The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout is to take place on November 19th and many people will be throwing away their cigarettes in honor of the situation.
Jason Halford, 29 is going to be taking part in this action. He has been smoking for nine years and has tried to quit twice. He claims that he started smoking again both times because of stress related to lack of money and his job. The rising costs of cigarettes have not done anything to keep him from smoking. Halford said, "I buy cheap brands and look for dollar-off specials."
Many think that the price of cigarettes has an influence on smokers, but this is proving to be untrue.
According to Dr. Bruce Christiansen of the University of Wisconsin's Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (CTRI) in Milwaukee's poorest neighborhoods, nearly half of the adults smoke, regardless of the fact that cigarettes cost $9 a pack, this means that one household can end up spending $15,000 a year on this habit.
The smoking rate has dropped, but only in certain layers of society, and the poorest are paying for smoking reforms…
[Via: suburbanchicagonews.com]
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]
Teens are more likely to quit smoking if they receive telephone counseling, according to new research.
A telephone-counseling program was created by researchers, 2,000 smokers from 50 Washington state high schools were recruited to test the program. Once they had received parent permission, researchers began testing at 25 of the high schools.
The students took part in a follow-up survey about a year later. In comparison to 18% of smokers who did not participate in the program, 22% of students said they did not smoke for six months. The program also seemed to extend the period of time a student was able to go without a cigarette. The authors say that this research project is the first of its kind, reporting a statistically significant difference in quit rates over a one-year period.
More research projects ought to be done like this as teenage smoking is the root of the problem, and the earlier someone is prevented from being a smoker, the less likely it is to become an ongoing problem…
[Via: health.usnews.com]
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]
