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Sleep Deficit Linked to Smoking, Drinking, Inactivity (Update1) 

People who slept less than six hours a night were more likely than well-rested people to smoke, drink heavily and avoid exercise, a U.S. government study found.

About 31 percent of adults who got that little sleep smoked cigarettes, compared with 18 percent who slept seven to eight hours, according to the survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency couldn't tell whether the unhealthy habits caused a sleep deficit or was the result.

About 50 million to 70 million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic sleep loss and sleep disorders, which studies by the CDC have associated with obesity and depression.

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• Sleep Duration as a Correlate of Smoking, Alcohol Use, Leisure-Time Physical Inactivity, and Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2004-2006 

Conclusions

The findings in this report, based on a survey of a representative sample of U.S. adults, offer a national perspective on the association between sleep practices and other health-related behaviors in the U.S. adult population. The findings presented here suggest that U.S. adults who usually slept less than 6 hours were more likely than adults who slept 7 to 8 hours to engage in certain health risk behaviors (i.e., cigarette smoking, having five or more drinks in a day, engaging in no leisure-time physical activity, and being obese). In many cases, adults who usually slept 9 hours or more were also at increased risk of engaging in these unhealthy behaviors. The associations between sleep and other behaviors are complex, and the directions of causality cannot be determined with the cross-sectional data used in this analysis. Additional analyses are needed to identify the causal directions of these relationships, as well as to identify factors, such as poverty or educational attainment, that may influence sleep and its associated factors. Despite these limitations, the findings presented here provide important information about the potential relevance of discussing health risk behaviors such as smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, and obesity with patients who seek medical advice for sleep concerns.

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• CDC study links poor sleep habits to obesity  

People who sleep fewer than six hours a night -- or more than nine -- are more likely to be obese, according to a new government study that is one of the largest to show a link between irregular sleep and big bellies.

The study also linked light sleepers to higher smoking rates, less physical activity and more alcohol use. . . .

Such surveys can't prove cause-effect relationships, so -- for example -- it's not clear if smoking causes sleeplessness or if sleeplessness prompts smoking, said Charlotte Schoenborn, the study's lead author.

It also did not account for the influence of other factors, such as depression, which can contribute to heavy eating, smoking, sleeplessness and other problems.

Smoking was highest for people who got under six hours of sleep, with 31 percent saying they were current smokers. Those who got nine or more hours also were big puffers, with 26 percent smoking.

The overall U.S. smoking rate is about 21 percent. For those in the study who sleep seven to eight hours, the rate was lower, at 18 percent.

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• 5,000 hectares of tobacco farms eyed for intensified rice growing 

Some 5,000 hectares of tobacco farms are being eyed as additional areas for palay growing to help meet the rice requirements of tobacco farmers in line with the Arroyo administration’s accelerated efforts to increase palay harvest and mitigate the effect of a food crisis that is affecting the whole world.

The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) said the other day a 26,000-strong umbrella group of tobacco farmers led by the Philippine Association of Tobacco-Based Cooperatives (PATCO) and other industry stakeholders are ready to support an intensified palay production program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in response to this global problem.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap lauded the support of the major stakeholders in the tobacco industry-- cigarette manufacturers, tobacco buyers and exporters, redrying plant and trading center operators, contract growers or farmers -- for the department’s heightened moves to achieve record high in palay harvests and raise the national self-sufficiency level in rice from 92.38 percent this year to 98 percent in 2010.

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MAKHIJANI: Health conscious America junks smoking, embraces fast food 

This is one of the many contradictions of American society: smoking is banned on health grounds in most public places - but not in the outdoors - while no steps are considered necessary to check the burgeoning consumption of junk food that is definitely considered a health hazard.

Thus, you have a situation in which smoking is banned in government offices, restaurants and even hotel rooms - but not in the areas surrounding these places.

So much so that a stern warning, very carefully worded, greets visitors to a swanky beach resort and spa an hours' drive from here.

