[Misty08]

Originally Posted by dorydaryl

My mum has it. She used to run rings round everyone, physically. She 's smoked from being 15 but has cut down dramatically, now, with the help of e-cigs. When she was younger and fitter, she never seemed to think it would catch up with her but it has. Thankfully, it's not at the extreme end but it's bad enough. So, really sad to learn that Richard Briers has it as I've always thought of him as a bit of a gem.

ETA: Some of the comments following that article were awful. Still, what do you expect from a certain subsection of DM readers.

I don`t know which are worse - the ones attacking him for smoking, or the ones that persist in their belief that smoking isn`t bad for you...

[samwalk]

Lovely man and sorry to hear it, it is an pleasant disease, but no-one around today can claim ignorance, my parents gave up smoking in the 60s because of the health warnings then. Plenty of people chose to ignore warnings.

[samwalk]

Lovely man and sorry to hear it, it is an pleasant disease, but no-one around today can claim ignorance, my parents gave up smoking in the 60s because of the health warnings then. Plenty of people chose to ignore warnings. And yes, there are other causes. Let's concentrate on his positives.

[80sfan]

I wonder what his former co-star Penelope Keith makes of it all, seeing as she used to advertise Benson & Hedges cigarettes? I would hope Ms Keith has managed to quit the habit now.

Sad news about Richard, he didn't smoke on TV did he?

[Jimmy Connors]

Sad news indeed.

Ever Decreasing Circles is brilliant show.

[Microkorg]

I didn't have him down as a smoker

[80sfan]

Originally Posted by Microkorg

I didn't have him down as a smoker

Nor me actually. It seems Felicity Kendal is a smoker too so they would have been puffing away while filming The Good Life.

It seems there is hardly anyone involved in acting or singing that does not smoke

[earthling13]

A bit OT but I have to say the dangers of smoking have been known for a long long time and I get slightly annoyed when people say they never realised. I'm 58 and when I was a child cigarettes were refered to as 'coffin nails' so how could anyone not know?

I come from a smoking family but have never smoked myself and I hate seeing young people starting to smoke today. I do drink however, despite knowing the dangers. It's all down to personal choice.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by jack patterson

No Emphysema can be caused by other things and old age is one of them, another thing is certain moulds growing in damp walls can cause it as well as whatever chemicals were in your workplace.

The fact is 500,000 cigarettes haven't killed him, if you ate
say 500,000 eggs it probably would?

500,000 eggs would be the equivalent of an 80 year old consuming more than 17 eggs every single day since birth - which I'm sure most would probably see as excessive and not very sensible!

It's a shame there are so many who don't see 20 cigarettes a day in the same light.

[mushymanrob]

Originally Posted by haphash

Yes it is sad but he is pretty old. Old people do get serious diseases and die, its not entirely unexpected.

harsh but true...

we all get 'got' by something.

[Hotgossip]

Originally Posted by mushymanrob

harsh but true...

we all get 'got' by something.

I believe it said that Richard Briers was diagnosed with emphysemia several years ago so he has already suffered quite a lot. Same with the actress Liz Dawn (Vera Duckworth) she's been gradually deteriorating for several years which is horrible.

You go from being slightly short of breath, to very short of breath to gasping for breath and having to sit down, take oxygen, be pushed around and literally fighting for breath to keep you alive.

I'd much rather die of old age and feel fit and healthy and do what I like and just pop my clogs in my sleep one night.

I saw my late M-I-L die hooked up to oxygen in her own home and also my neighbour in his late 50's and it is very disturbing.

[nanscombe]

Originally Posted by earthling13

A bit OT but I have to say the dangers of smoking have been known for a long long time and I get slightly annoyed when people say they never realised. I'm 58 and when I was a child cigarettes were refered to as 'coffin nails' so how could anyone not know?

The relatively new thing is probably that people have cottoned on to the harm others smoking could do to them, apart from making their clothes smell.

After spending time in smokey pubs I can't say I'm too worried by smokers, even though I've never smoked myself.

A shame about Richard Briers though.

[scone]

Not all smokers get a smoking related disease, some people continue smoking into their nineties without any problem, it's easy to blame the tobacco for most serious illnesses these days, but sometimes it has naff all to do with it.

And before anyone starts, I know several older people who have been smoking for decades and have had no health problems whatsoever.

[codeblue]

Originally Posted by scone

Not all smokers get a smoking related disease, some people continue smoking into their nineties without any problem, it's easy to blame the tobacco for most serious illnesses these days, but sometimes it has naff all to do with it.

And before anyone starts, I know several older people who have been smoking for decades and have had no health problems whatsoever.

Are you seriously suggesting that smoking is not bad for your health?

Yes there are few who will not die from a related illness, but i would think they are the exception.

[TIVO_YORK99]

When I started work for an insurance company in 1986 people were still allowed to smoke at their desk at certain times. I used to find customers files with burnt paper in them.

