President Obama still smoking

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Doctors' Advice to Obama: Kick the Cigarette Habit

Monday , March 01, 2010
By Colleen Cappon

Doctors say President Obama is "fit for duty," but that doesn't mean he's making all the right lifestyle choices.

After the president underwent a 90-minute physical exam at the National Naval Medical Center Sunday morning, Navy Capt. Jeffery Kuhlman, the chief White House physician, declared him to be in "excellent health."

But Kuhlman still had some healthy recommendations for the president. First and foremost: "Continue smoking cessation efforts."

Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a New York City-based cardiologist, said that despite the president's clean bill of health, he may still be at risk for heart disease, because he is a smoker in a high-stress job.

“It’s great that he is physically fit, but it won’t counteract the fact that he still smokes,” Goldberg said. “To reduce his risk of cardiac disease, you can count his exercising as a benefit, but he needs to quit smoking.”

Goldberg said stress not only can raise a person’s blood pressure, but it can cause him to pay less attention to his health.

“Heart disease is bipartisan problem, as we have seen recently with Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney,” Goldberg said.

Obama will return for another physical exam next summer when he turns 50. Until then, he is going to have to put some extra effort toward his overall wellness.

“President Obama shows that like all Americans, he is a regular person, he is going to have to work on taking care of his health just like we do,” Goldberg said.

Dr. Len Horovitz, attending physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, said he thinks too much emphasis has been put on Obama’s fitness.

“Exercise does not reverse effects of smoking on the lung,” Horovitz said. “He’s thin, which is nice, but smoking is the worst habit out there.”

This is not the first time Obama has been advised to kick the habit. In the past, he has used nicotine replacement therapy, most commonly in the form of nicotine gum. African American men are at a much higher risk for stroke and heart disease, conditions that smoking increases the chances of.

“Even a few cigarettes a day triples your risk of heart disease, so it’s not like a little bit of smoking is OK,” Horowitz said. “Since he is a black man he has higher chance of developing high blood pressure, and even though his blood pressure was very good, the game is not over yet.”

Before Obama began his run for president, Michelle Obama told the public that her husband had quit smoking for good.

“The president is great role model in every other health respect besides smoking,” Horowitz said.
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Doctors' Advice to Obama: Kick the Cigarette Habit - Stop Smoking - FOXNews.com

...As for the president's smoking, Gibbs said Obama continues to chew nicotine gum, and "occasionally falls off the wagon when it comes to that - like many who have struggled with kicking that habit."

Gibbs said he did not know who the president "bums smokes from" but that he "struggles" fighting "the addiction ... each and every day."

The president makes it a point not to smoke in front of his children or in public, as to not set a bad example, the White House spokesman added.

Obama still believes he's "95 percent cured" from his smoking habit, Gibbs said.

"The president understands that his health is more than just something that should be of concern to him and those that know and love him, but that his health is important based on the responsibility that the American people gave him in the election," Gibbs added....
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CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Spokesman: Obama indulges in pie, occasional cigarette - Blogs from CNN.com

...A previously undisclosed medical examination of Mr. Obama in July 2008 by a Congressional doctor was not conducted for any specific issues, Mr. Gibbs said. It came one month before Mr. Obama formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination...

Dr. Kuhlman recommended that Mr. Obama get his next routine checkup when he turns 50 in 2011. ...
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Obama Passes Checkup but Struggles With Smoking Habit - NYTimes.com

I'm surprised that the President doesn't get physical exams more often. Even the VA requires veterans (like me) to get complete annual physicals. :dunno:
 
Hmmm, guess when you're new and inexperienced stress has a way to keep you tethered to those cancer sticks.
 
Let's see......it says right on the box that it will likely kill you.....yet he still smokes them. Not sure that is the kind of decision making we need from the "Leader of the free world"
 
TXgolfer said:
Let's see......it says right on the box that it will likely kill you.....yet he still smokes them. Not sure that is the kind of decision making we need from the "Leader of the free world"
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I wonder how Michelle kisses him? Who wants to kiss a mouth that tastes like an ashtray? I still wonder if he still smokes weed or not, too.
 
Source: WikiAnswers - Which US presidents smoked cigarettes

Which US presidents smoked cigarettes?

Warren Harding, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lyndon Baines Johnson. Two others, Howard Taft and Dwight Eisenhower quit before becoming President. John Fitzgerald Kennedy smoked cigarettes in private but did not want people to know that he smoked. Many others smoked Cigars or Pipes. Ronald Reagan smoked cigarettes, during much of his earlier film career, but would quit before running for office. George W. Bush smoked cigarettes for many years, but would also quit in the early 90's. President-Elect Barack Obama admits still smoking cigarettes, but it is unclear if he will kick the habit once he is in the White House. It really doesn't matter if a president smokes cigarettes just as long it does not interfere with the nations safety.
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TXgolfer said:
Let's see......it says right on the box that it will likely kill you.....yet he still smokes them. Not sure that is the kind of decision making we need from the "Leader of the free world"
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You obviously have never tried to quit smoking.
 