"Enjoy your non-smoking room", reads the notice in bold capitals, adding: "A $250 cleaning fee will be charged for smoking in this room".

The ban also extends to the various restaurants and party rooms of the hotel.

At the same time, ashtrays are liberally provided in various other parts of the hotel - but outside the building complex. . . .

Wasn't this policy self-defeating in that it was not only failing to prevent people from smoking but also contributing to the pollution of the atmosphere at large?

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Physical Self-perception, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and Smoking Behavior (PDF) 

Objective: To examine the relationship of physical self-perceptions, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), and smoking status among college-age women. . . .

Results: BDD items, including fear of weight gain, social avoidance and comparison, along with perceptions of physical health and medical use, predicted smoking behavior.

Conclusions: Negative perceptions of physical health and 3 diagnostic components associated with BDD may moderate smoking cessation attempts and maintain smoking behavior among collegeage women.

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Drinking, smoking and junk food give you Alzheimer's, research suggests  

Smokers who got through at least 20 cigarettes a day developed the disease 2.3 years sooner than patients who smoked less or were non-smokers

Heavy drinkers and smokers develop Alzheimer's disease up to eight years earlier than those with healthier lifestyles, research has shown.

A junk food diet which causes high cholesterol levels in middle age also leads to a higher risk of the disease, say scientists.

The lifestyle links to Alzheimer’s were revealed today in two separate studies presented to neurologists in the US.

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LETTER: 'Post-Smoking Ban, City Gains 10 Million Lbs.'  

E.B. Solomont is to be congratulated on her well-researched and well-presented article on the flip side of the smoking bans which were conceived by Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden and imposed with the force of law by Mayor Bloomberg [New York, "Post-Smoking Ban, City Gains 10 Million Lbs.," March 27, 2008].

Using their highly visible platforms they have leveraged an international stampede to outlaw smoking. Of course smoking cessation often results in overeating and eventual obesity.

The problem is cessation does not always work and can have undesireable consequences. The long history of sumptuary law is dreadful. The fact is law will not work; education perhaps, but not law.

The millions of dollars in tax payers money spent on disgusting TV commercials designed to frighten people would be better spent on good scientific research on obesity.

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• Smoking, Drinking, Cholesterol May Be Alzheimer's Risk Factors  

WEDNESDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- Heavy drinking, heavy smoking and high cholesterol levels in midlife are associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease in later years, news research shows.

The apparent link between behavior in the 40s and the development of dementia decades later come from two reports presented Wednesday at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, in Chicago.

A study of 938 people 60 and older diagnosed with possible or probable Alzheimer's found an earlier onset for the disease for heavy drinkers (more than two drinks a day) and heavy smokers (a pack of cigarettes or more a day), said Dr. Ranjan Duara, director of the Mount Sinai Medical Center Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease in Miami Beach, Fla.

"The current thinking is that the pathology of Alzheimer's disease builds up over many years before clinical symptoms are manifest," Duara said. "People who start with a good cognitive reserve, who remain active mentally, are able to compensate for the pathology of the brain for a much longer period of time."

The 20 percent of the people in the study defined as heavy smokers developed Alzheimer's 2.3 years sooner than those who were not heavy smokers. . . .

Both smoking and drinking can have a direct physical effect on the brain, damaging cells and synapses, which are the connections between cells, Duara said. While any amount of smoking is bad -- increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke and other medical problems -- there is "a bit of controversy" about heavy drinking and Alzheimer's, he said, specifically, about exactly what "heavy" means.

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Drinking, smoking and junk food ALL cause Alzheimer's, new research reveals  

Drinking, smoking and eating junk food can all cause Alzheimer's, new research revealed today.

The lifestyle links to the condition, the most common form of dementia, emerged in two studies presented to neurologists in the US.

Research suggests that heavy drinkers and smokers as well as those who indulge in junk food risk succumbing to the disease eight years soon than those with healthier lifestyles.

