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Smoking Cessation Harder For Women Than Men  

Women appear to have a tougher time quitting smoking than men, according to researchers at Women's Health Research at Yale.

While the percentage of men nationally who have given up cigarettes between 1965 and 2006 was 54.5 percent, the rate of decline among women was less steep, at 47.5 percent.

Consequently, the gap in the percentages of male and female smokers has narrowed. In 1965, slightly more than half of all men smoked, while about a third of women did. Today 23.3 percent of men smoke, compared to 18.6 percent of women.

Here we talked to Carolyn Mazure, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and director of the research program, about why women are not kicking the habit at the same rate as men.

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Saudi anti-smoking campaign targets young grooms 

The catchy slogan, "Kicking the habit is on you, and marriage is on us," is meant to entice young grooms to give up smoking by offering an attractive incentive.

And, indeed, hundreds have expressed interest in the first anti-smoking drive of its kind in the kingdom, with one man saying he is ready to take up smoking just to be eligible for the grand prize — an all-expenses-paid wedding.

In much of the Arab world, the groom alone bears the cost of getting married, including an expensive party, a dowry and a fully furnished house. Men often put off marriage until they've saved enough money to take a bride.

Several commentators have complained that the campaign is turning women into a commodity, but organizers have taken the criticism in stride, saying they're thrilled to get people talking about the dangers of smoking. About one quarter of Saudi Arabia's 27.6 million residents indulge. . . .

Another commentator, Suzan al-Mashhady, noted that Arabs have criticized the West for using women to promote merchandise. "Today, we're using ... the same two-in-one method adopted by a hair product that promises to clean the hair and condition it at the same time," she wrote in the Al-Hayat newspaper.

Al-Majdali said many have misunderstood the slogan.

"Did we say we're offering a woman?" he said.

"In any case, the fact that people are discussing the campaign means we have fulfilled our goal of spreading the word about it," he added.

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• Anti-smoking campaign targets young grooms 

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- The catchy slogan, "Kicking the habit is on you, and marriage is on us," is meant to entice young grooms to give up smoking by offering an attractive incentive.

And, indeed, hundreds have expressed interest in the first anti-smoking drive of its kind in the kingdom, with one man saying he is ready to take up smoking just to be eligible for the grand prize - an all-expenses-paid wedding. . . .

Since June 20, banners have gone up on overpasses and bridges over the Saudi capital's major highways, depicting the campaign slogan in pink and reddish brown. Next to it are the faceless outlines of a bride, dressed in white and carrying a bouquet of flowers, and of a man wearing a black, ceremonial cloak over his white thobe, the traditional robe Saudi men wear.

The quit-smoking-drive is also being advertised in malls, at universities and in magazines.

The organizer, a local charity called Purity, stipulates that the marriage is the man's first and that he has a recent marriage contract. In Islam, the contract is usually signed before a couple moves in together.

A draw on Aug. 6 will include the names of the men who successfully quit smoking in a weeklong course. The winner will have all wedding expenses paid while 20 runners-up will get free furniture.

Sulaiman al-Soby, secretary general of Purity, said the aim is to create a smoke-free family. One-third of Saudi school children live in homes with smokers, according to a 2007 health survey.

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China Scene: South: Woman asks man to quit before tying the knot 

A cigarette doesn't have to come between a man and woman. It's the tale that a woman in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, taught her fianc.

The man, Li, gave up smoking after his girlfriend promised to marry him only if he stopped smoking within a year.

Li was a heavy smoker but they got married last month.

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Poetic Connections - On Two Wheels - Come Ride With Me 

Craigslist is an electronic snapshot of a community . . .

The Missed Connections category is a treasure-trove of found poetry. . . .

Are You a Real Messenger Or...

just out for a ride?

you: usually wearing

a purple fitted,

athletic, very cute,

on the tall side.

you ride a purple

(bluegray?) track bike.

maybe just a little-little bit

of a tough-guy?

i think i’ve seen a few tattoos...

me: on broadway around Spring;

smoking outside the office

like I do sometimes.

I’ve seen you

ride by a few times,

south on broadway.

Um,

do you have any

plans this summer?

A girlfriend?

Humm hum hmmm...

Stop by sometime;

i’ll give you a cigarette

and maybe

you can buy me a pretzel...!!

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Cigarettes are hazardous to your erection: smoking and sexual health 

The four most common causes of erectile dysfunction are smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure. All of these heath problems damage blood vessels. Of the four, only smoking is a otherwise healthy young man's problem. Smoking doubles the risk of moderate to severe erectile dysfunction.

A man who starts smoking at the age of 18 and continues for 20 years may have his sex life seriously derailed by the age of 38. Smoking is the most common cause of ED for men under 40. The more cigarettes smoked, the greater the risk. As men age other conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease, may develop further compounding the problem.

This kind of damage is very hard to reverse - only 25% of men will see improvement in their erectile dysfunction if they quit smoking. Other options include drugs like Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis; however, these therapies are most effective when combined with smoking cessation.

The good news - smoking rates in California are on the decline and are the second lowest in the United States. The bad news is 17% of Californian men and 9% of women still smoke.

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Poll: Would you date a smoker?  

Survey conducted ahead of World No Tobacco Day finds over half of Israelis would not date a smoker, but more would be willing to go out with a smoker bent on quitting

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Board chair bars public from hookah tongue-lashing 

A QUEENS community board flouted the law by bouncing the public and the press from a meeting last week amid debates over a Queens News article in which board members blasted a hookah lounge, a state official said.

The chairman of Community Board 6 in Forest Hills called for a closed-door session Wednesday on the issue that - though controversial - didn't match the set of circumstances in which boards are allowed to toss the audience.

Chairman Joseph Hennessy, who also didn't hold a mandatory vote before entering the session, later told Queens News that he wanted to chide board members for talking to the press as if representing the board.

