smoking

[**DONOTDELETE**]

does smoking reduce the effectiveness of pheromone products? I\'m sorry if this is a dumb question...very new to this!!!

[Bruce]

It is not a dumb question. Don\'t worry. In fact (maybe someone can help me out here) but it seems like I read an article somewhere that was trying to draw a connection between loss of interest in sex due to smoking and loss of sense of smell. Does that ring any bells for anyone? Anyway, I don\'t think that anyone would deny that smoking slowly destroys your sense of smell and if that cuts down on your interest in food, it could just as easily cut down on your interest in sex (seems to me). So if you are trying to attract a heavy smoker, you might actually be in luck; just OD, OD, OD until you score a hit. One thing that young guys have often noted on the forum with much chagrin is that when they OD they end up driving off the young girls they are after and getting hit on my older women. Older women, like young women who smoke have a greatly dulled sense of smell any might just recieve your phero OD as that perfect moment they have been missing for many years.
Cheers,
Bruce

[CJ01]

Hi mags, I hate to contradict Bruce,BUT I have to add: I smoke and I have very sensitive nose!
Also, I cannot claim that smoking decreases the sex drive. If you´ve ever been to europe where a lot of people smoke you will notice this too. Germany, Britain, France etc everybodys at it like rabbits. images/icons/laugh.gif
Another thing , pheromones are sensed rather than smelled, so even if the sense of smell is `damaged´ this will not necessarily mean that the person is unable to detect or be affected by pheromones.

In case of smokey environments it´s different I guess. In places like nightclubs you need more fragrance and more pheros to make an impression. images/icons/cool.gif

Having said all that I would defintely not recommend taking up smoking - being a responsible, sensible adult (ahem... ) I had to throw that in especially for the young members on the board images/icons/smile.gif -

The age thing is a weird area too. Sometimes I get DHILs from older women as well as younger ones and sometimes I get nothing at all. I suspect that a response is also related to how the another person is feeling and how receptive they are.
CJ

[Whitehall]

CJ,

It may only be a coincidence but the countries you mention that are loaded with heavy smokers also have a declining population. Isn\'t sex somehow connected to procreation?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Whitehall:
They\'re reproducing at a tremendous rate, they\'re just all dying younger.... images/icons/smile.gif

[Watcher]

Idea smoking started to try and reduce other peoples pheromones i know when i have them on other people who normally smoke smoke more this could have something to do with the increased hormonal effects that come as a result. It is an interesting idea though because pheromones are impeded by large smoke filled enviroments.

Especially what i call the annoying nobodies those that when one is wearing pheros they hover around laugh stupidly (im talking beta males - especially young ones who hang around teenages mostly) they just hover in phreomone hotspots *namely me*

ANd then smoke like hell so i just keep away but they are just stupid. Or maybe not knowledgable with pheros.

[Bruce]

CJ,
I guess the issue of smoking is like religion or politics, it is laced with a lot of emotion. I was just trying to recall some research I saw somewhere, but couldn\'t really get a grip on it. After reading your post, what comes to mind is that smoking in the short term could very well provide a buzz of some sort that might increase interest in sex or relax inhibitions like alcohol does for many people. I really don\'t know about that, but it seems likely that tobacco provides something to smokers that makes it more likely for them to get involved in sex. In fact when I was young and living in the US, cigarette smoking by a female in public could act as a signal to nearby males that she was sexually available. Sort of a \"Hey, I walk on the wild side.\" message. These are all immediate short-term effects that may increase sexual activity among young people no doubt, but the effect I was refering to is something that occurs over the long term, after many years of smoking.
Bruce

[**DONOTDELETE**]

thanks guys, when I posted my message yesterday, I was about to go and meet the guy of my dreams (he exists!!) and I was smoking after we had dinner and my guy was too...but my PI(w) probably did help because
he kept giving me sexy smiles and deep, mysterious looks all evening and when we actually started to get intimate, he was like an animal!!! just like how it was when we first started going out....I can\'t wait for our next encounter images/icons/smile.gif

[CJ01]

Hi Whitehall,
I don´t know about declining population but I think you mean birth rates right? There has been a smell declintaion in birth rates the last few years and thank heavens! The birth rates had been going up and up the past few decades - too much.

There are several reasons an important factor is that young people , especially women I guess, focus on their careers, their own lives etc instead of becoming single or divorced mothers in their twenties. Also a lot of people don´t even have long relationships. Young people focus on their work, careers and sleeping around -as much as possible. images/icons/smile.gif

So the birth rate is not really that much connected to the sexual antics of the population, or the sex drive.

Another thing is also (possibly) that abortion is legal in most countries in europe, but I don´t know the statistics so I cannot say how the abortion rates affect the birth rates.
BTW sex is not always necessary to have children - just go to a sperm bank to get yourself pregnant.

As for the death rate - people are living longer too, generally speaking.

