Tobacco.org

• Secondhand smoke exposure worse for toddlers, obese children 

Toddlers and obese children suffer more than other youth when exposed to secondhand smoke, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009.

"Secondhand smoke in children is not just bad for respiratory issues, as has been previously described by other researchers," said John Anthony Bauer, Ph.D., the study's senior co-author and principal investigator at Nationwide Children's Hospital & Research Institute at Ohio State University in Columbus. "Our data support the view that cardiovascular effects of secondhand smoke in children are important, particularly for the very young and those who are obese. We had not investigated the impact of obesity in previous studies."

Bauer and colleagues recruited American boys and girls, including 52 toddlers (ages 2 to 5 years) and 107 adolescents (ages 9 to 18 years). The study included black, white and Hispanic children, including obese toddlers and adolescents.

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• Smoking, obesity 'grow as world threat' 

Tobacco and obesity are overtaking hunger and infectious disease as leading causes of death and illness across the developing world, an Australian expert has warned.

As globalisation had lifted millions of people out of poverty, Dr Paul Kowal said free trade agreements had allowed the rapid movement of processed food and tobacco products into the world's poorest nations.

Many developing countries now faced new and mounting health threats from the expanding availability of fast food, soft drinks and cigarettes, he said.

"To increase development in a country, they are forced to open up to transnational corporations including tobacco corporations," Dr Kowal said of the trend emerging in the world's developing nations.

"And there is a clear correlation between the local presence of a tobacco company and increasing tobacco uptake."

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• The Guilt-Trip Casserole - Dinner and the Busy Family  

"I DON'T need family-dinner studies to guilt-trip me," said Shannon Rubio, a mother of three teenage boys from Spring, Tex. "I do it to myself."

But just in case, Mrs. Rubio, here is the latest, from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University:

Teenagers who eat with their families less than three times a week are more likely to turn to alcohol, tobacco and drugs than those who dine with their families five times a week. , , ,

Since the first CASA study in 1996 saw an association between the frequency of family dinners and rates of adolescent substance abuse, numerous other studies have pointed to the importance of the family dinner. They suggest that family dinners have a positive impact on nutrition, verbal abilities, mental health and workers' stress. The news media passionately presses the cause; it's a cornerstone of the slow-parenting movement. . . .

family dinner has become a red-hot item on the good-parent scorecard, by which mothers in particular judge one another and themselves, a tinderbox for networks like Twittermoms.com. (According to the NPD Group, a market research firm, women are responsible for about 80 percent of meals in the home.)

So it's not surprising that many parents, especially mothers, who work night shifts or long hours, or who, like Mrs. Rubio, have teenagers running every which way to activities, are painfully aware that nightly dinners 'round the table are something other families get to do.

Nor is it surprising that many others do veritable back flips to ensure that dinner and diners convene under the same roof, at the same time.

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• Take Care New York 2012: A Policy for a Healthier New York City (PDF) 

2NYC Aims to… Be Tobacco Free . . .

DOHMH will advocate for city, state and federal tax increases on cigarettes and other tobacco products to reduce smoking among youth and adults, and support the enforcement of existing laws and the passage of new laws to minimize or eliminate the distribution of non-taxed and low-taxed cigarettes.

Advocate for the regulation of tobacco industry marketing practices.

DOHMH will advocate for the adoption of local laws and regulations to reduce the impact of tobacco advertising and other marketing practices, and introduce anti-tobacco messages in retail locations.

Reduce the availability and social acceptance of tobacco.

DOHMH will urge organizations and businesses in New York City to reject tobacco industry products, placement, funding and sponsorship.

Limit exposure to second-hand smoke.

The health department will continue to enforce New York City’s 2002 Smoke-Free Air Act and will work with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation and other entities to expand smoke-free spaces to include city parks and public beaches.

II. Prevention, Quality and Access Expand access to, and use of, smoking cessation services.

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• Second Breast Cancer: 3 Lifestyle Risks 

The study, published in the advance online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, focused on women with estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancer. Most breast cancers are ER-positive, which means the tumors grow when exposed to the hormone estrogen.

Data came from more than 1,000 Seattle-area breast cancer patients, including 365 women who developed a second breast cancer in their opposite breast.

The women were interviewed about their smoking and drinking; their BMI (body mass index) was noted in their medical records.

The odds of developing a second breast cancer in the opposite breast were greater for obese women, for women who drank at least seven alcoholic beverages per week, and current smokers.

"We found that obese women had a 50% increased risk, women who consumed at least one alcoholic drink per day had a 90% increased risk, and women who were current smokers had a 120% increased risk of developing a second breast cancer," researcher Christopher Li, MD, PhD, says in a news release.

