It is a proven fact that lung diseases like chronic bronchitis and emphysema, part of the diseases grouped into the category chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), can be caused by smoking cigarettes. However, not much has been shown about the risk factors of other types of smoking for COPD.

A recent study that was reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine seems to suggest that those who smoke pipes and cigars are more at risk for COPD than those who don’t. In the study, 56 participants said they had smoked a minimum of 20 bowls of pipe tobacco or 20 cigars in their lives. The airways of 18% of these participants were blocked. Obstructed airflow is one of the major signs of COPD.

This study had a total of 3500 participants. Those who had never smoked cigarettes, but were pipe or cigar smokers, had lower scores than those who had never smoked on tests that checked for lung function. They were also two times as likely to present with obstructed airflow. For those who had smoked cigarettes, cigars, and pipes during their lifetime, the risk that they would have obstructed airflow increased by three times.

Cigar and pipe smokers are under the misconception that these are safe ways to smoke tobacco because they do not inhale the smoke. This current study refutes this idea and found that these smokers are still exposed to enough of the toxins from the smoke to have an adverse affect on the health of their lungs. Smoking pipes and cigars has also been connected to higher risks of throat and mouth cancers and heart disease besides the lung cancer.

The researchers who conducted this study find their results significant and hope that their findings will take away from the sophisticated way in which pipe and cigar smoking are portrayed. They believe that the tobacco industry wants consumers to believe that “these products play a suitable role in our society.”