Ciggyfree Blog

Researchers Say It Takes Genes, Viruses and Cigarettes

Physicians say that smoking is by far the biggest cause of emphysema, but why doesn’t every smoker get the disease? If you asked Michael Holtzman, M.D., that question, he might answer that for most cases of emphysema you need a mix of genes, viruses and cigarettes.

Emphysema and the associated condition of chronic bronchitis are both disorders that contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.

Research by Holtzman and his colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that someone destined to suffer from COPD may start with a susceptible genetic makeup and then experience a severe viral lung infection in early childhood.

For those who have gone through life shying away from anything involving numbers, the demonstration of the principle of compound interest is usually an eye-opening revelation.

It’s quite simply, actually. Money set aside today accrues interest, if it is wisely invested. But so does the interest on what you set aside yesterday. Over a longtime span, this snowballing of interest on interest can build up to a sizable nest egg.

That’s why financial advisors always tell you to start saving for retirement while you are younger, even if the amounts you set aside are fairly small. It is also why tax policies that make investment income from retirement savings tax exempt can have such a powerful impact on wealth, even if the income you draw from those plans later in life is fully taxed.

It’s a story about numbers, so it takes a few to explain it. If you are in a 25-percent tax bracket, and set $100 dollars of your after-tax wages aside each month, after 40 years you would have about $134,000 in savings to spend as you wished. But if you saved with pre-tax dollars, in a tax-exempt account, your nest egg would be almost double that size, more than $265,000. Even after paying taxes on the income you draw out, you’d be well ahead.