Leonard Nimoy Reveals He Has Lung Disease, Warns Against Smoking

[Xyzse]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, this makes me sad.

http://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/leonard-nimoy-reveals-he-has-copd--warns-against-smoking-223318587.html

Leonard Nimoy Reveals He Has Lung Disease, Warns Against Smoking

"I quit smoking 30 yrs ago. Not soon enough. I have COPD. Grandpa says, quit now!! LLAP" he wrote on Twitter, referencing the traditional Vulcan salutation, live long and prosper.

COPD is a disease that makes it increasingly difficult to breathe, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Patients who have it often have the conditions of emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and experience tightening of the chest, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD, which is now the third leading cause of death in the United States.

Well, at least it seems he has had if for a long time and has kept active even with this.

These Octogenarian actors are amazing.

[lame54]

1. Smoking is not logical

[Aristus]

2. Never did understand it.

Most of my patients smoke, unfortunately, even and especially the ones with asthma, and who have already been diagnosed with COPD.

I try to tell them: "When you smoke, you're breathing in carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, every chemical lung irritant known to man, and no oxygen. And you're paying to do it."

The easy answer is 'addiction', of course. But even an addiction to nicotine takes time to develop. It's not like one puff and you're gone forever.

Goddamn those stupid, poisonous brown leaves.

[RebelOne]

12. I am 75 years old and have been smoking since I was 16.

I had a chest X-ray on Tuesday and my lungs are clean. Now explain that.

[antiquie]

13. Good genes.

[Aristus]

14. Very likely.

Just don't tell me it's not addictive. You've been at it for almost 60 years now.

And I've seen isolated examples of people who escaped the ravages of cigarette smoking. Good for them. But it would be folly to suggest that just because a few people don't spend their golden years in agony, simply trying to catch a breath, people should light up and puff away like mad. I'd be a very poor scientist if I advocated that.

Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of patients I have who have been smoking for long periods of time suffer some form of lung disease.

You bet the odds and won. Not every does.

[RebelOne]

15. Yes, I did beat the odds for now.

I was terrified to hear the results of my X-rays, but was ecstatic to hear they were good. Maybe in 5 or 10 years, my bad habit will catch up with me. But I won't regret it because I have had a fantastic life and accomplished all my dreams other than becoming a millionaire.

[trof]

16. Same here, Reb. I'm 72.

Maybe genes, maybe environment?
Or both?

I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama when steel was still king.
The crap those foundrys spewed out was incredible.
It would actually peel the paint off your car is you lived near a steel mill.

My doc shakes her head.
"You have the lungs of a man half your age, but I still wish you'd quit."
"Maybe someday. Maybe."

[RebelOne]

20. That is what my doctor said to me today

after giving me the chest X-ray results. She said that I should really cut back on smoking.

[Blaukraut]

22. My mother's lung x-rays were always perfect

She was a smoker from age 30 onward. This past Christmas she died from dementia, which was partly caused by smoking. She suffered from that particular ailment for 5 years, because otherwise her organs were so healthy. She was 82, but she might as well have died at 78, because that was the last time she was herself.

My cousin smoked since she was 12. She was diagnosed with COPD when she was 45. She is now 53 and her lungs are at 40% capacity. Not enough for a transplant, but enough to be on disability. She can't walk 20 feet without wheezing and having to take a break to catch her breath. Her youngest child is 12. He will likely see his mom end up on a respirator before he finishes high school.

I quit smoking 4 years ago because I developed allergic asthma. Ironically that's what it took for me to quit, or I'd still be that social smoker who lights up when in company.

We might think years of smoking have left no mark on our bodies, but that's just not true. Something, somewhere is screwed up from decades of dragging poison into our system.

[PassingFair]

23. Nicotine has a positive effect on depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.

That's why they are drawn to it.

Over 80 percent of schizophrenics self medicate with nicotine.

[gvstn]

9. This is true.

And the idea that "Mr. Spock" ever smoked at all does not compute for me. I just can't picture it in my mind.

[progressoid]

21. It's his human half.

[spiderpig]

3. Not Spock!!!

Although on his recent appearances on Fringe his voice sounded very thin.

A coworker who was a flight attendant described him as "a lovely man...a lovely man". Another coworker was in an ice cream shop at an adjacent table and described him as friendly and charming.

I love him.

[Xyzse]

4. Me too...

Then again, I love the whole Star Trek crew, particularly the original one.

[spiderpig]

5. You might enjoy this story

I was in London at the Regency Cinema where they still had ushers. I was going to see Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan. The usher asked me how many times I'd seen it (Star Trek gag). I said this one was the first, and he told me I'd love it because it was just like the TV show.

First movie I ever bought on VHS.

[Xyzse]

6. Nice...

I've only seen it once.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I like Star Trek, but I don't think I'm a hardcore fan.

Full Disclosure: I only got to see it recently before the newest Star Trek movie.
I blame it on being busy and having so many other things to watch when I am, and never actually finding the time to get that movie.

I lucked out when I saw it on Netflix and OnDemand.

[spiderpig]

7. The latest ST film was a basic reworking of STII

I have to say Zachary Quinto does a great job as Spock. And does Chris Pine have blazing blue eyes (contacts) or what?

Another funny story I remember about STII was that the rumor circulated that Spock was going to die, and the Trekkers were threatening to not see the film more than 3 times if it were true.

[Xyzse]

8. LOL

That is pretty funny.

[spiderpig]

24. Nimoy & The Shat were born within a week of each other in 1931

They'll be 83 at the end of March.

Hard to believe. I need to put cold cloths on my forehead.

[Xyzse]

25. I like Shatner too

He is so goofy it is awesome.

[spiderpig]

27. Have you read his books? Or better yet heard him read them on audio

For a long time he was dissed by costars for being full of himself, but then he stopped taking himself so seriously & is a riot.

I loves The Shat. (And despite all the publicity about him & Nimoy not getting along, Nimoy was best man at his wedding.)

[Xyzse]

28. Well that's good.

Yeah, I can see him being full of himself, especially around the 80s - early 90s.

I enjoy actors who don't take themselves seriously and can make fun of themselves.
It is why I like the Rock so much.

[edbermac]

10. As the Vulcans would say: Peace and long life.

[Auggie]

11. Spread the word Mr. Nimoy

[TexasBushwhacker]

17. After Yul Brynner died

they released an anti-smoking ad he made when he found out he had lung cancer. I took my mother to see him in The King and I a year or two before. I was a new school teacher, but I splurged on good seats for Mother's Day. To see this after he was gone was just heartbreaking.

[spiderpig]

18. The King and I was the first movie Mr. pig remembered going to in a theater

I saw it too & remembered Deborah Kerr's huge skirts.

Decades later my parents were seated behind Brynner on a flight to Switzerland. He was dressed in black per his Westworld persona. My mother said he kept raising his arm & pointedly looking at his Pulsar watch, which was quite the thing back in the day.

They deplaned him in a wheelchair & he died soon after.

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. He was so ALIVE

We had great seats - right in the middle, a few rows back so we weren't looking up his nose. When he threw up his arms at the end, my mother burst into tears. She's gone now. It's a sweet memory.

[spiderpig]

26. What a kind gift to your mom.

And you will have that memory forever.

[hrmjustin]

29. Wish him the best.