Nimoy is okay – but has COPD from years of smoking

On the 28th, Leonard Nimoy was seen being wheeled through New York’s JFK airport with an oxygen cylinder. Thankfully a day or so later he Tweeted that he’s okay, the oxygen was due to his development of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) from years of smoking. He quit during the filming of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Long flights and the wear of traveling seems to have taken a bit of toll on him, but he’s back home and doing fine.

 

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I hope he gets better

As far as I know, COPD is something that doesn’t get better, unfortunately. Best wishes to him.

Live long and prosper, Leonard!

I wondered when I saw pics of him with an air tank :(

this is not the first picture to surface either. someone snapped a photo with him on an alaskan cruise or something months back and he had the tank and tube in the photo.

It’s unfortunate, but at least he’s still with us!

I feared the worst when I saw that pic. Leonard has long been the #1 champion and ambassador (so to speak) for Star Trek for so many years, even moreso than William Shatner. I was also very saddened to hear of his COPD diagnosis. I know it’s incurable and just deteriorates a person.

When he eventually does pass away, the loss that the Star Trek universe will experience will be one that wouldn’t have been felt since the death of Gene Roddenberry all those 23 years ago.

We should all enjoy the time we have with Leonard (vicariously, of course) before his time comes.

LLAP

I’m glad he’s home safe

Eek! COPD is very nasty indeed. I’ve worked on some videos about it.

Best wishes Mr N!

I dislike being reminded that our heros are not immortal… Do get well, Mr. Nimoy.

When he and Shatner pass, those are going to be a couple of dark days for me, personally. But what gifts they’ve given us.

I was impressed (though not surprised) that instead of ignoring the photographs or railing against the invasion of his privacy, Mr. Nimoy used the occasion as an opportunity to encourage people to quit smoking. Truly, Mr. Nimoy is a great man, and not only because he was a wonderful Spock. He is a sensitive and thoughtful man, and I am continually impressed at the dignity and grace with which he’s handled the whole Star Trek phenomenon.

Lots of us love you, Mr. Nimoy — not just Spock, but YOU, too. Best of luck dealing with your health challenges; I hope you’ll continue to enjoy your life for many years to come.

COPD is evil. My dad developed it five years ago and he quit smoking in 1970. All my prayers to Mr. Nimoy.

Corylea, you took the words right out of my mouth! You’re so right. He’s thinking of others rather than trying to eek out the last bits of attention he can for himself and always with such a great sense of humor. A great example for the next generations.

LN, be strong and know we care and we’re rooting for you.

copd does not get better and will kill ya unless something else gets you first…treatments n drugs do slow this progression n im sure mr nimoy is doing everything he needs to….my moms had it for years n sleeps with an oxygen machine…she quit smokin after she had me but like nimoy wasnt soon enough…shes 87 now hangin in there….hope nimoy continues to do the same also…

He’s a good man. I’m glad he’s alright.

Good to hear that he is ok.

Unfortunately, as the name implies, COPD is chronic. There is no getting better, you take care of yourself and manage the condition. With proper care, there’s no reason to expect that he won’t put a few more miles on the odometer.

Could not agree with CoryLea more, it speaks to the man as a person that he’s meeting this challenge head on, and encouraging others to not make the same mistakes.

Spock says: “Quit smoking. It’s logical.”

I’m glad he’s coping with this huge health challenge, and wouldn’t you just know he’d use it as a teaching opportunity.

In his two “Spock” books Nimoy says that playing Spock taught him a lot about how to be in this world – this strange world of stardom and real life, and how to deal with the people who adore him for playing this one character.

His strategy seems to be loving-kindness.

More power to you, Mr Nimoy; you have taught us so much through the years.

COPD is eventually a death sentence. There’s no “getting better”. Sorry but that is the truth.

When I saw STID I had suspicions that he had COPD. You can hear the forced deep breaths between lines.

My aunt had copd, it is not a fun way to go.

Lets hope when Leonard leaves us it is peaceful. He has given lifetimes of joy to me and the world.

I love you Leonard Nimoy!
Keep on Trekin one and all!

@22

Yea, and at that age, once you get dependent on Oxygen tanks, there is no going back to normal breathing.

Love the guy, and hope he has a peaceful end without much pain.

Mr. Nimoy is God’s gift to the world. A treasure for all of us fans. He has been the most kind, engaged and sincere Star Trek “Celebrity” of all of them. May you have many, many, many happy years ahead Sir.

Good to hear he’s doing okay. I feared the worst.
God bless you, Mr. Nimoy. You made Star Trek fly, and still do.

#22. “COPD is eventually a death sentence. ”

Umm…being alive is a death sentence.

@28. We all got it coming, Jonboc. We all got it coming

To Mr.Nimoy, a man I greaty respect and admire,
All my hopes .
I see him as a fighter .
He will be with us for as long as he can be .
Live Long and Prosper , Good Sir .

I wish good things for Mr. Nimoy — people are resilient and are able to conquer many health challenges. I hope he will as well.

My thoughts with you Mr Nimoy,

Vulcans are strong! He will get better!!

Best wishes to Mr. Nimoy. This is not something that will get better, but I hope he continues to live long and prosper…

Poor Leonard! Failing health is the logical progression of long life. I hope I am wrong but Trek’s 50th anniversary may yet include a memorial to this great man. People don’t live forever but legends do. The cast of the original series, or THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN as I call them will always be legends to me. Live as long and prosperous as you can, Mr Nimoy

Poor Leonard! Failing health is the logical progression of long life. I hope I am wrong but Trek’s 50th anniversary may yet include a memorial to this great man. People don’t live forever but legends do. The cast of the original series, or THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN as I call them will always be legends to me. Live as long and prosperous as you can, Mr Nimoy

My father in law just passed away from complications from copd at age 85. No getting better…progressively gets worse. He was a cigarette smoker and pipe smoker in later years…horrible to see people gasping for air like a fish out of water…you feel helpless.

