Tobacco.org

Ingrid Newkirk: Using Dollar Bills to Light Cigarettes 

With the national debt in the trillions, the U.S. government is still letting money go up in smoke.

For decades now, we’ve known that those men in the white coats who were employed by tobacco companies to appear on TV and tell us that smoking soothed a scratchy throat were not telling us the whole truth. In the 1970s, epidemiology conclusively linked smoking in pregnant women to fetal harm. Since then, every medical organization, the U.S. Surgeon General, and even tobacco companies themselves have advised us to stay away from the smokes, and most strongly warned that women should not smoke during pregnancy.

The federal government, meanwhile, is still funding studies in which stressed monkeys are locked inside metal cages, impregnated, and injected with nicotine; have their babies taken away from them after birth; have lung function tests performed on them; and are then killed. And should you think this is the government foolishly trying to prove for the umpteenth time what we already know - in this case about tobacco and nicotine - it is not. It is to see if women can keep on smoking and have babies too! . . .

The money is considerable. Spindel’s recent NIH grants include $1.3 million to test fetal nicotine exposure in rhesus monkeys, $1.8 million to study the mechanisms that nicotine uses to harm the fetuses of mutant mice, and his share of the $11 million annual support grant for the primate center. Meanwhile, only three states—Maine, Delaware, and Mississippi—fund tobacco prevention programs at the minimum levels recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia fund such programs at less than half the CDC minimum or provide no state funding at all.

The expense is not only borne by us taxpayers and the animals who pay with their lives in such disgusting tests, but by the women and children who are ill served by foolish funding priorities.

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Smoking mums have 'problem kids' 

Smoking during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of having a child with behavioural problems, according to UK and US researchers.

Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, they say the problems can be evident in children as young as three years old.

They believe smoking in pregnancy may damage the developing structure of the baby's brain.

One expert said it was another strong reason for mothers to give up smoking.

The researchers from the universities of York, Hull and Illinois looked at more than 14,000 mother and child pairs who were taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study.

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• Smoking while pregnant linked to behavioural problems in children  

Smoking during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of having a child with behavioural problems, according to research published today. Disturbances can manifest themselves in children as young as three years old, the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health claims.

The findings are based on more than 14,000 mother-and-child pairs drawn from the millennium cohort study, a population-based study of children born between 2000 and 2001 whose families are receiving child benefit.

The research was carried out by Professor Kate Pickett, at the department of health sciences at Hull York medical school, University of York.

Mothers, who were categorised as light or heavy smokers, depending on how many cigarettes they smoked every day during pregnancy, were asked to score their children's behaviour.

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Mums-to-be cut ciggies  

The number of mothers who admit smoking during pregnancy has fallen by nearly 12%, according to a study at the Coombe hospital, Dublin.

The proportion dropped from just over 23% to just under 21%, less than the smoking rate in the general population, which was 27% last year, but still higher than in other countries. In Massachusetts, America, for example, only 7% of pregnant women admit to smoking.

"When you compare the rates of smoking in pregnant women who attended the Coombe before and after the [smoking in public] ban, it's a significant reduction," said Luke Clancy, director-general of the Tobacco Free Research Institute (TFI).

"We are not saying the ban necessarily caused it, but we hope it influenced them . . .

The survey was published in BJOG, an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology.

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Reliability of self reported smoking status by pregnant women for estimating smoking prevalence: a retrospective, cross sectional study (FULL TEXT) 

In conclusion, reliance on self reporting to measure smoking during pregnancy significantly underestimates the number of pregnant smokers in Scotland, with more than 2400 unrecognised pregnant smokers a year who will not be offered smoking cessation services. Reliance on self reporting resulted in twice as many undetected smokers in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived areas. Overall, these figures call for more accurate methods of identifying pregnant smokers, especially when such data are used to inform policy and provide patient care.

