Phrases To Avoid: "As Dangerous As Smoking"

[walkitout]

Link fu, may be updated. Trigger: an NYT Style section article asking if wearables might one day be determined to be as dangerous as cigarettes. I went, wha-? Cause, bluetooth low energy. I read it. Bilton is apparently going for the clicks and there isn't really any thing here to worry about.

[ETA: BI has weighed in, summarizing various other people engaging in debunkery of the Bilton Style piece. http://www.businessinsider.com/smartwatch-cancer-apple-watch-nick-bilton-new-york-times-wrong-2015-3]

But it dawned on me that I've heard the twin phrases "as dangerous as cigarettes" and "as dangerous as smoking" a lot lately. I think we should all collectively back away from this comparison, because, basically, nothing that people are proposing as dangerous as smoking/cigarettes actually is.

For your linkaliciousness, as dangerous as smoking:

Being alone: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/03/16/study-being-alone-as-bad-as-smoking-excessive-drinking/

Shaking hands: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/05/20/is-your-handshake-as-dangerous-as-smoking/

Egg yolks (to be fair, this guy is debunking) http://jonnybowden.com/egg-yolks-study/

Sitting: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2001824/Sitting-dangerous-smoking-study-shows.html

Eating animal protein: http://www.healthline.com/health-news/food-high-protein-diet-increases-mortality-risk-030414

(An incredibly confusing headline here, about the relative risks of e-cigarettes: http://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2015/feb/23/theres-no-evidence-e-cigarettes-are-as-harmful-as-smoking)

Hookahs: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/249710.php

I've heard some researchers who have become advocates on this topic argue that waterpipes are actually worse than cigarettes.

http://feather-mag.com/4-unhealthy-habits-as-dangerous-as-smoking/

This has _4_ candidates: high protein, sitting, drinking soda and ... getting sunburned.

A few years ago, WHO weighed in against sunbeds:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/5928347/Sunbeds-are-as-dangerous-as-smoking.html

ETA: Cigarettes is a little different, some overlap such as hookah, and obvs cigars get brought up.

Hot dogs: http://naturalsociety.com/healthy-hot-dogs-hot-dogs-and-processed-meats-as-bad-as-cigarettes/

Soda again: http://www.mrc.org/articles/soda-pop-dangerous-cigarettes

Comments

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

There's a huge difference between "as likely to cause cancer in some form as cigarette smoking is" and "as dangerous as cigarette smoking is." My father, for instance, had multiple melanomas as a result of undue sun exposure, but they were all caught early. It was an expensive pain in the ass treating them all, and I'm doing my best to avoid the need for such treatment myself, but it's not something I'm terribly worried about dying from. Lung cancer, even caught in its early stages, has a much higher death rate, and of course smoking causes other health problems as well.

other causes of excess death

[rolandgo.livejournal.com]

... stroke, heart attack, etc. we knew about.
And then more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/health/smokings-health-toll-worse-than-previously-thought-study-says.html

2/3rds die early.