No More Tobacco

March 9th, 2008 No Smoking Day in the U.K…. March 9th marks this year’s day for going smoke-free in the U.K.  It is only one day, but if everyone quit smoking for just the one day, some of them might see, they can quit…forever! Simple idea really, pick a random day out of the year and and call it no smoking day, thereby potentially savings thousands or millions of lives (after you factor in the secondhand smoke effects). So tell all of your U.K. buddy’s to put the smokes away for the day. Don’t worry Americans your day is Wednesday, March 12, 2008.

Happy No Smoking Day

Stem Cells Prevented From Becoming Cartilage By Toxins In Cigarette Smoke… reported originally by Medical News Today. A toxic pollutant spread by oil spills, forest fires and car exhaust is also present in cigarette smoke, and may represent a second way in which smoking delays bone healing, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society in San Francisco.

In 2005, researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center identified one ingredient in smoke, nicotine, that delays bone growth by influencing gene expression in the two-step bone healing process: stem cells become cartilage; cartilage matures into bone. In the current study, some of the same researchers found that a second smoke ingredient, the polyaromatic hydrocarbon benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), also slows bone healing, but in a different way.

Smoking has been shown to delay skeletal healing by as much as 60 percent following fractures. Slower healing means a greater chance of re-injury and can lead to chronic pain and disability. The obvious solution is for smokers to quit when they get hurt, but studies show that just 15 percent can.

“Our results provide the first evidence that BaP prevents stem cells from becoming cartilage cells as part of healing,” said Regis J. O’Keefe, M.D., PhD., chair of the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at the Medical Center and a study investigator. “These findings extend our understanding of the impact of cigarette smoke on a process that is critical to fracture repair. Perhaps down the road we will be able to speed bone healing among smokers in more than one way.”  view source

New Study: How Cigarette Smoke Causes Cancer… Medical News Today reported that everyone has known for decades that smoking causes cancer, but until now no one really understood how cigarette smoke causes healthy lung cells to become cancerous. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, show that hydrogen peroxide in cigarette smoke causes lung cancer. This finding may help the tobacco industry develop “safer” cigarettes by eliminating such substances in the smoke, while giving medical researchers a new avenue to developing lung cancer treatments. view source

Secondhand Smoke A Risk For Children Worldwide…Medical News Today reported that parents worldwide are doing little to protect their children from exposure to secondhand smoke, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Exposure to secondhand smoke has been extensively shown to increase the risk for numerous illnesses and premature death. The household study, conducted in 31 countries, found that 82 percent of parents who smoked reported smoking around their children. Measurements of nicotine levels from household air and children’s hair samples also indicated high exposure to secondhand smoke among those living with a smoker. The study is among the first to demonstrate that secondhand smoke is a global concern, particularly for children. It was published on February 28 in the online version of the American Journal of Public Health and will appear in the journal’s April 2008 print edition.

According to the findings, concentrations of nicotine in the air were 17 times higher in households with a smoker compared to those without. Air concentrations were 12.9 times higher in households that permitted smoking indoors, compared to those that voluntarily restricted indoor smoking. Median air nicotine levels in households with smokers were highest in Europe, followed by Latin America and Asia.

Nicotine was detected in hair samples in 78 percent of children living with a smoker and 59 percent of those who did not live with a smoker. In most cases, hair nicotine levels were positively correlated with nicotine air concentrations. view source

France: Heart Attack Rates Drop Following National Smoking Ban… Medical News Today reported that Statistics show that since a smoking ban took effect in France a year ago, admissions of patients with myocardial infarction dropped 15 percent at emergency wards. French health authorities told the National Sanitary Institute that there was a 15 percent decrease in admissions of patients with heart attack and stroke to hospitals since the smoking ban in restaurants, hotels and casinos was implemented January 2007.  view source

World Heart Federation Urges Geneva To Vote For Smoking Ban…Medical News Today reports, the World Heart Federation is urging Geneva to vote on February 24th to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. Following recent smoking bans in France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, it is hoped Geneva will follow the example set by fellow Swiss cantons Ticino and Soleure and put an end to smoking in public places. view source

A ban that would surely save many lives.

Pfizer Foundation Awarded Grants To Support Cancer And Tobacco Control Worldwide… Medical News Todayreported that, the Pfizer Foundation, a charitable organization established by Pfizer Inc, a research-based pharmaceutical company, declared a $33m USD multi-year program to support public health programmes to address the emerging global challenges in cancer and tobacco control. Pfizer said it has entered into partnerships with 15 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 26 countries, including Algeria, China, Japan, Italy, Brazil and Argentina. view original article

Officials Run Ads Encouraging Movie Rating Change if Film Has Smoking…The New York Daily News reported on February 20 that state health officials think smoking in movies is like nudity and violence and should carry an “R” rating. The state Health Department is spending $800,000 – including placing full-page ads in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal Tuesday – on a campaign to change the way movies are rated when actors light up. Years ago, stars like James Dean, Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant puffed away, making the cigarette habit look cool, but the film industry has been under pressure in recent years to cut down on glamorizing the addiction. view original article 

The Global Tobacco Threat…The New York Times reported on February 19 that the governments of low- and middle-income countries have not followed through on a treaty meant to reduce the influence of the tobacco industry.  Three years ago, an international treaty took effect that was designed to help developing countries resist aggressive marketing by big tobacco companies. The idea was that if a large number of countries committed themselves to the same tobacco control policies — including bans on all advertising and promotion — they would be better able to resist pressure from multinational tobacco companies and their own domestic tobacco sellers.  Unfortunately, the governments of low- and middle-income countries have not followed through. With tobacco use declining in wealthier countries, tobacco companies are spending tens of billions of dollars a year on advertising, marketing and sponsorship, much of it to increase sales in these developing countries.  A new report issued by the World Health Organization, with financial help from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s foundation, offers the first comprehensive analysis of tobacco use and control efforts in 179 countries. It notes that tobacco will kill more people this year than tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined. It warns that unless governments do more to slow the epidemic, tobacco could kill a billion people by the end of the century, the vast majority in poor and middle-income countries. view original article