When friends get together, people often ask me about various health issues, and I also provide you with various information based on my own knowledge. Among the questions asked, one of the more is: Is smoking good or not, and drinking is good or not. The reason is very simple, that is, many of the people here are people who like smoking and drinking. So, today I will give you an objective answer.
Let’s talk about smoking first. Everyone knows that our efforts over the years have been to promote smoking cessation, because smoking can cause cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and many other problems. This is an indisputable fact. There are many people around us who have caused such problems due to smoking. Last year, one of my elder relatives died of lung cancer. He was an engineer, and he couldn’t leave his mouth when designing drawings. He also exercised every day. The relatives thought he would live a long life, but it turned out that the lung cancer was in the advanced stage. It didn’t take long. died.
But is smoking good for nothing? No, a large number of foreign studies have shown that smoking has a preventive effect on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
There are many similar studies abroad, such as a study by the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States, which tracked 120,000 female nurses since 1976, and another study started in 1986, which tracked 50,000 male medical staff. Including doctors in various departments, these two studies were terminated in 1996, and the statistical results showed that the incidence rate of Parkinson's in smokers was significantly reduced, and this reduction was proportional to the amount of smoking. People who smoked more than one pack a week lowest prevalence rate.
It is estimated that many smokers will cheer after seeing this, but don’t be too happy, because this study also shows that in the sample of hundreds of thousands of people, the death rate of smokers is still higher than that of non-smokers , which shows that although smoking reduces the incidence of Parkinson's, the incidence of other diseases obviously increases. Which of the two is more or less, you need to think for yourself.
There are many similar studies in foreign countries, basically the conclusions are the same, only a small amount of conclusions in the opposite direction.
So why does smoking reduce the incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's?
Researchers have different opinions on this aspect, and each has their own explanations. Some say that nicotine has certain reducing properties, which can prevent oxidative stress from damaging the brain, thereby preventing the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's syndrome. Some studies also say that there are nicotine receptors in the hippocampus of the brain, and the blockage of this receptor can lead to the onset of Parkinson's syndrome. Some researchers also analyzed from the perspective of the regulatory effect of nicotine on the release of dopamine in the nigrostriatum, because the main defect of the disease is the disorder of the nigrostriatum function. The researchers believe that nicotine-stimulated dopamine release can lead to immediate improvement and relief of motor symptoms and counteract damage to the nigrostriatum over a long period of time.
In addition, some researchers believe that there are as many as thousands of substances in tobacco smoke, and it is likely that substances other than nicotine are at work. In short, there is no conclusion yet about the mechanism.
So, is the purpose of the researchers to let everyone smoke to prevent Parkinson's and Alzheimer's?
No, medical workers are looking for the mechanism, and then see what kind of substance is working, and whether we can find drugs to prevent and treat the disease.
The onset of Parkinson's disease is related to aging, heredity, chemical pollution in the environment, and brain trauma. Studies have shown that smoking and drinking coffee can reduce the incidence. A friend asked: How about drinking tea? In fact, there are also related studies on drinking tea. According to a study by a medical institution in Singapore, drinking black tea can reduce the incidence of Parkinson's disease.
For these studies, I think it is very meaningful. In our family, my father is a Parkinson's patient. He suffered a serious brain injury when he was young. In the past, due to limited living conditions, he never drank tea. Although this is an exception, it is indeed more in line with what I said above.
So, what does Chinese medicine think? In ancient Chinese medicine, most believed that tobacco has a warming property and has a general effect. I think there may be some reason for this. At the same time, smoking can reduce anxiety and depression, which is probably one of the reasons.
Therefore, when people ask me about smoking, I will answer objectively. This thing must be harmful, but it is not useless. Those who have not smoked do not need to smoke, and those who have smoked should not be too stressed. It is best to reduce the amount slowly and quit gradually. Because on a comprehensive scale, smoking must do more harm than good.
Someone said: Isn't there some people who smoke all day long and live longer in the end? My answer to this question is: this is an event with a small probability, how can you guarantee that you are the "extremely fateful" person? Most of the time, the dangers of smoking are obvious.
Then, let’s talk about drinking. At the wine table, people ask me this question the most. Is it good to drink? I think wine is a good thing, the key is how to drink it.
First of all, let me tell you that wine can dredge the meridians, activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis. In ancient times, besides drinking, wine was often used as medicine, such as the "mash and glutinous soup" mentioned in the "Huangdi Neijing". It is what we call sweet wine. In that era, some medicines needed to be boiled with wine, or simply taken with wine, to relax muscles and activate blood circulation. For example, in Zhang Zhongjing's Zhigancao Soup, wine is added to the medicine and boiled together.
Now, when we study centenarians, we also find that many centenarians drink alcohol. For example, statistics show that in Rugao, Jiangsu, one of the four longevity towns in China, more than 60% of the centenarians there drink alcohol every day. of! Everyone should know that this is drunk every day, so this should be related to the effect of wine on promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and dredging meridians.
In fact, the phenomenon of longevity in Rugao, Jiangsu Province is particularly worthy of our study, because other longevity towns are mostly rural areas with very good natural conditions, such as Bama in Guangxi, but Rugao is a city. Why are there so many centenarians? How their living habits are, this research is very valuable to us.
However, it should be noted that most of these old people drink rice wine and rice wine, and the amount they drink every day is not much, just a small cup for a meal.
Therefore, I recommend that everyone drink some wine every day, which is conducive to the smooth flow of Qi and blood. As for what kind of wine to drink, I think rice wine and rice wine are very good choices. A moderate amount of beer is suitable for people with weak stomach, because it is brewed from malt and has the property of malt to grow hair, but do not drink it iced. A moderate amount of white wine is also possible, but I don’t advocate drinking high-alcohol white wine, low-alcohol white wine, and drinking a small amount is also possible. For white wine, I generally advocate soaking some nourishing and conditioning Chinese medicine, which can have a better conditioning effect. As for wine, it is indeed good for the National People's Congress. A large number of studies have shown that it is very good for reducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
So, basically, I am an advocate of drinking alcohol. The reason for this is that in addition to relaxing muscles and promoting blood circulation, another important feature of alcohol is to relieve stress.
Modern people are under too much pressure and have few channels to relieve it. Therefore, drinking a little alcohol can help reduce stress and relieve anxiety. I am convinced that this is also an important reason why it makes people live longer.
So, is there anything bad about wine? Of course there is, that is: alcoholism is harmful to health.
We say: too much is too much. Alcohol has quickly become a tool of communication in our lives, so its relaxing function is quickly used during banquets. Businessmen use it to relieve the tension of seeing dealers, and subordinates It is used to close the relationship with the leader, so our drinking culture has quickly become a drinking competition and alcoholism.
The harm to the body caused by drinking liquor like this cup after cup is obvious. Basically, every time you get drunk, it will lead to liver damage.
I think this is a tragedy. The wine that was good for health has been turned into something that hurts us. In our life, there are many such things, and the example of wine is the most.
Therefore, there is an essential difference between tobacco and alcohol. Although tobacco has some advantages, its disadvantages are fatal. What I do is to let everyone drink reasonably.
Chinese New Year is almost here, I talked about tobacco and alcohol here, I wonder if you agree with my point of view?