TXgolfer said:
Let's see......it says right on the box that it will likely kill you.....yet he still smokes them. Not sure that is the kind of decision making we need from the "Leader of the free world"
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Interest point of view here. Everything around us likely kill us, not just smoke only.
 
TXgolfer said:
You are correct. I read that label on the pack and thought "why would I want to do that".
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those labels were not always on the pack of smokes. Cigarette companies for decades never even would admit they were a health risk. In fact they would claim the opposite. Meanwhile millions became addicted.
 
rockdrummer said:
those labels were not always on the pack of smokes. Cigarette companies for decades never even would admit they were a health risk. In fact they would claim the opposite. Meanwhile millions became addicted.
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To me it's common sense.......Hello???? You are breathing in smoke.

The labels have been on Cigarette packs since the 60's
 
TXgolfer said:
To me it's common sense.......Hello???? You are breathing in smoke.

The labels have been on Cigarette packs since the 60's
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You know, I smoked once for about a year when I was a young teen and I realized early on it was a stupid thing to do. It was about trying to look "cool" and to try and "fit in" with a crowd and such. I had the common sense to stop very early on and never looked back. The same thing with alcohol. I don't smoke or drink. Why should I? Why should it be that important? You won't die from not smoking or drinking but certainly you will die eventually from smoking and/or drinking if you go too far and in excess.
 
I wish some people would understand how hard it is for many people to quit smoking instead of critizing them. My hubby has been struggling for years to quit smoking. I have a hard time quitting soda so I cant imagine what it must be like to try to quit smoking.
 
TXgolfer said:
To me it's common sense.......Hello???? You are breathing in smoke.

The labels have been on Cigarette packs since the 60's
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Yes they started the labels in the mid 60's (1966 to be exact) but did not say it was dangerous to your health until 1970. Cigarette smoking has been widespread since the 1800's. That is a long time without labels or the admission from the tobacco industry that it is a health risk. Add to that impressionable children with smoking glamorized on TV, movies, commercials, billboards, magazine ads and they even made candy cigarettes.

I can understand exactly how people started young and become addicted in those times. I was one of them. Today thank God things are much better and cigarette ads and smoking are not in our face everywhere we turn. The problem is that once you are hooked it is difficult to quit even knowing the health risks. I was only in the 4th grade when I started smoking. At 10 years old my common sense was not quite developed yet and I grew up in those times where the risk was not acknowledged and cigarettes were glamorized and cool and in our face everywhere we turned. I have been smoke free now for just over 3 years. Trust me, it was not an easy path.
 
shel90 said:
I wish some people would understand how hard it is for many people to quit smoking instead of critizing them. My hubby has been struggling for years to quit smoking. I have a hard time quitting soda so I cant imagine what it must be like to try to quit smoking.
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Yes, it's hard but it's not impossible because many people have been successful at quitting. My dad, mother-in-law, and step-father all quit smoking as adults, without patches or gum. It can be done.
 
rockdrummer said:
Yes they started the labels in the mid 60's (1966 to be exact) but did not say it was dangerous to your health until 1970. Cigarette smoking has been widespread since the 1800's. That is a long time without labels or the admission from the tobacco industry that it is a health risk. Add to that impressionable children with smoking glamorized on TV, movies, commercials, billboards, magazine ads and they even made candy cigarettes.

I can understand exactly how people started young and become addicted in those times. I was one of them. Today thank God things are much better and cigarette ads and smoking are not in our face everywhere we turn. The problem is that once you are hooked it is difficult to quit even knowing the health risks. I was only in the 4th grade when I started smoking. At 10 years old my common sense was not quite developed yet and I grew up in those times where the risk was not acknowledged and cigarettes were glamorized and cool and in our face everywhere we turned. I have been smoke free now for just over 3 years. Trust me, it is not an easy path.
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Congrats! I hope my hubby is successful. He has a dr's appt on Thursday to see what he can do to help him quit smoking.
 
Reba said:
Yes, it's hard but it's not impossible because many people have been successful at quitting. My dad, mother-in-law, and step-father all quit smoking as adults, without patches or gum. It can be done.
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Everyone is different. My stepmom quit for 5 years in the early 90s but went back to it. My dad quit 20 years ago and never relapsed.

For some people, it is easier than others.
 
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