It also suggested people who enjoy more than two drinks a day develop Alzheimer's disease almost five years earlier than others.

One team looked at 938 people aged 60 and older who were diagnosed with possible or probable Alzheimer's disease. . . .

Men and women who got through at least 20 cigarettes a day developed the disease almost two and a half years sooner than patients who smoked less or were non-smokers.

Smoking and drinking hastened the onset of the disease even further, the American Academy of Neurology's annual conference heard today.

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EDITORIAL: Our Opinion: Take another look at tobacco tax 

The initial meeting of Gov. Haley Barbour's tax study group was less than impressive.

The group of about 30 met Monday and turned away several spectators. The Associated Press reported the governor's staff notified journalists about the meeting, but some people were told the meeting was closed to the public. The governor said future meetings will be open to the public.

One criticism of the Barbour-named committee is it doesn't represent a broad spectrum of Mississippi's citizens. The AP reported the members include directors of Mississippi Manufacturers Association, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Mississippi Economic Council.

Barbour told reporters the group is "tilted toward taxpayers." . . .

Is an extra $1 a pack tax on cigarettes fair? Probably not. But it is the right thing to do if it is only an attempt to reduce the number of smokers and potentially save lives.

The tax study group should take another look at the tobacco tax.

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Post-Smoking Ban, City Gains 10 Million Lbs.  

In a new study, city health officials found that obesity and diabetes rates here increased 17% between 2002 and 2004. By contrast, there was a 6% increase in national obesity rates during that time, and no significant increase in the rate of diabetes. City residents also gained 10 million pounds collectively during the two-year period, researchers found. The findings were reported in the April issue of the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

While public health officials said the findings underscored the need for disease prevention programs, others drew a correlation between the rising obesity rate and a smoking ban that took effect in the city's bars and restaurants in 2003. According to city health officials, about 240,000 New Yorkers quit smoking since the agency launched a comprehensive antismoking campaign in 2002."What you see on the micro level of your friends gaining weight after they quit smoking has to also have an effect on the macro level," a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Walter Olson

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Mom was right (again): Smoking stunts growth 

Smoking doesn't make teenage girls thinner but it will make boys shorter and skinnier, new Canadian research confirms.

In a finding that appears to prove, at least for boys, that mothers were right - smoking will stunt your growth - researchers who followed nearly 1,300 Montreal-area adolescents for five years found that a boy who smokes 10 cigarettes a day from age 12 to 17, or all through high school, will end up about an inch shorter than boys who don't smoke.

Preliminary findings were made public earlier, but the full study now published online in the journal of Annals of Epidemiology, goes farther and quantifies the harm smoking does to a teen boy's growth.

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Montreal-Based Study: Smoking Does Not Lead To Weight Loss 

A recent study recently dispelled a medical myth and asserted that smoking does not help lower the weight of teenage girls. It does, however impede the growth of teenage boys.

After observing a total of 1,293 Montreal teenagers from ages 12 to 17, and conducting follow-up checks every three months of smoking and lifestyle habits, the experts from the University of Montreal concluded that there were no differences in the girls' weights, or body mass index.

There was, however, a difference in the boys' heights, which appeared to be lower by 2.54 centimeters in average, compared to those who did not smoke. . . .

The findings were published in an issue of the journal Annals of Epidemiology.

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Magnesium May Lower Risk for Some Strokes in Male Smokers 

Increased consumption of magnesium-rich foods such as whole grains may reduce male smokers' risk of cerebral infarction, which occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked, a new Swedish study suggests.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm analyzed the diets and other health/lifestyle habits and characteristics of 26,556 Finnish men, aged 50 to 69, who smoked but had never had a stroke. During an average of 13.6 years of follow-up, 2,702 of the men had cerebral infarctions, 383 had intracerebral hemorrhages (bleeding into the brain tissue), 196 had subarachnoid hemorrhages (bleeding between the brain and the tissues that cover it), and 84 had unspecified types of strokes.

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