In my book that is not “being okay” – it´s a terrible disease without cure. I wish him all the best!

Wishing you all the best Mr. Nimoy. It was an honor to be able to meet and chat with you so many years ago.
While I understand you’re not likely to remember me, I will forever remember that small fraction of time we shared.

LLAP Spock as we say in Ireland “May the road rise up to meet you”

Actually there IS a way to beat it, and since Leonard is wealthy it is completely within the realm of possibility.

Sorry guys, This site won’t accept the entire link.
Try this…

http://tinyurl.com/nel3bgk

:)

@40. If being rich could stop stuff like that, then Bill Gates, far richer than Nimoy’s wildest dreams, would still be alive today.

lol…I meant Steve Jobs, of course.

Spock I suggest you get Beamed into a thought of LOGIC!

Your COPD showing up 30 years after you quit is quite a STRETCH!

Perhaps you should have tweeted that you got COPD from a viral infection which is where COPD is actually caused. 30 years after is IMPOSSIBLE!

Adenoviruses Cause COPD
It has always been obvious merely from looking at the scatter plots in old studies of lung function that, among both smokers and nonsmokers, certain individuals were distinctly abnormal. They had much higher rates of loss than the others. There was a higher proportion of abnormal individuals among the smokers, and, by ignoring these individual differences and lumping together all smokers versus all nonsmokers, the anti-smoking ideologues falsely implicated tobacco as the cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

COPD IS A SYSTEMIC, NOT LOCAL, DISEASE
Mitochondrial Abnormalities in COPD include tissues with no exposure to cigarette smoke

Systemic effects of COPD. M Decramer, F De Benedetto, A Del Ponte, S Marinari. Respir Med 2005 Dec;99 Suppl B:S3-10. “Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by a range of pathological changes of the respiratory system, including airflow limitation secondary to structural changes of the small airways and loss of alveolar attachments, inflammation, ciliary dysfunction, and increased mucous production. COPD also has significant systemic consequences…. Although improving lung function and disease symptoms have been the main focus of COPD management, these parameters alone do not reflect the full burden of disease. More recent endeavours have highlighted the potential role of addressing physical limitations imposed by systemic alterations. It is evident that systemic manifestations are common in COPD. Indeed, many patients demonstrate a gradual and significant weight loss that exacerbates the course and prognosis of disease. This weight loss is often accompanied by peripheral muscle dysfunction and weakness, which markedly contribute to exercise limitation and impaired quality of life.”

Decramer – Respir Med 2005 abstract / PubMed

Steve Jobs died of cancer, not COPD.

A lung transplant could do the trick.

Cytomegalovirus is the real cause of COPD.

http://www.smokershistory.com/COPD.html

It’s not a recognized treatment for COPD, but as a rich and famous person he should be able to get hold of some ganciclovir. It’s the anti-viral used against CMV.

It is also used for acute CMV colitis in HIV/AIDS and CMV pneumonitis in immunosuppressed patients.

Cytomegalovirus ganciclovir

John from Cincinnati – February 1, 2014
Steve Jobs died of cancer, not COPD.

A lung transplant could do the trick.

This pretty well destroys the Myth of second hand smoke:

Lungs from pack-a-day smokers safe for transplant, study finds.

By JoNel Aleccia, Staff Writer, NBC News.

Using lung transplants from heavy smokers may sound like a cruel joke, but a new study finds that organs taken from people who puffed a pack a day for more than 20 years are likely safe.

What’s more, the analysis of lung transplant data from the U.S. between 2005 and 2011 confirms what transplant experts say they already know: For some patients on a crowded organ waiting list, lungs from smokers are better than none.

“I think people are grateful just to have a shot at getting lungs,” said Dr. Sharven Taghavi, a cardiovascular surgical resident at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, who led the new study………………………

Ive done the math here and this is how it works out with second ahnd smoke and people inhaling it!

The 16 cities study conducted by the U.S. DEPT OF ENERGY and later by Oakridge National laboratories discovered:

Cigarette smoke, bartenders annual exposure to smoke rises, at most, to the equivalent of 6 cigarettes/year.

146,000 CIGARETTES SMOKED IN 20 YEARS AT 1 PACK A DAY.

A bartender would have to work in second hand smoke for 2433 years to get an equivalent dose.

Then the average non-smoker in a ventilated restaurant for an hour would have to go back and forth each day for 119,000 years to get an equivalent 20 years of smoking a pack a day! Pretty well impossible ehh!

@43

He didn’t say it just showed up out of the blue 30 years later; he said he didn’t quit soon enough because the damage was already done. He’s probably had it all along, but age and travel have exacerbated it recently. I’m sure he’s been to his doctor and knows what he’s talking about.

Whatever the case, LLAP, Leonard, love life, and do what it takes to make yourself comfortable!

I wish Leonard all the best. It is sad that he has contracted this horrible ailment.

All the more reason why people should NOT smoke period.

It’s NOT worth ruining your health and losing your life over.

Hope for the best for Leonard Nimoy. I am sure he and his doctors will do whatever possible to treat the disease. I hope for as much quality of life as possible for him.I wish Bob had gotten him and Bill down to Bad Robot to shoot a scene together. Now with the inevitable age and health issues, I hope they are still well for the 50th anniversary and beyond.