Smoking small cigars is not equivalent to the radiation dose received from a CT scan; these are fundamentally different types of exposures with distinct health risks. Smoking small cigars exposes the body to harmful chemicals and carcinogens that damage lung tissue and increase cancer risk, while a CT scan exposes the body to ionizing radiation, which can also increase cancer risk but through a different mechanism.
To understand this better, it helps to break down what each involves:
**Small cigar smoking** means inhaling smoke that contains thousands of chemicals, including nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, and many known carcinogens. These substances directly irritate and damage lung cells over time. The cumulative effect of smoking—even small cigars—can lead to chronic respiratory diseases like emphysema and bronchitis as well as lung cancer. The damage is chemical in nature: toxins cause inflammation, DNA mutations in cells lining the lungs, and impair normal cell repair mechanisms.
On the other hand, **a CT (computed tomography) scan** uses X-rays — a form of ionizing radiation — to create detailed images inside your body. This radiation can cause changes at the cellular level by damaging DNA directly or indirectly through free radicals generated by ionization processes. While one low-dose chest CT scan delivers only a fraction of natural background radiation exposure accumulated over months or years for most people, repeated scans add up cumulatively.
Comparing doses:
– A typical **low-dose chest CT scan**, often used for lung cancer screening in smokers or high-risk individuals, delivers about 1–2 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation per scan.
– In contrast, **the health impact from smoking small cigars cannot be measured in millisieverts because it’s not about radiation dose but chemical toxicity**; however it’s important to note that smoking even occasionally carries significant risks due to direct exposure to carcinogens.
Why people sometimes try comparing them is because both activities—smoking cigarettes/cigars regularly or undergoing multiple medical imaging scans—can increase lifetime cancer risk but via very different pathways:
– Radiation from CT scans increases risk primarily by causing DNA breaks that may lead to mutations if unrepaired.
– Smoking causes chronic inflammation plus direct mutagenic effects from chemicals absorbed into lung tissue.
In terms of magnitude:
– One study estimated that **the lifetime excess cancer risk from one low-dose chest CT might be roughly comparable with several months’ worth of natural background radiation**, which itself is much lower than risks posed by regular tobacco use.
– Meanwhile even occasional cigar smoking introduces carcinogens repeatedly over time; long-term smokers accumulate far greater overall harm than what would come from just one or two diagnostic imaging procedures.
It’s also important how frequency matters: occasional medical imaging done judiciously under doctor supervision aims at early disease detection benefits outweighing minimal added risks; whereas habitual cigar smoking continuously damages lungs without any protective benefit.
In summary:
Smoking small cigars causes ongoing chemical injury leading directly toward diseases like lung cancer through toxic exposure accumulated day after day. A single low-dose chest CT exposes you briefly but significantly less frequently—and its main concern is potential DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation rather than chemical toxicity. They are not equal doses nor equivalent hazards but represent two very different kinds of health threats affecting lungs differently: one chronic chemical poisoning versus intermittent controlled radiological exposure aimed at diagnosis rather than harm.
Understanding this distinction clarifies why public health advice strongly discourages tobacco use altogether while supporting appropriate use of medical imaging when clinically indicated despite its minor associated risks.