Cigarette smoking: an underused tool in high-performance endurance training

Read the first paragraph critically and then use this to buffalo your doctor into the belief that since its good for endurance athletes the fatigue experienced by survivors should also be helped by the same protocol. The results will tell you the intellectual ability of your doctor.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001541/

Kenneth A. Myers, BSc

Additional article information

Abstract

The review paper is a staple of medical literature and, when well executed by an expert in the field, can provide a summary of literature that generates useful recommendations and new conceptualizations of a topic. However, if research results are selectively chosen, a review has the potential to create a convincing argument for a faulty hypothesis. Improper correlation or extrapolation of data can result in dangerously flawed conclusions. The following paper seeks to illustrate this point, using existing research to argue the hypothesis that cigarette smoking enhances endurance performance and should be incorporated into high-level training programs.

Performances in endurance sports have been shrouded in controversy for the past 30 years because many athletes, intent on winning races and achieving faster times, have turned to banned performance-enhancing drugs. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2009 list of prohibited substances and methods includes erythropoietin, other erythropoiesis-stimulating agents and various methods designed to enhance oxygen transfer.¹ The effects of these agents and methods are thought to be primarily beneficial in endurance sports such as distance running and cycling. Despite the prohibition, the use of these drugs and techniques persists, as evidenced by continued positive results of drug tests in and out of competition.

Altitude training has also become common among endurance athletes, because it has been associated with an increase in performance and in serum hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. However, this response is transient — the physiologic variables return to their baseline soon after the athlete returns to sea level.² This moderate performance benefit is outweighed by several severe and life-threatening risks, including pulmonary edema,³ cerebral edema⁴ and severe flatulence.⁵

While athletes endanger their careers and well-being in attempts to gain small benefits with illicit or inconvenient practices, a legal, nonprescription alternative has been largely ignored by athletes, coaches and exercise physiologists alike. Cigarette smoking has been shown to increase serum hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, increase lung volume and stimulate weight loss — characteristics all known to enhance performance in endurance sports. This paper will discuss the potential benefits of cigarette smoking to endurance performance and make recommendations as to how individuals and national bodies could effectively integrate this practice into high-performance training programs.