Forget McCain's Skin Cancer Risks, Obama Smokes Cigarettes

Pundits have been examining the presidential candidate's health issue recently insinuating - perhaps correctly - that McCain's skin cancer and age are working against him. The fact is that when all aspects of both candidates health are brought into the equation the odds of McCain finishing two terms in office are probably greater than Obama's.

What these pundits neglected to tell you is that Barack Obama is a self-confessed smoker. It's been referred to as Obama's "dirty little secret." 'Dirty' yes - disgusting. A 'secret'? No, except to the public. 'Little' - describing a candidate's smoking as a 'little' secret is like describing Mount Everest as a tall hill. In this day and age a fatally self-destructive addiction is a major concern and in need of prominent and repeated disclosure.

McCain, according to a study released in the Times of London, 'has 6pc risk' of dying from skin cancer. Read it here.

Obama on the other hand has all the risks that a middle aged man has of cancer and sudden death compounded by his genes. All that aside, the stress of the Oval Office could destroy any man or woman, particularly a smoker.

According to the U.S Department of Health, "heavy smokers (Obama) are two to four times more likely to have a heart attack than nonsmokers. The heart attack death rate among all smokers is 70 percent greater than among nonsmokers." This makes McCain look positively youthful by comparison.

Throughout his campaign Obama has hidden the fact that he is a heavy smoker. As any oncologist will tell you, even one cigarette makes you an active smoker and brings with it all the risks of death and incapacitation such as stroke, sudden death, and heart attack.

Obama admits to falling off the wagon to fuel what his physician refers to as a 'practice;' what we in the real world refer to as an addiction. See a June 08 ABC report here 'Obama Admits Smoking Cigarettes in Last Few Months'. The article quotes Obama's doctor.

"His own history included intermittent cigarette smoking," David L. Scheiner, M.D. wrote in a letter released to reporters. "He has quit this practice on several occasions and is currently using Nicorette gum with success" or as noted in the article "indicated that it has brought him a level of success." Safe to say Obama is still a smoker and a reputed Marlboro Red man at that, which as any smoker knows, are real hard-core smokes.

More recently in an article on Fox News entitled "Obama Admits Bumming Cigarettes on the Campaign Trail", Obama states that he only smoked 7 or 8 cigarettes a day, a number that any examining doctor will double as smokers - addicts - are notorious liars or, if you like to be politically correct, 'underestimators' of consumption. His 45 minutes of exercise a day probably does more damage than good to his health given his smoking blood chemistry.

All things being equal this levels the Presidential candidate's 'chances of death' balancing beam and perhaps tips the chances of dying on the job toward Obama. It takes five years - without cheating of any kind (no puffs or cheats - not one) - for decent noticeable effects to be made and for the odds of death to even out with those of a non-smoker. 10 years out you're in good shape.

It's important to know this information as corporations today pass over many employees and executives who are smokers due to health issues and difficulties with insurance. Obama hasn't be exactly deceitful; he just hasn't addressed the issue in the hope that it would go un-noticed.

Which it did, until now.

* U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: Cardiovascular Disease. A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office on Smoking and Health, 1984. D.H.H.S. Publication No. (P.H.S.) 84-50204.

* McGill, H.C. Jr, McMahan, C.A., Herderick, E.E. et al. Effects of Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors on Atherosclerosis of Selected Regions of the Aorta and Right Coronary Artery. Artherioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. March 2000; 20(3):836-845.

References:

1. McCain 6% Times article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5003444.

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2. Obama Admits Smoking Cigarettes in Last Few Months: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/08/obama-admits-bumming-cigarettes-campaign-trail/

3. Obama Admits Bumming Cigarettes on the Campaign Trail: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/08/obama-admits-bumming-cigarettes-campaign-trail/