Tobacco.org

Activated stem cells in damaged lungs could be first step toward cancer 

Stem cells that respond after a severe injury in the lungs of mice may be a source of rapidly dividing cells that lead to lung cancer, according to a team of American and British researchers.

"There are chemically resistant, local-tissue stem cells in the lung that only activate after severe injury," said Barry R. Stripp, Ph.D., professor of medicine and cell biology at Duke University Medical Center. "Cigarette smoke contains a host of toxic chemicals, and smoking is one factor that we anticipate would stimulate these stem cells. Our findings demonstrate that, with severe injury, the resulting repair response leads to large numbers of proliferating cells that are derived from these rare stem cells."

Stripp said this finding could be related to the increased incidence of lung cancer in people with chronic disease states, in particular among cigarette smokers.

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Researchers determine predicting factors of positive lung cancer diagnoses in chest radiographs 

A study published in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology determined several predictors of a positive lung cancer diagnosis after having an abnormal chest x-ray. Dr. Martin Carl Tammemagi of Brock University in Ontario and his team of US researchers examined the chest radiographs of 12,314 individuals obtained through the National Cancer Institute's Prostate Lung Colorectal Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO). They found that older age, lower education levels and a longer smoking history were all associated with a "true positive" diagnosis for lung cancer in those individuals with an abnormal screening chest radiograph.

A "true positive" radiograph represents an accurate reading for lung cancer. Other factors that contributed to a "true positive" diagnosis include a family history of lung cancer and a suspicious mass in the upper/middle chest region.

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Evidence supports use of Web- and computer-based programs to help adults quit smoking 

Available evidence supports the use of online or other computer-based smoking cessation programs for helping adults quit smoking, according to a meta-analysis of previously published studies appearing in the May 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"Smoking is the single greatest cause of preventable disease and premature death," the authors write as background information in the article. Currently recommended smoking cessation strategies include individual or group counseling, medications and telephone quit-line counseling.

Seung-Kwon Myung, M.D., M.S., then at the University of California, Berkeley, and now at the National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea, and colleagues identified 22 randomized controlled trials of Web- and computer-based programs published between 1989 and 2008. . . .

individuals assigned to use computer- or Web-based programs were about 1.5 times more likely to quit smoking than those assigned to control groups. Abstinence rates were higher among intervention groups than control groups after six to 10 months (11.7 percent vs. 7 percent) and 12 months (9.9 percent vs. 5.7 percent) of follow-up. The effects of these programs were similar to those of counseling interventions, the authors note.

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Sin tax doubles for smokers 

The health surcharge on cigarettes and other tobacco products doubled yesterday from NT$10 a pack to NT$20.

Chao Kun-yu, director of the Bureau of Health Promotion under the Department of Health (DOH), said retail stores are allowed to sell off existing cigarette stocks without imposing the extra NT$10 tax on customers.

He urged consumers to examine the cigarettes they buy to make sure the pack carries a sticker certifying a NT$20 health and welfare surcharge.

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Advice from 'Dear Prudence'  

The Patch: My husband is trying to stop smoking. He started the patch this weekend. And he has turned into a complete jerk. He is mean and nasty and has said some really terrible things to me. He's also been really mean to our son. . . .

Arlington, Va.: Please, please, please advise the woman whose husband is trying to quit smoking to discuss this side-effect with his doctor immediately. My family has been devastated by a member who committed suicide shortly after beginning a drug-based regime designed to help him quit smoking. A reaction like her husband's shouldn't be ignored or trivialized. (Not that your original answer trivialized it, but please have them make sure it's not something more serious.)

Emily Yoffe: Medical alert! Wife with the husband quitting smoking who has developed a terrible personality -- have him call his doctor immediately. Thanks for the heads up.

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Over and Over - Art That Never Stops  

But when the Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson invited a reporter to visit him there the other day, he wrote, "See you at the abyss." And what anyone who stops by his work space at the palazzo will find, now or over the next six months, is a farcically romantic idea of what the end of the world might look like, at least for an artist: Mr. Kjartansson, standing at an easel day after day, relentlessly painting the portrait of a man who poses before him in a black Speedo, cigarette and beer in hand.

As time passes, the canvases Mr. Kjartansson makes -- he plans to complete one a day -- will mount up around him, as will the empty bottles and butt-filled ashtrays, all of it a monument to artistic ruin. . . .

