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It's never too late to quit: Women who give up smoking can reverse health hazards, study says 

According to the latest figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20.8 percent of adults in the United States smoke, accounting for about 438,000 deaths each year. In Wisconsin, 21 percent of adults smoke, according to the latest statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.

Fiore said that a third of all smokers try to quit each year, and that 70 percent of Wisconsin smokers say they've tried to stop at least once.

Shirley Reimer started smoking a half-pack of cigarettes daily when she 18 years old because it seemed cool and helped her relax. She was unaware she had a genetic lung disease called sarcoidosis that would be worsened by her habit.

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Study: Quitting smoking pays off in 5 years 

Good news for women who smoke: If you quit now, in five years you will have significantly reduced your chance of dying from a heart attack. And in 20 years, you'll have almost the same health risks as a woman who has never smoked.

A Harvard study, which appeared in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, confirms what doctors have long said but provides a clearer window into what those health benefits are and how quickly they accrue.

In Indiana, which has the sixth-highest smoking rate for women in the nation, anti-smoking advocates hailed the results as an incentive for more women to quit the habit.

"This study is very encouraging," said Karla Sneegas, executive director of the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency. "It's encouraging to say if you quit, there are wonderful health implications that are positive. It really can make a difference in your life."

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• DEATHS SPARK 'SMOKING IN BED' WARNING 

Two women who died in separate fires on the same day had both been smoking in bed.

Fire investigators believe both blazes were caused when the women fell asleep before putting out their cigarettes.

Rita Jones, aged 65, died at her home at Meakin Court, in Newcastle Road, Stone, on Saturday evening. . . .

Meanwhile police have yet to formally identify another pensioner who died earlier that day, following a fire in Silver Close, Biddulph. . . .

Peter Dartford, chief fire officer for Staffordshire, warned people about the dangers of smoking in bed.

"To have two fatal house fires in one day is extremely rare," he said.

"We will carry on targeting vulnerable and elderly people with our home fire risk checks and we will continue to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking in bed."

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Women Who Quit Smoking Lower Heart Risks Quickly  

New research shows that women who quit smoking have a 21 percent lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease within five years of extinguishing their last cigarette.

The risks of dying from other conditions also decline after quitting, although the time frame varies depending on the disease.

"The harms of smoking are reversible and can decline to the level of nonsmokers," said study author Stacey Kenfield, whose report is in the May 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "For some conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, it can take more than 20 years, but there is a rapid reduction for others."

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Stopping smoking cuts women's early death risk within 5 years 

Women who stop smoking greatly reduce their risk of early death and cardiovascular disease just five years after they quit, according to a new study released in the United States.

The risk of death from smoking-related cancers also declines by about 20 percent over the same period, according to the authors of the study published in the May 7 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

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Fast gains found in giving up smoking 

People who have spent most of their lives smoking may derive health benefits within five years of quitting - drastically reducing their chance of dying from a heart attack, stroke or lung cancer, according to a study published today.

In just five years, quitters reduced their added risk of dying of a heart attack by 47 percent and of lung cancer by 21 percent. Over time, their risk declined to the level of nonsmokers.

The message: There is hope for even the most inveterate smokers.

"Many people think there's just nothing they can do," said Stacey A. Kenfield, an epidemiologist with the Harvard School of Public Health. "But even in the short term, we do see benefit for some diseases, and it's worth it even if you're 70 years old and you've been smoking all your life."

The analysis, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, is the most complete picture to date of the health effects of quitting, some experts said.

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Giving up smoking has rapid health benefits, says study  

People who give up smoking begin to improve their health almost immediately, according to a study of more than 100,000 women carried out between 1980 and 2004. Within five years the risk of death from all causes fell by 13%, it found. By 20 years, people had no extra risk of death because of their past smoking history.

The study, by researchers at Harvard medical school in Boston, also highlights the benefits of not starting smoking until later; women who began at 17 were 22% more likely to die within the study period than those who started at 26 or older. The news will encourage the third of smokers in the UK who would like to give up the habit. A survey by the Office for National Statistics released in January found 22% of Britons are smokers, down from 27% at the end of the 1990s and the lowest level since records began.

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Quick Benefit to Smoking Halt, With a Caveat, Study Finds  

Women who stop smoking can enjoy major health benefits within five years, but it can take decades to correct respiratory damage and shed the added risk of lung cancer, researchers reported on Tuesday.

Those who stopped had a 13 percent reduction in the risk of death from all causes, including heart and vascular problems, within the first five years, the study found. After 20 years, the risk of death from any cause was the same for those who quit as for those who had never smoked.