This only ended when the building was refurbished - they didn't want the ceilings going yellow again!

It was made clear to me when I was very young that smoking was very bad for you and would kill you. When I was 5, I picked up a cigarette butt and some older kids told me I would now die of cancer. Banning smoking in public places has been great though - all of my friends quit. When I see people smoking now it seems so old fashioned - my next door neighbours smoke and whenever they take any packages in for me they absolutely reek when they give them to me.

[petertard]

Briers has been very honest, as a lot of former smokers with smoking-related diseases are. He says he used to love smoking, but you have to quit in your thirties to avoid the risk of developing lung diseases later on in life. He says he only stopped at 70, and it was too late to avoid emphysema.

[jack patterson]

Originally Posted by Misty08

Old age increases your chances of getting most things, but old age on its own will not cause emphysema. 500,000 eggs, eaten over a lifetime are very unlikely to kill you. As has been pointed out, Briers blames nothing but smoking for his illness. You are clutching at straws here. Are you a smoker, by any chance?

Well 500,000 cigarettes have not killed him yet have they and he has managed to live to 80?
....and if your body does does not like eggs much then they would kill you even if you had a one every day.

No I am not a smoker but I see every day the atrocious damage caused by alcohol,yet there is no pressure on brewers and distillers to contribute to the NHS bills or the carnage in the streets..
Instead we have this nonsense about passive smoking,while your breathing a 100 different pollutants every day

When I was taking a relative around hospitals to get eventual cancer diagnosis every time, every questionaire, the first thing they asked was 'do you smoke' (he had not smoked for 40 years).. which seemed like a cop out to me as if he had said yes they could have said "are well we know what caused it and what is wrong with you "

The point being that every body is different and they keep very quiet about the very high proportion of lung cancer sufferers who have never smoked a single cigarette.

[Saltydog1955]

Originally Posted by jack patterson

Well 500,000 cigarettes have not killed him yet have they and he has managed to live to 80?
....and if your body does does not like eggs much then they would kill you even if you had a one every day.

No I am not a smoker but I see every day the atrocious damage caused by alcohol,yet there is no pressure on brewers and distillers to contribute to the NHS bills or the carnage in the streets..
Instead we have this nonsense about passive smoking,while your breathing a 100 different pollutants every day

When I was taking a relative around hospitals to get eventual cancer diagnosis every time, every questionaire, the first thing they asked was 'do you smoke' (he had not smoked for 40 years).. which seemed like a cop out to me as if he had said yes they could have said "are well we know what caused it and what is wrong with you "

The point being that every body is different and they keep very quiet about the very high proportion of lung cancer sufferers who have never smoked a single cigarette.

Too much of anything is bad for you. Eating too many eggs would possibly give you a huge rise in cholesterol which would lead to a heart attack.

Most non-smokers who get lung cancer have a genetic predispostion to it, and would get it anyway, whether they smoked or not.

[vauxhall1964]

Originally Posted by zoepaulpenny

SHAME to hear about his poor health.. he is a good actor..
I am sure his condition is not solely due to smoking. other factors with the elderly must contribute.

Most cases are caused by smoking

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic...roduction.aspx

[petertard]

If only ex-smokers wouldn't denounce the weed !

[scone]

Originally Posted by codeblue

Are you seriously suggesting that smoking is not bad for your health?

Yes there are few who will not die from a related illness, but i would think they are the exception.

I'm seriously suggesting that for some people smoking has no affect on their health. I have seen it with my own eyes

[80sfan]

Originally Posted by petertard

Briers has been very honest, as a lot of former smokers with smoking-related diseases are. He says he used to love smoking, but you have to quit in your thirties to avoid the risk of developing lung diseases later on in life. He says he only stopped at 70, and it was too late to avoid emphysema.

If he is dying now, and still loves smoking, he may as well light up again. I mean, the damage is done and he should enjoy the time he has left

[Big Boy Barry]

Originally Posted by The Prumeister

Bless him; absolutely adore Richard Briers; Ever Decreasing Circles is a work of genius IMHO.

It certainly is. Briers could turn even the most trivial of subjects into an entire episode. A genius. There was one episode where he obsessed over the fact that his neighbours and dinner party guests wanted more exotic drinks than he had in his liquor cabinet.

[vauxhall1964]

Originally Posted by scone

I'm seriously suggesting that for some people smoking has no affect on their health. I have seen it with my own eyes

Of course smoking has an affect on their health... it may not kill them or be visible but how can any smoker have as good lung function as a healthy non-smoker? It defies all reason.

[Gill P]

My dad smoked as long as I remember. He died at the comparatively young age of 64 (a week after his birthday). He smoked a pipe, cigarettes and those small cigars. I don't remember him being well at all. He died of mitral stenosis and bronchitis. He also had a foul temper - probably due to his heart problems.

My mum lived until the age of 90 and she didn't smoke. I have never smoked.