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• Smoking May Worsen Malnutrition In Developing Nations 

A new study finds that smokers in rural Indonesia finance their habit by dipping into the family food budget--which ultimately results in poorer nutrition for their children. The findings suggest that the costs of smoking in the developing world go well beyond the immediate health risks, according to authors Steven Block and Patrick Webb of Tufts University.

The study is published in the October issue of Economic Development and Cultural Change.

Using surveys of 33,000 mostly poor households in Java, Indonesia, the researchers found that the average family with at least one smoker spends 10 percent of its already tight budget on tobacco. Sixty-eight percent of a smoking family's budget goes to food, and 22 percent for non-food, non-tobacco purchases. The average non-smoking family, on the other hand, spends 75 percent of its income on food and 25 percent for non-food items.

"This suggests that 70 percent of the expenditures on tobacco products are financed by a reduction in food expenditures," the researchers write. . . .

The decrease in child nutrition associated with a parent who smokes is "an intuitive but rarely documented empirical finding," the researchers write.

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The combination of direct health threats from smoking coupled with the potential loss of [food] consumption among children linked to tobacco expenditure presents a development challenge of the highest order.
Steven A. Block and Patrick Webb. Up in Smoke: Tobacco Use, Expenditure on Food, and Child Malnutrition in Developing Countries. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 58:1. (October 2009)

• Superfood Soy Linked To Reduction In Smoker's Lung Damage Risk 

People who eat lots of soy products have better lung function and are less likely to develop the smoking-associated lung disease COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). A new study has shown that consumption of a wide variety of soy products can be associated with a reduction in the risk of COPD and other respiratory symptoms.

Dr. Fumi Hirayama and Professor Andy Lee from Curtin University of Technology, Australia, worked with a team of respiratory physicians to poll 300 patients with COPD from six Japanese hospitals and 340 age-matched control subjects from the same areas as the patients about their soy intake. Dr. Hirayama said, "Soy consumption was found to be positively correlated with lung function and inversely associated with the risk of COPD. It has been suggested that flavonoids from soy foods act as an anti-inflammatory agent in the lung, and can protect against tobacco carcinogens for smokers. However, further research is needed to understand the underlying biological mechanism".

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• Why Smoking Increases The Risk Of Heart Disease And Strokes 

Researchers at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona have discovered a reason why smoking increases the risk of heart disease and strokes.

The study, which will be presented June 11 at The Endocrine Society's 91st annual meeting in Washington, D.C., found that nicotine in cigarettes promotes insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition that raises blood sugar levels higher than normal. People with pre-diabetes are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Theodore Friedman, MD, Ph.D., chief of the endocrinology division at Charles Drew University, said the findings help explain a "paradox" that links smoking to heart disease.

Smokers experience a high degree of cardiovascular deaths, Friedman said. "This is surprising considering both smoking and nicotine may cause weight loss and weight loss should protect against cardiovascular disease."

The researchers studied the effects of twice-daily injections of nicotine on 24 adult mice over two weeks. The nicotine-injected mice ate less food, lost weight and had less fat than control mice that received injections without nicotine.

"Our results in mice show that nicotine administration leads to both weight loss and decreased food intake," Friedman said. "Mice exposed to nicotine have less fat. In spite of this, mice have abnormal glucose tolerance and are insulin resistant (pre-diabetes)."

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• Gene study explains why smokers are burning the fat as well as cigarettes 

But the real reason why people pile on the pounds after quitting smoking could lie in our DNA.

Scientists have identified a fat-burning gene that becomes more active when exposed to cigarette smoke.

The finding could help explain why slim smokers find their weight starts to balloon after the final cigarette is stubbed out.

But anti-smoking groups warned against smokers using the research to justify a habit that kills more than 120,000 Britons a year.

The scientists, from Cornell University in New York, focused on a gene called AZGP1 (alphazincglycoprotein1) which makes a protein that speeds up the breakdown of fat.

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• Cigarette smoke may rob children of needed antioxidants 

Children exposed to cigarette smoke have lower levels of antioxidants, which help the body defend itself against many biological stresses.

A University of Rochester Medical Center study looked at the levels of antioxidants versus the amount of smoke exposure in more than 2,000 6 and 18 years old in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The study, which was presented at the Pediatric Academic Society Meeting in Baltimore, shows that secondhand smoke exposure is associated with lower levels of antioxidants in children.

"We don't know enough yet to say that this group of children need supplements to make up for the antioxidants they're losing, but it's always wise to feed children an abundance of fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants and other healthy nutrients," said Karen Wilson, M.D., M.P.H., a senior instructor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the study's author.