What is already known on this topic

Self reported smoking during pregnancy is known to be an inaccurate method of identifying smokers Self reported smoking in Scotland is used to generate smoking prevalence and, largely, to target smoking cessation services

What this study adds

Reliance on self reported smoking during pregnancy underestimates the true smoking prevalence in Scotland by 17% Each year in Scotland twice as many pregnant smokers from more deprived areas go undetected compared with pregnant smokers in the least deprived areas Reliance on self reporting results in a failure to detect over 2400 pregnant smokers each year in Scotland who are therefore not offered smoking cessation services

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Reliability of self reported smoking status by pregnant women for estimating smoking prevalence: a retrospective, cross sectional study 

Objective To determine what impact reliance on self reported smoking status during pregnancy has on both the accuracy of smoking prevalence figures and access to smoking cessation services for pregnant women in Scotland. . . .

Conclusion Reliance on self reporting to identify pregnant smokers significantly underestimates the number of pregnant smokers in Scotland and results in a failure to detect over 2400 smokers each year who are therefore not offered smoking cessation services.

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• Around One In Five Pregnant Smokers Go Undetected Each Year 

Self-reported smoking during pregnancy underestimates the true number of pregnant smokers in Scotland by 17%, and results in a failure to detect 2400 pregnant smokers each year, finds new research published on bmj.com today.

This results in thousands of smokers not being identified or offered smoking cessation services, say the authors.

It is well known that self reported smoking during pregnancy is an inaccurate way to identify smokers. Yet it is still used widely by antenatal clinics to determine the smoking status of pregnant women and to refer them to smoking cessation services. The Scottish Government also relies on self-reported smoking figures to set targets and measure the success of smoking cessation services. . . .

The authors estimate that the true smoking prevalence for pregnant women in Scotland, after adjusting for area deprivation, maternal age and self-reported smoking is 28%, higher than the 23% based on self report data.

They conclude by calling for more accurate methods of identifying pregnant smokers, so that accurate data is used to inform policy and provide appropriate

Source British Medical Journal

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• Mothers' smoking causes newborn discomfort 

French researchers say they have tied maternal smoking to an increased risk of discomfort in newborns.

The study, published in Biological Psychiatry, suggests significantly more discomfort among newborns of smoking mothers may be related to having less monoamine oxidase A an enzyme, which degrades chemicals involved in brain message-sending.

Monoamine oxidase A activity was reduced both in the pregnant smokers and in their newborns when the researchers tested for blood biomarkers of monoamine oxidase A activity in smoking and non-smoking pregnant women and in the cord blood of their newborns.

Smoke exposure-induced low monoamine oxidase A activity in the womb may affect fetus brain neurotransmission and create potential vulnerabilities to behavioral disorders later in life,

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Reduced Monoamine Oxidase A Activity in Pregnant Smokers and in Their Newborns 

Background

Tobacco smoking is associated with reduced monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) activity. Smoking-associated low MAOA activities in pregnancy and in newborns may have negative perinatal and postnatal consequences. We aimed to compare, in everyday clinical conditions, biomarkers of MAOA activity in smoking (SPW) and lifetime nonsmoking pregnant women (NSPW) and in cord blood and to assess the newborns' behavior during the first 48 hours of life. . . .

Conclusions

Smoking is associated with MAOA inhibition in pregnant women and in their newborns at birth. Further studies are needed to estimate the behavioral significance of these findings.

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• Maternal Smoking May Increase Newborns' Discomfort 

A new research study being published in the October 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry suggests that maternal smoking may increase the level of distress of newborns.

Studies have consistently found that prenatal cigarette smoke exposure is associated with increased rates of behavior problems, irritability, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the risk of violent offenses, conduct disorder, adolescent onset of drug dependence, and the risk for criminal arrest in offspring. This study adds another potential negative outcome to the list of reasons for mothers to stop smoking while pregnant.

Most of the effects of tobacco either during pregnancy or on postnatal outcomes are attributed to nicotine. However, smoking is associated with reduced monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) activity, enzymes that degrade brain neurotransmitters in smokers. Prenatal smoke exposure-induced low MAO-A activity in fetal life may dysregulate brain neurotransmission, creating a potential vulnerability to develop behavioral disorders later in life. This dysregulation can occur with or without interaction with nicotine's effect on the developing brain.

