Smokers who suffer from bi-polar disorder might have an increased risk of experiencing suicidal behavior. According to a new study, this could be due to the fact that they are more at risk of acting impulsively.
Better known as manic depression, bipolar disorder causes large changes in mood, from depression to euphoria. It has already been proven that patients with bipolar disorder who smoke are more prone to suicidal thoughts, but the reason has not been known.
New findings show that one of the symptoms of bipolar disorder is impulsivity and that this is what leads to both smoking and suicidal behavior.
Though smoking is not an absolute marker of risk of suicide, this type of information will be used to make patient assessment more comprehensive, suggest researchers.
Though most smokers do not face this type of risk, it goes to show how many aspects a smoking addiction can have and that smokers should be given more of a break…
[Via: ABC News]
Researchers say that smokers who try to quit by smoking a milder cigarette or one with low tar levels, will not see much success. In fact, it has been found that smokers who have chosen this method have 50% lower chance of kicking the habit.
Dr Hilary Tindle from the University of Pittsburgh said, "It may be that smokers thing that a lighter brand is better for their health and is therefore an acceptable alternative to giving up completely."
Dr Tindle did a study on 31,000 smokers and found that 38% decided to switch to a lighter brand, with the logic that they wanted to smoke something that was less harmful, but nearly 60% did not succeed in quitting.
It was found that even though those who chose to switch to a lighter brand had a great will to quit, they were ironically less likely to quit.
So if you want to quit smoking this is really not the way to go. Smoking is a multi-layered addiction and just because the nicotine levels of a cigarette are low, that does not mean you can get rid of the force of habit.
[Via: dailymail.co.uk]
New research shows that taking only a few puffs from a cigarette start doing damage to a young people who are otherwise healthy.
Researcher Stella Daskalopoulou, MD, of the McGill University Health Center, says that the damage escalates as time passes, and isn't possible to reverse it.
Smokers aged 18-30 were tested, they smoked a cigarette after doing a treadmill exercise, and it was found that the arteries of an individual would stiffen by nearly 25%. Stiffness of the arteries forces the heart to work harder, and this is why smokers have an increased risk of having heart disease or stroke.
In a news release, Daskalopoulou said, "Our results are significant because they suggest that smoking just a few cigarettes a day impacts the health of the arteries, This was revealed very clearly when these young people were placed under physical stress, such as exercise."
What? Well yes - you shouldn't smoke after an exercise, that's a known fact and no research is needed to prove that…
[Via: WebMD]
A report done by US health experts has confirmed that indoor smoking bans have lowered the risk of heart attack, even among nonsmokers, because exposure to secondhand smoke has been reduced.
The report was produced by the Institute of Medicine for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it shows that since smoking has been banned from workplaces, restaurants and bars the rate of cardiovascular-related health problems has been reduced.
CDC director Dr. Thomas Friedan said, "Secondhand smoke kills. What this report shows is that smoke-free laws reduce heart attacks in nonsmokers."
"But still, most of the country lives in areas that don't have comprehensive smoke-free laws covering all workplaces, all restaurants and all bars," he added.
It is great that nonsmokers are suffering fewer health problems, but it is forgotten that smokers are still being ostracized, and it really won't ever matter as long as the non-smokers are fine.
[Via: Telegraph.co.uk]
A new study suggests that mothers who smoke during their pregnancy could put their children at risk of having delusions, hallucinations or other psychotic symptoms.
A survey of 12-year olds in the UK showed that those whose mothers had smoked were about 20% more likely to face such issues. The link was even more pronounced at 84%, if the mother smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day.
Though further study of the issue is required, scientists are saying that this could possibly be due to tobacco exposure in the womb affecting the development of the child's brain.
Cardiff, Nottingham, Bristol and Warwick universities took part in this research project, which is part of an extensive study known as the Avon Longitudal Study of Parents and Children looking at how genetics and the environment affects health.
Dr Ken Checinski of the Royal College of Psychiatrists said, "The findings are compelling, but we must not jump to conclusions. The results need to be replicated in other studies now to be sure. However, we already know that smoking during pregnancy is linked to a number of others risks, such as low birth-weight and complications."
In a nutshell, yet again nothing is 100% proved, but that doesn't mean governments around the world can stop their witch hunt against smokers…
[Via: BBC]