For deaths due specifically to respiratory diseases, there was an 18 percent reduction within 5 to 10 years of quitting, reaching the level found in nonsmokers after 20 years.

But while there was a 21 percent reduction in the risk of lung cancer death within five years, it took 30 years for that excess risk to disappear. . . .

"Our findings indicate that 64 percent of deaths in current smokers and 28 percent of deaths in past smokers are attributable to smoking," Stacey A. Kenfield of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues wrote in the report, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

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• Quit Smoking: Death Risk Drops Fast 

The risk of dying from smoking-related causes drops significantly within just a few years of giving up cigarettes, even for longtime smokers, new research shows.

Within five years of quitting smoking, study participants experienced a 13% reduction in the risk of death from all causes, a 47% risk reduction in heart disease-related deaths, and a 27% reduction in the risk of death from stroke.

Within 20 years of quitting, the risk of dying among former smokers was similar to that of lifetime nonsmokers for most causes of death, with the exception of lung cancer.

The findings suggest that it is never too late to derive health benefits from giving up smoking, says researcher Stacey A. Kenfield, ScD, of the Harvard School of Public Health.

The study appears in the May 7 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

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• Smoking and Smoking Cessation in Relation to Mortality in Women 

Smoking is associated with an increased risk of total and cause-specific death, but the rate of mortality risk reduction after quitting compared with continuing to smoke is uncertain. . . .

Prospective observational study of 104 519 female participants in the Nurses' Health Study with follow-up from 1980 to 2004. . . .

Conclusions

Most of the excess risk of vascular mortality due to smoking in women may be eliminated rapidly upon cessation and within 20 years for lung diseases. Postponing the age of smoking initiation reduces the risk of respiratory disease, lung cancer, and other smoking-related cancer deaths but has little effect on other cause-specific mortality. These data suggest that smoking is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer mortality but not ovarian cancer mortality.

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Floridians Can Now Get Smokified! from Miami to Milton, Smokifiers Hit the Road to Show the Impact of Smoking on Aging 

Two mobile Smokifiers equipped with age-progression technology are visiting community and sporting events, retailers and college campuses throughout more than 25 metro and rural cities across Florida and reaching approximately 3 million people. Cautioning not only on the health risks but also the effects on personal appearance, the Smokifiers are another way that Tobacco Free Florida is spreading the anti-tobacco message and reaching Floridians directly.

The two brightly wrapped blue vans are hitting Florida's roadways and will travel thousands of miles over the next three months educating millions about the harmful effects of tobacco.

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Eger takes the lead with ban smoking  

Aiming to improve the health of its workers, residents and visitors, administrators of Eger Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in November will become the first nursing home in the city to implement a smoke-free campus.

In fact, only 25 eldercare facilities in the country have completely banned smoking for people who live and work there, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.

"We want our staff, we want our residents, we want our visitors to be as healthy and have the best environment possible," said Jack Pease, president and CEO of Eger Lutheran Homes and Services. "We think it's our job being that we're a healthcare facility."

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Smokin' Joe 100 not out - cricketer's 90 years of tobacco  

Veteran smoker Joe Drew turned 100 yesterday - with no sign of running out of puff.

The cricket fanatic celebrated by filling his pipe with his favourite tobacco and lighting up.

Joe started smoking 90 years ago in 1918, aged 10. The former gas fitter, who gets through 100 grams of his rare Erinmore mix a week, has used up around 300,000 grams of tobacco since then.

Not surprisingly, doctors have urged him to give up. . . .

I walk to the shop every day. I don't drink. My vice is cigars and the pipe. I never tried to quit."

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SMOKING CLUE AFTER BLAZE KILLS WOMAN 

A Fire which killed an elderly woman may have been caused by her smoking in bed, say detectives.

The blaze in a first-floor bedroom in Silver Close, Biddulph, was initially treated as suspicious and police were called in to work alongside fire investigators. Firefighters from Burslem and Biddulph were called out to the incident at about 1am on Saturday. Officers wearing breathing apparatus smashed their way into the one-bedroom property, and pulled the woman, believed to be aged 82, out of the building, but she died of her injuries later in hospital.

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LETTER: Smoking and a Shorter Life 

It was no surprise that a recent report by Harvard researchers identified smoking as a major contributor to why women in parts of the United States can expect to live shorter lives than their mothers. Cigarette companies have been taking aim at women and girls for decades.

As Majid Ezzati, one of the report's authors, suggests, this life expectancy disparity must be addressed through public health strategies.

The American Lung Association strongly believes that the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, now pending in Congress, is a public health priority.

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