Even though cigar and pipe smokers don’t inhale a new study claims just the opposite. The study revealed that cigar or pipe smokers are doubling the risk to develop pulmonary diseases, a leading cause of death, even if they refrain from smoking cigarettes.

The participants to the study were persons between 48 and 90 years of age, all suffering from heart disease. From the 3528 subjects 56 had smoked only pipes or cigars; 428 smoked pipes or cigars along with cigarettes; and 1,424 smoked only cigarettes.

Pipe and cigar smokers had a higher level of nicotine than nonsmokers, though less than those who smoke only cigarettes. According to Dr. R Graham Barr, assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center other studies have pointed out that cigars and pipe smoking cause heart disease, lung cancer and oral cancer. “I think it’s mainly a myth that they don’t inhale,” he said.