Bruce - those were the good old days when people were allowed to have a beer and a smoke in public right? images/icons/smile.gif Try doing that today. images/icons/shocked.gif

I´m pretty sure about longterm effects, of course. But they don´t only affect smokers. The environment you live in very much determines your health! For example did you know that south east Britain (London area) has the highst rate of breast cancer- this is very much due to the extremely bad air pollution in the region. images/icons/frown.gif

BTW I as I said I really didn´t want to advertise smoking but it´s just part of peoples culture, like alcohol, food, bonking images/icons/laugh.gif ... oh well.

mags, I didn´t realize you´re female, nice to have another girl on the board. images/icons/tongue.gif
I thought smoking in singapore was a tricky thing to do. This guy you´re seeing, have you just met him (fresh meat) or have you already been going out with him? good luck anyway.
CJ images/icons/smile.gif

[wingrider81]

Hey CJ,
I think that you bring up a whole lot of topics that people want to avoid. Then again, we are a topic that people want to avoid. Hey, it\'s great that are thinking about smoking impairment, it\'s a hint that maybe we are overdosing. I am just looking forward to trying TES tomorrow with my gf?. It\'s good that we can change our persona..
wingrider

[jvkohl]

Bruce,

I\'ll bet that you heard about this study from me.

Smokers are 50 percent more likely to suffer from impotence than nonsmokers. Results based on survey of Vietnam vets between the ages of 31 and 49. See Krane, 1994: American Journal of Epidemiology.

While reviewing references, I found another interesting article.

Feldman, H.A., Golstein, I., Hatzichristou, D.G., Krane, R.J., & (1994) Impotence and its medical and psychosocial correlates: results of the Massachusetts Male Aging Study. Journal of Urology, 151, 1,.
Testosterone concentrations fail to correlate with impotence; but higher levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA) correlate with lower risk of impotence.

Overall, DHEA levels correlate with DHEA sulfate levels. The two major metabolites of DHEA: androsterone (A) and etiocholanolone (E)are found in different ratios men/women.
One could expect higher levels of DHEA to correlate with higher A/E ratios in men, thus making androsterone a signal of masculinity, which is another reason why androsterone is included in SoE. It could very well make men smell more \"potent.\"

I presented on this topic at two Anti-Aging
Medicine Seminars circa 1994;1995. Nearly every neurodegenerative disease (e.g., Parkinson\'s; Alzheimer\'s) is first manifest by deterioration in the abilty to detect odors. One researcher even proposed that smell testing be used to aid in the early diagnosis of Parkinson\'s.

And here\'s a kick. Smoking cigarettes is linked to increased levels of DHEA, and to lower risk of Parkison\'s. Is the link to increased DHEA why --for many years-- smoking
cigarettes was considered \"masculine?\" If so, the affect might be attributed to androgenic (male) pheromones. Bizarre stuff--all theoretical but based on what we now know about human pheromones.

[Whitehall]

CJ,

Just gigging you a bit on the smoking and Europe\'s declining population. Other than Bruce\'s impotence correlation, I don\'t see the relationship - just wanted to give you some friendly harressment. I wish the USA had a level population (especially California) - with all the immigration we\'ve had over the last 20 years the place is getting too damn crowded. The politicians and the corporations just see the votes and the profits and not the environmental impacts - screw Americans seems their attitude.

[CJ01]

Hey, I forgot to mention the sperm problem I´d better leave it though.

Smoking increases DHEA -Interesting theory but maybe not such a good health option. images/icons/wink.gif
I would have thought that the opposite is true y´know. I wonder how those tests were carried out to come to this conclusion. They must have gotten non-smokers to smoke a lot and taken blood samples before and after... images/icons/crazy.gif I have been thinking about getting some tests done including hormones. So James what is a good level of DHEA for a female adult?

Whitehall, over population really is a huge problem also in central europe (party due to immigration also- sometimes I think there can´t be that many left in the east )PS this is one reason I was apalled when Bush announced that abortion will have to be paid by the women ie no help from the government. For the country (USA) this can work out a lot more expensive in the long term -but Bush himself will not be around then and someone else will have to deal with it. Okay I will stop before someone complains again. CJ

[jvkohl]

There are some advocates who might say the smoking/DHEA link is sufficiently beneficial to justify continuing a self-destructive habit. For example, smokers who quit add an average of 8 pounds to their body weight. The extra pounds do keep people from quitting, and are a significant health risk. However, mega doses of DHEA (1600mg/day) were credited with body fat, but not weight reduction in obese males: translation, they lost fat and gained muscle. No effect was found with DHEA supplementation in males who were not obese.

Normal DHEA values for males and females are established but depend on which lab is performing the testing. Recommended daily supplementation is max of 25mg/women, 50-100mg/men, but no long term studies have been done on middle-aged populations--it\'s the old folks that have been studied most, to date.

CJ101, typically DHEA would not be checked as part of hormone profiling, especially if there are any concerns about levels of reproductive hormones. If you want to discuss this, provide me with a way to reach you outside the forum.