Quote:
Originally Posted by sylph16
Yes! Smoking can and does kill...but i'll be damned if i'm getting an inoculation from anyone!
ATLANTA - For the first time, an influential government panel is recommending a vaccination specifically for smokers.
The panel decided Wednesday that adult smokers under 65 should get pneumococcal vaccine. The shot is already recommended for anyone over 65. It protects against bacteria that cause bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and other illnesses.
Federal officials usually adopt recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The vote means more than 31 million adult smokers probably will soon be called on to get the shot.
Studies have shown that smokers are about four times more likely than nonsmokers to suffer pneumonia's disease. Also, the more cigarettes someone smokes each day, the higher the odds they'll develop the illnesses.
Why smokers are more susceptible is not known for sure, but some scientists believe it has to do with smoking-caused damage that allows the bacteria to more easily attach to the lungs and windpipe, said Dr. Pekka Nuorti, a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pneumococcal infections kill thousands of people in the United States each year, most of them 65 years of age or older.
The committee voted 11 to 3 to pass the recommendation, adding a call for smoking cessation counseling. Some members said it might be more cost effective to recommend the vaccine for smokers who were at least age 40, because pneumococcal disease is relatively uncommon in younger smokers.
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Ok when I was finally recovering from cancer treatments years ago , these so called kind doctors told me that if i did not get the Pneumovax shot that i would get it, they told me I was protected from getting it all together.. So to a degree I believed them and let them give me the shot..
6 months later I wound up with full blown Pneumonia and 1/2 collapsed left lung, which goes without saying was very painful, They prescribed me all kinds of pain killers and Allergy pills that never worked eventually I also cracked a rib or two coughing to no end.. Meanwhile whilst doing what my doctor told me to do My legs where going atrophy cause they told me not to get out of bed till I was better. Well let me tell you this, I never got better till I had to force myself to get up and walk around and stop taking the meds.. It took me another 4 full months before I could walk again with out aid.
My dad and his parents smoked since they where teens and neither of my Gparents died of any lung infractions, there lungs where pink at time of death and my dads lungs are still pink and he turn 70 this year.
I myself have C.O.P.D. My lungs where in mint condition, till I had those cancer treatments. The docs told me that by the time all was said and done with the treatments that i would come up with many diseases, which would include lung and heart disease...
When I talked to my Oncologist about The C.O.P.D. and asked if my smoking had anything to do with it, he said no and also stated that I was in perfect condition before the treatment even with the cancer. He also proceeded to tell me that There would have to be a lot more going on for me to have had any lung issues. He also told me that it would be a combination of a lot of factors before anyone got lung cancer.
Namaste-Matte