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• Guangzhou To Ban Tobacco Sales To Vulnerable Groups  

Guangzhou has prepared a tobacco control regulation which is pending approval by the city's National People's Congress standing committee.

The new regulation lists ten areas including hospitals, kindergartens, schools, and buses as tobacco-free areas and states that people smoking in these areas will be fined CNY50 and those who sell tobacco products to vulnerable groups such as teenagers and pregnant women will be fined CNY1,000. . . .

In addition, the regulation forbids tobacco manufacturers and sellers to send tobacco products as gifts

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• Eighty per cent of pregnant women in Nunavut smoke 

When Ottawa’s Bob Reid convened a meeting several years ago to discuss Nunavut’s smoking epidemic, the territory’s health officials, Inuit elders and leaders all shared an overriding concern.

Nunavut’s expectant mothers smoked too much, they told him, and required urgent help.

“One of the things that was appalling to community members was the degree to which women continued to smoke throughout pregnancy,” says Reid, associate director of the rehabilitation centre at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.

Reid, an expert in smoking cessation and behaviour modification, works with heart patients trying to break their addiction to tobacco.

About one-quarter of the 7,000 patients who visit the institute every year are smokers. (Smoking is a leading risk factor for heart disease.)

But the scale of the epidemic among Nunavut’s expectant mothers is of a different magnitude: studies show that up to 80 per cent of pregnant women in the territory smoke.

That level of tobacco use has profound effects on the health of Nunavut’s infants, who suffer the world’s highest rates of hospitalization for pneumonia, bronchiolitis and other respiratory infections.

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Contribution of smoking during pregnancy to inequalities in stillbirth and infant death in Scotland 1994-2003: retrospective population based study using hospital maternity records (Full Text) 

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC

Rates of both stillbirth and infant death show social gradients within developed countries Smoking during pregnancy has been clearly linked to stillbirth and infant deaths Quantifying the contribution that smoking during pregnancy has on the social inequalities gap in stillbirths and infant deaths is of interest

WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS

Social gradients existed in the stillbirth and infant death rates in Scotland during 1994-2003 Smoking during pregnancy accounted for 38% of the inequality in stillbirths and 31% of the inequality in infant deaths

In addition to tackling smoking during pregnancy and reducing infants’ exposure to tobacco smoke, other measures are needed to reduce social inequalities in these outcomes

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Contribution of smoking during pregnancy to inequalities in stillbirth and infant death in Scotland 1994-2003: retrospective population based study using hospital maternity records 

Conclusions Both tackling smoking during pregnancy and reducing infants' exposure to tobacco smoke in the postnatal environment may help to reduce stillbirths and infant deaths overall and to reduce the socioeconomic inequalities in stillbirths and infant deaths perhaps by as much as 30-40%. However, action on smoking on its own is unlikely to be sufficient and other measures to improve the social circumstances, social support, and health of mothers and infants are needed.

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• Stillbirths And Infant Deaths Related To Smoking During Pregnancy And Socioeconomic Inequalities 

New research published on bmj.com today reports that addressing the problem of smoking during pregnancy may help to reduce the socioeconomic inequalities in stillbirths and infant deaths by as much as 30 to 40 percent.

Without a doubt smoking during pregnancy has been associated with stillbirth. In addition, infant deaths and smoking rates during pregnancy vary strikingly with socioeconomic position. In order to find out more, a team of researchers began the task of measuring the effects of smoking during pregnancy and on the social inequalities gap in stillbirths and infant deaths.

They assessed the records of 529,317 live singleton births and 2,699 stillbirths delivered at 24 to 44 weeks' gestation in Scotland from 1994 to 2003.

Information on smoking during the pregnancy was gathered. A deprivation score was designated using postcode data from the 2001 population census.

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