His anger stemmed from a May 5 article that quoted a pair of board members criticizing the Hookahloopa Lounge, which opened in late December with sexually charged names slapped on its tobacco treats.

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Sexy names & hookahs, but no booze 

WHAT WERE they smoking?

A Queens hookah lounge that promotes naughty-named tobacco blends such as "Erotic Sex" and "G Spot" in bonglike pipes has jeopardized its bid for a beer-and-wine license by being so risque, locals said.

GiGi Malek, co-owner of the trendy Hookahloopa Lounge in Forest Hills, insisted the Metropolitan Ave. hot spot - open till 2 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays - is safe and clean, and respects its proximity to homes.

But concerned locals - caught off guard by the innuendo-filled menu - want Community Board 6 to investigate and possibly craft a resolution urging the state Liquor Authority to deny a license.

"It's practically saying to kids, 'This is fine; this is a big joke,'" said community board member Barbara Stuchinski, also president of the Forest Hills Community and Civic Association.

J.R. Nocerino, girls softball director for the Forest Hills Little League, interpreted the provocative labels - which also include "All Night Long," "Sex in the Woods" and "XXX" - as ways to lure underage teens.

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Tobacco, impotence and firing blanks  

ACCORDING to medical practitioner, Dr Orlando Thomas, tobacco smoking has definitely been linked to impotence in Jamaican men, and if used heavily, eventually causes men to 'fire blanks'.

"This is definitely true, because it contains nicotine which causes hardening of the arteries and results in less blood flow to the penis," the doctor said.

This view is backed by studies which found that tobacco smoking has been individually associated with plaque build-up in the arteries, called atherosclerosis. This plaque obstructs the blood flow through the vessels, causing a host of circulatory problems throughout the body, resulting in erectile dysfunction (impotence). Long-term use of tobacco will eventually cause the blood flow to become non-existent, resulting in impotence.

Dr Thomas said while younger men may continue to smoke and boast that they are able to 'rise to the occasion', this is only for a time.

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Pornography, the New Tobacco?  

Writing in Policy Review, Mary Eberstadt of the Hoover Institution wonders if the "prevailing social consensus about pornography" will crumble in the long run much the way acceptance of tobacco eroded after the Surgeon General’s landmark 1964 “Report on Smoking and Health.”

The politics are different today -- support for a laissez faire approach is strong on the left (including some feminists) instead of the right -- yet that support seems "on a collision course with the empirical reality of pornography’s harms," she writes.

So despite what she calls today’s "sophisticated consensus about the harmlessness of Internet pornography," Eberstadt says, it's not hard to imagine, in light of smoking's comeuppance, "a future consensus that casts a far colder eye" on the business. [Policy Review]

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Smoking and oral contraceptive continuation. 

CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that young smokers may be more likely to discontinue OC within 6 months than nonsmokers. Smoking may be a marker for risk-taking behavior that extends to the premature discontinuation of OC.

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Rick’s Cabaret New York Opens “The Top of Rick's Smoking Deck & Garden” with Spectacular Empire State Building View 

Rick's Cabaret International, Inc. (NASDAQ: RICK) will open "The Top of Rick's Smoking Deck & Garden" on April 21st - a futuristic smoker's oasis on top of its upscale gentlemen's club in Midtown Manhattan.

The deck sits on a dramatic stainless steel superstructure spanning the roof of the Rick's Cabaret building at 50 West 33rd Street, between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, affording a spectacular view of the Empire State Building across the street. The new amenity was created by Joseph Kleinman of Kleinman Architects Co., who designed the luxurious three-story club that opened three years ago.

The Top of Rick's deck features back-lit translucent screening and lush evergreen yew hedges (Taxus Densiformus). VIP customers enjoying a smoke or a drink on the deck are warmed both by specially designed heaters and their conversations with the lovely Rick's Cabaret entertainers. . . .

Beneath the deck the topless cabaret show goes on non-stop from 11 am to 4 am weekdays (4 pm to 4 am on weekends).

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Close Relationships Can Perpetuate Individual Health Problems 

Human problems rarely occur in a vacuum, but persist as part of ongoing social interaction in which causes and effects are interwoven. One person's behavior can set the stage for what another does. A new study in the journal Family Process reveals that smoking can promote emotional connection for couples when both partners smoke. Health-compromising behaviors, such as smoking or weight gain, may sometimes persist because they preserve stability in a vital close relationship.

Researchers led by Michael J. Rohrbaugh and Varda Shoham of the University of Arizona had 25 couples discuss a health-related disagreement before and during a period of actual smoking, then use joysticks to rate how they had felt from moment to moment (from very positive to very negative) while watching themselves on video. One partner in each couple smoked despite having a heart or lung problem, and in some couples the other partner was a smoker as well. . . .

Having a partner who also smokes makes a huge difference in how smoking fits the couple's relationship (e.g. as an irritant or an ally), which in turn has implications for helping one or both partners quit.

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Affective Synchrony in Dual- and Single-Smoker Couples: Further Evidence of "Symptom-System Fit"? 

Couples in which one or both partners smoked despite one of them having a heart or lung problem discussed a health-related disagreement before and during a period of laboratory smoking. Immediately afterwards, the partners in these 25 couples used independent joysticks to recall their continuous emotional experience during the interaction while watching themselves on video. A couple-level index of affective synchrony, reflecting correlated moment-to-moment change in the two partners' joystick ratings, tended to increase from baseline to smoking for 9 dual-smoker couples but decrease for 16 single-smoker couples. Results suggest that coregulation of shared emotional experience could be a factor in smoking persistence, particularly when both partners in a couple smoke. Relationship-focused interventions addressing this fit between symptom and system may help smokers achieve stable cessation.

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