues on and on. Some reasons are not mentioned as much. Like the hardened wrinkles that all long term smokers have. Or being denied surgeries because there breathing

There are a lot of differences in the attitude of many years ago and today. The movies and advertisements of many years ago portrayed smoking as something as normal as breathing. Another fact is that the care packages that was sent to the US GI's during WWII, all contained filter less cigarettes. Many of the older Veterans that I have taken care of have told me that they began smoking from those same cigarettes sent to the front lines. In contrast, anyone younger around the age of 40 years old and younger, have been brought up with the knowledge that tobacco is dangerous and should be avoided.

Smoking and other uses of tobacco, after a period of time, create a strong addiction. This compulsion to smoke is increased with the amount of time the smoker has been smoking. In most senior citizen smokers this has been a number of decades long.

So the next time you see an older person smoking, don't be judgmental. Remember this: when they were younger they were told that nothing is wrong with smoking, and in a lot of ways they were bombarded with messages that smoking was actually GOOD for them. Maybe some day soon, people will not smoke and tobacco can be used for another reason. Like a new fuel source for instance.