- With Mayo Clinic emeritus internist
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Dr. Edward Rosenow III sees a natural link between the Information Age and health care as a way to promote better health. Dr. Rosenow, a Columbus, Ohio, native, is board certified in internal medicine and pulmonary disease and worked in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. He retired from clinical practice in 1996 after 30 years' service at Mayo Clinic.
"It has always been my feeling that the better informed the patient is about his or her body and its functions, the better the patient-physician partnership," he says. "The informed patient is in turn more compliant with the physician's recommendations and better able to make intelligent decisions about health care needs."
Dr. Rosenow is a former Arthur M. and Gladys D. Gray Professor of Medicine and former chair of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic. He was also president of the American College of Chest Physicians, consultant to NASA on the Space Station Freedom project, president of the Mayo Clinic staff, a regent with the American College of Chest Physicians and program director of the internal medicine residency program at Mayo Clinic.
During his distinguished career, Dr. Rosenow was a five-time Teacher of the Year in internal medicine and inducted into the Mayo Fellows Hall of Fame of Outstanding Teachers.
In 1994, he won the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award from Mayo Clinic staff and in 1995 was honored with the Ralph O. Claypoole Sr. Memorial Award for Lifetime Dedication to Patient Care by the American College of Physicians. He was named to a mastership by the American College of Physicians in 1998 and that year also won the Mayo Foundation Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is also a Master Fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians. In 2008, a professorship was established in his name — the Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D., Mayo Professorship in the Art of Medicine.
Dr. Rosenow has contributed to 156 publications, including 48 book chapters and one co-authored book.
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Question
Cigar smoking: Safer than cigarette smoking?
My husband insists that cigar smoking is safer than cigarette smoking. Is this true?
Answer
from Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Cigar smoking is often considered less dangerous than cigarette smoking. This simply isn't true, however — even if you don't inhale the smoke.
Most cigars contain as much nicotine as several cigarettes. A large cigar may contain as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.
Regular cigar smoking increases the risk of various types of cancer, including cancer of the mouth, lip, tongue, throat, esophagus and lung. Regular cigar smoking also increases the risk of heart disease and various lung diseases, such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Secondhand smoke from cigar smoking poses concerns, too. For example, secondhand smoke from cigars contains higher concentrations of toxins than does secondhand smoke from cigarettes. Plus, cigars often burn for longer periods of time, which leads to greater amounts of secondhand smoke in the air.
The greater the intensity and frequency of cigar smoking, the greater the risks. Although occasional cigar smoking isn't thought to be as risky as regular cigar smoking, the only safe level of cigar smoking is none at all.
Next questionWhat is 'third-hand' smoke?
- Cigar smoking. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Cigar_Smoking.asp. Accessed Oct. 7, 2008.
- Cigar smoking fact sheet. American Lung Association. http://www.lungusa.org/site/c.dvLUK9O0E/b.39859. Accessed Oct. 7, 2008.
- Questions and answers about cigar smoking and cancer. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cigars. Accessed Oct. 7, 2008.