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• EFSA to assess the risks to human health from nicotine in wild mushrooms  

EFSA has received an urgent request from the European Commission for a scientific opinion in relation to the risks for human health from nicotine in wild mushrooms. EFSA has been asked to provide this advice because food business operators have found dried wild mushrooms to be contaminated with nicotine. It is not known what caused the presence of the nicotine, but it could be the result of factors including its use in pesticides. EFSA aims to answer this request by 7 May 2009 and its response will then be published.

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• Smoking Everywhere Launches New Vitamin Enriched Cartridge Line 

Smoking Everywhere, INC. has released their newest E-Cigarette cartridge filled with vitamins! Now while you puff on an E-Cig you can receive essential vitamins such as vitamin D, vitamin B, and even a multi-vitamin.

The cartridges come in a pack of five and are available in four strengths ranging from 0mg of nicotine to 16mg of nicotine.

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• Star Scientific Reports on Filing Patent Application for Zero-Nitrosamine Tobacco Curing Process, Product Development by Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals 

Star Scientific (Nasdaq: STSI) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals ("Rock Creek"), today reported on their continuing efforts to lessen the harm linked with tobacco use. Star Scientific, through its CEO Jonnie R. Williams, recently filed a new US Patent Application for a novel modification of its patented curing technology that results in the production of tobacco leaf that consistently contains levels of carcinogenic TSNAs (known as NNNs and NNKs) that are below detection even by the most sensitive measures. That patent application for zero-nitrosamine tobacco currently is pending before the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Rock Creek is exploring processes for the extraction of alkaloids from zero-nitrosamine tobacco for the purpose of using those alkaloids in the development of a generic nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), as well as a potential non-nicotine nutraceutical product. The nutraceutical would supply a dietary supplement for adult smokers who seek to minimize nicotine craving using a non-nicotine product. These development efforts are based in part on earlier research cited as support for the patents Star Scientific previously obtained for the use of tobacco alkaloids in treating various neurological conditions, including depression.

Curtis Wright, IV, MD, MPH, Medical Director of Rock Creek, stated, "We have acquired a large body of knowledge about why people smoke, and why smokers have been so unsuccessful in multiple quit attempts. We believe an appropriate strategy involves both an over-the-counter product and a parallel dietary supplement that may be of value in minimizing nicotine cravings."

Rock Creek and Star Scientific recently have developed a prototype nutraceutical product. The prototype combines minor alkaloids of tobacco with other ingredients typical of botanical-based, dietary supplement products.

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• Smokers may boost cancer chances by eating fruit and veggies 

Smokers may increase their chances of contracting colon cancer by eating fruit and vegetables, according to a new Europe-wide scientific study said Wednesday.

A high intake of fruit and vegetables appeared to reduce the risk among non-smokers but seemed to have the reverse effect on smokers, findings by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) showed.

"People who eat 600 grammes or more vegetables and fruit a day appear to have a 20 to 25 percent lower chance of developing colon cancer than people who eat 220 grammes or less," said the statement.

"For smokers, the consumption of vegetables and fruit appears, on the contrary, to increase the chances of colon cancer. Protection against colon cancer through the consumption of vegetables and fruit therefore appears to depend on smoking habits." . . .

RIVM official Hans Verhagen told AFP this did not mean that smokers should stop eating their greens.

"On the contrary, the conclusion is to: 'Please stop smoking'", he said.

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• The Perils of Ignoring History: Big Tobacco Played Dirty and Millions Died. How Similar Is Big Food? (PDF) 

Context: In 1954 the tobacco industry paid to publish the “Frank Statement to Cigarette Smokers” in hundreds of U.S. newspapers. It stated that the public’s health was the industry’s concern above all others and promised a variety of good-faith changes. What followed were decades of deceit and actions that cost millions of lives. In the hope that the food history will be written differently, this article both highlights important lessons that can be learned from the tobacco experience and recommends actions for the food industry. . . .

Findings: The tobacco industry had a playbook, a script, that emphasized personal responsibility, paying scientists who delivered research that instilled doubt, criticizing the “junk” science that found harms associated with smoking, making self-regulatory pledges, lobbying with massive resources to stifle government action, introducing “safer” products, and simultaneously manipulating and denying both the addictive nature of their products and their marketing to children. The script of the food industry is both similar to and different from the tobacco industry script.

Conclusions: Food is obviously different from tobacco, and the food industry differs from tobacco companies in important ways, but there also are significant similarities in the actions that these industries have taken in response to concern that their products cause harm. Because obesity is now a major global problem, the world cannot afford a repeat of the tobacco history, in which industry talks about the moral high ground but does not occupy it.

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