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• Wyeth’s Menopause Hormones Increase Risk of Lung Cancer Deaths 

Wyeth’s hormone replacement therapy, a menopause treatment whose use has declined after being linked to heart attack, stroke and breast cancer, increases the risk of death from lung tumors, a study found.

After five years on Wyeth’s Prempro, a combination of the hormones estrogen and progestin, 67 women died from non-small cell lung cancer, compared with 39 on placebo, the research showed. Results of the trial, which examined women age 50 to 79 and included current and former smokers, were presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Orlando.

Sales of the pills plunged in 2002 after a U.S. study linked the therapy to breast cancer and cardiovascular risks. As many as 6 million women took the menopause treatments before the study curbed use. The products generated $1.1 billion last year, down from more than $2 billion in 2001.

“This is a new finding that tells us women who smoke shouldn’t take estrogen and progestin for menopause symptoms,” said Rowan Chlebowski, the study author and a researcher at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, in an interview.

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• Anti-tobacco law gains support 

A report on a survey, to assess the levels of Second Hand Smoke (SHS) in selected places, has indicated that 80 per cent of workers in smoking and non-smoking establishments were in favour of smoke-free laws, citing health as a reason.

The report said even though all smoking venues, except one, had ventilation systems, 96 per cent had Particulate Matter of 2.5 level, which fell into hazardous category of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality Index.

According to Mr Winfred Agbenyikey, who conducted the research, the ventilation system cannot protect people from SHS exposure. . . .

Presenting a Paper at a day's seminar on the theme: "Ban on Smoking in Public Places," for senior staff of the EPA in Accra on Thursday, he said bar owners interviewed claimed customers' preference and concerns over loss of revenue as their reason for allowing smoking in their establishments.

He, however, noted that owners of non-smoking locations, which had gone smoke-free voluntarily, six months before the study, reported a hike in attendance and increased revenue after the ban.

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