cigarettes & stunting growth

[gookmique]

i've recently picked up smoking again, after a long 3 months of "quitting". i'm 18, so i can smoke legally - just putting that out there if any "forum police" were wondering. well, as i stated, i'm 18 and i've far from finished puberty. hell, i shave my face atleast once every two weeks or so. having that stated, i still have awhile to keep growing. my question is, is it ABSOLUTLY POSITIVE that cigarettes will stunt your growth? is it medically PROVEN.. can you find accurate evidence to this theory? or, is it some old wives tale to make kids not smoke? i picked my first cigarette up at the age of 10, started chain smoking at 16. if this theory is infact true, i wonder how much more i could have grown these past couple of years.

but see, the funny thing is, my doctor gave me a "guesstimate" - if you will - and predicted my height to be 5'10''. now, this was before i started smoking. having picken up cigarettes, i know stand at about 5'10'' or 5'11''. if this theory is indeed correct, i would like to know why cigarettes have not stunted my growth.

[Oblivion]

Just to throw this out there, even if you were under age we would still support you losing the habit

As for the question, i dont think that it is medically proven, just a common (maybe truthful) myth. And if you started smoking at 18, then you may have been done growing anyway, so it probably wouldnt have stunted growth

[gookmique]

Just to throw this out there, even if you were under age we would still support you losing the habit

As for the question, i dont think that it is medically proven, just a common (maybe truthful) myth. And if you started smoking at 18, then you may have been done growing anyway, so it probably wouldnt have stunted growth

well, that's the thing. i picked my first cigarette up at the age of 10, don't ask me why but i did. i was consulted by my pediatrician(spelling?), at the age of 15, that i would grow to the heighth of 5'10''. i started chain smoking at 16. but, as i stated, i haven't completed puberty yet. i'm sure i'll go through a "last official" growth spurt in the up coming year or two. i'm just curious if i'll grow to my potential since i've been smoking pretty habitually.

[Oblivion]

Maybe you completed the height part of puberty early, at 16. My brother is almost done growing and hes 15, so you may have ended growing early, but for puberty reasons?

[gookmique]

Maybe you completed the height part of puberty early, at 16. My brother is almost done growing and hes 15, so you may have ended growing early, but for puberty reasons?

meh... who knows... all i can say is that i'm tired of this change! i want it to be over with! :mad: AAHHHHH!

[BlackBetty]

It is a myth, it may or may not be true.

[byee]

It's a myth that smoking will stunt growth. You should be so lucky.

If you continue to smoke, you won't be so fortunate 'just' to have your growth limited. Smoking has been linked conclusively with cancer, respiratory disease, heart and circulatory disease. Actually, it's one of the few products on the market that, when used as intended, results in the eventual death of the user.

The effects of smoking are cumulative, they accumulate over time. So, all the cancer causing agents stay in your body, causing the bad effects. Part of the reason people continue to smoke in spite of their awareness of this is: 1) They become addicted to nicotine, 2) They deny the probability of disease or death, and 3) Because the effects take time to cause the probs., it's a slow process, the 'cause and effect' link isn't as apparent. Sometimes, people need to see things happen immediately before they decide to change their behavior.

Smoking interferes with just about every bodily process, and smoking at any age is a very dangerous (and foolhardy) behavior. At puberty, when so much is changing, the body really does need to be at full efficiency to accomplish those changes, so smoking during puberty is an especially bad time to smoke, since it interferes so massively with metabolism.

[CaptainObvious]

Yeah, I second IAMSAM. With the exception that the carcinogens in smoke don't actually stay in your body; the lungs will eventually clear the accumulated tar if you quit, as will other bodily organs.

On the other hand, when carcinogens damage your genetic code and begin the process of mutating your cells into cancer cells, that's for life. Be careful.