<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> To the list: I don't think Dr. Kasarda was pledging support for smoking. I think he was trying to show a metabolic and physiological connection between smoking and celiac manifestations. I am a reformed smoker. I quit because my husband and children hated it. I was classified as a near perfect physical specimen while I smoked; size 8-10, no baggy eyes or bloated gut. Quitting the "dirty habit" triggered a whole new lifestyle. I gained 84 pounds in a year. The horrible blebs of Dermititis Herpetiformis and the ancillary itching appeared. I started to react to the ingestion of certain foods. Thirteen years of misdiagnosis followed. I suffered everything from Fibromyalgia to many symptoms that a nice person should not have to endure. I have not smoked in twenty-four years. All the world is safe from my "secondary smoke". I have Celiac Disease and Dermatitis Herpetiformis. Both are controlled -neither will ever be "cured". This is not an advocation for smoking. It is a record of the many mysterious aspects of anabolism and catabolism. "Irregardless" AMS A Surra <[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] wrote in article > Irregardless of this finding, I would think long term studies would be > impossible to do as test patients died from other health complications > of cigarette smoking. One would be hard pressed to find any qualified > medical professional to extol the virtues of smoking cigarettes. The > detrimental and oftentimes fatal health risks of cigarette smoking is > one of the major causes of death in America. Enough said. > Fran Gillespie, Oregon