Snuff and the common cold?

I remember reading somewhere or other that snuff takers get fewer colds. I’m half prepared to believe this, as there is a newish product on the market that claims to prevent colds. It’s a nasal spray, and when you get past all the mumbo jumbo, it turns out that it’s simply designed to irritate the nasal membranes into producing more mucus. Our bodies use this same mechanism when we have a cold- we get a runny nose which helps to physically flush out viruses. The idea behind the spray is that you use it to give yourself a runny nose before your body ‘realises’ it has a cold, thus giving you a head start against the cold. Is it possible, therefore, that snuff could have a similar preventative quality, thus leading to these assertions that snuffers get fewer colds? I’m interested in hearing the experience of more experienced snuffers, and whether or not you believe this to be true?

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Incidentally, I have tried this product, and it feels like pepper spray…

sounds horrid. Also tobbaco is anitseptic too.

Is it really? Well that’s another point in it’s favour. I made the nasal spray sound horrid, but I also am not a fan of ‘medicated’ type snuffs. I imagine someone who was a fan of that type of snuff might also enjoy the spray (albeit without the nicotine rush)

I’ve not had a cold since I switched from cigarettes and the occasional pinch to exclusive snuff use when the UK ban came in - and if there’s one going round I get it. I’ve got a few very old works on snuff and they all make this claim - I think there is probably something in it, although to what extent I don’t know. By the way, I was in Smith’s snuff shop in London last year and the owner told me that a number of very eminent medical men go into the shop for snuff.

That’s interesting, I wonder if there is indeed truth to this then? There’s certainly a sound hypothesis (increased mucus production) and a lot of anecdotal evidence to support it. I’ve read also that smokers tend to get more colds. It is often blamed upon smoking’s effect on vitamin C stores in the body, but I think it’s a lot more likely that it is due to the fact that smokers put their hands to their mouths more often than non smokers, and it is widely held that it is hand to mouth contact that is the major factor in contracting the cold virus. Snuffster, I’m intrigued about the medical men buying snuff, I wonder what the reason is? Might be that they can’t be seen to be smokers, or that they see snuff as the safest way to enjoy nicotine, or just maybe they are trying to protect themselves from the common cold?

Possibly all of the above, doc. Off to bed, goodnight

Snuff helps to keep the sinuses clear and drained of mucus which if left to long with say a stuffy nose, the mucus can breed bacteria/germs in a fast rate which can lead to colds. The nasal sprays work in the same way by keeping the sinuses flushed out and drained. There are 3 other discussions on this forum about this very thing if you want to read more on the subject and more on our opinions. Just do a search under discussions using the search tab on this forum for the keyword ‘cold’ Here is one as an example if you want to look at. Cure for the common cold

I have been col/flu free all winter and I started snuffing at the end of November. It led me to give up on smoking. Recently, my sinuses have been stopped up pretty good. Some medicated snuffs would open them up, but only for a minute or two. Needing my nicotine fix and not being able to snuff, I had like…3 cigarettes. Right now I’m as sick as a dog. I’ll never do that again.

My wife had been catching a cold the last few days. I’ve been snuffing pretty strong all day Sat and Sun, and feel fine. I tried to get her to have some when she first mentioned it, but she won’t, saying it’s gross. Now she’s got a full blown cold. It’s too bad, I’m pretty sure some snuff would have fixed her right up, but who’s to say. I have not had a cold since I started snuffing, about a year ago. Used to have 2 or 3 per year.

I’ve felt like I’ve been starting with a cold a few times, but a few pinches of Hedges or Toque Menthol usually sort it out and it never turns into one.

I can remember (no pun intended!) on one episode of Not Forgotten, there was a story about a British flying ace who shot down the first zeppelin over london - Lieutenant Leete Robinson, he won the VC for this and did all kinds of other heroic deeds during the first world war and was finally shot down and taken prisoner. He survived to the end of the war only to come home and die during the great influenza pandemic. Anyway, the shot at the end of this story is the front page of a newspaper of the day and on the front cover there was news of the infuenza pandemic and the advice given was to take snuff as a precaution. I’ll have to look out for it again on the history channel and see if I can find the name of the newspaper. Has anyone else watched this and remembered anymore?

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