Drinking Vs Smoking - Which is Worse?

Many adults with addictions to tobacco or alcohol will attempt to justify their bad habits but the question “which is worse, drinking or smoking?” is a common and an interesting one worthy of some thought.

A 2012 report from Germany has come to the conclusion that “heavy drinking” will kill a person faster than smoking will. The study found that alcohol dependant people died approximately 20 years sooner than the general population and crucially that people who drank heavily died earlier than people who smoked but did not rely on alcohol.

The data which was used in the study covered 14 years and 149 alcohol dependant adults; they discovered that women were most likely to succumb to the effects of alcohol when compared to the men in the study but the death rate for men was nearly double that of men who were not suffering from alcohol problems.

So the findings in this ground-breaking study may not be comfortable reading for either drinkers or smokers but the fact remains that the evidence suggests that alcohol is worse than smoking in terms of life expectancy.

Which is harder to give up though? Smoking and drinking are inexorably linked together for many people and one difficult fact is that recovering alcoholics, who are no longer drinking, find it even harder to stop using nicotine than those who have no alcohol problems.

Recovering alcoholics are more likely to feel the need for “something to rely on” or a crutch to help them cope with the symptoms of alcohol dependency. These are harsh facts but they could help arm people in their fight to give up substance abuse.

The answer for everyone…whether smoker or drinker is to seek help and to find which aids can really help you. E cigarettes are reported to have more success than other aids designed to stop cravings such as patches or gum. Since they are easily obtained and relatively affordable, they could really assist people in the fight against both nicotine andalcohol dependency. A recovering alcoholic with something else to rely on other than a cigarette could improve their chances of success overall.

Knowledge is power…learn the facts, listen to your body and stay strong!