Last year in a performance that could be seen as a warm-up for Venice, he assumed all the clichéd trappings of a plein-air painter, sitting on a hillside in upstate New York with an easel, smoking cigars and reading “Lolita” while he worked. . . .

"I think, secretly, it's what every artist wants to do, just to sit and paint and smoke and think," he said.

On Tuesday afternoon Mr. Bjornsson was doing most of the smoking, a steady stream of Benson & Hedges

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Florida Smoker's Widow Awarded $30 Million 

A Florida jury yesterday ordered R.J. Reynolds to pay $30 million to the widow of a lung cancer victim, who sued the leading tobacco manufacturer pursuant to a 2006 ruling barring class actions against cigarette companies but allowing individual suits to proceed.

The three-person jury in Pensacola awarded $5 million in compensation last week, and yesterday tacked on $25 million punitive damages. . . .

The recent string of consumer victories is likely to lead to more litigation, and more headaches for the nation's tobacco manufacturers. Meanwhile, the economic crisis has spurred some states to drastically increase taxes on cigarettes, leading consumers to think twice before buying a pack.

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• RJR plans to appeal Florida jury's ruling on damages from smoker's lawsuit 

But it's clear from a jury's ruling this week that tobacco manufacturers, particularly R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., are facing significantly higher potential awards than had been projected.

A jury in Pensacola, Fla., on Monday awarded $5 million in compensation damages and $25 million in punitive damages from Reynolds to the family of Benny Martin.

Reynolds said it will appeal the decision.

"It is our position that the trial proceedings were unconstitutional and otherwise inconsistent with law," Reynolds spokesman David Howard said. "We believe the verdict will ultimately be reversed on these and other grounds." . . .

Edward Sweda, a senior attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project in Boston, said he believes the $30 million jury award is another major blow to the tobacco industry.

"The unmistakable message from this jury is that the tobacco industry's reprehensible misconduct must not be minimized or excused," Sweda said.

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Tossed cigarette  

A lit cigarette that landed on a police officer's vehicle led to a traffic stop, which resulted in a Fayette County man's arrest on drug charges.

David W. Gingrich, 28, of 174 Horse Bend Road, Acme, was charged by North Huntingdon police with drug possession, disorderly conduct, depositing waste on a highway and illegally operating a motor vehicle that was not equipped with an ignition interlock.

Gingrich first caught township Patrolman Jeremy Nichols' attention at 8:30 p.m. April 14, when he threw the cigarette out of a Honda Accord . . .

A search of the car, Gingrich and a passenger yielded three heroin packets, 10 Xanax pills and a small plastic bag of marijuana, police said.

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Pa. boy, 10, attacks another, 9, in cigarette beef 

UNIONTOWN, Pa. - Police say a 10-year-old western Pennsylvania boy threatened a 9-year-old boy with two knives then punched him in the face after the younger boy refused the older boy's request that he steal a pack of cigarettes.

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Council snuffs cigar bar concept 

Elections have consequences, and one vote makes a difference.

With heavy opposition voiced by Place One representative Bob Allen, Frisco City Council voted Tuesday night to direct staff to drop any further pursuit of a change in the anti-smoking ordinance to allow a cigar bar in Frisco Square.

Allen's predecessor prior to the May 9 election, Tony Felker, had voiced support for allowing such a personal choice when the matter came before council in April.

With Allen's lead, council members voted 4-2 to drop the matter.

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Cigar Bar topic on council agenda Tuesday 

When the Frisco City Council meets tonight, staff again asks for direction in whether or not to prepare a proposed ordinance amendment to allow a cigar bar to open in a building in Frisco Square.

City Council convenes at 5:30 p.m. for their first Tuesday meeting of June. They are expected to adjourn into executive session for at least an hour before reconvening for the public portion of the meeting.

The staff report attached to the agenda at www.friscotexas.gov indicates staff has reviewed other jurisdictions for ordinances regulating cigar bars.

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• House rejects smoking ban, 29-71  

Citing the potential for harming businesses, the House today overwhelmingly rejected a move to broaden the state's indoor smoking ban to include bars and gambling establishments.

The 29-71 vote on House Bill 844 by Rep. Gary Smith followed more than an hour of debate and several attempts to change the bill, most of which were turned away.

Supporters of the measure said it was a public health measure designed to protect patrons and workers in bars and casinos from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, and would create a level playing field between restaurants, bars and casinos.

Smoking has been banned in restaurants since 2007.

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芬兰：餐馆全面禁烟 服务人员健康受益 

新华网赫尔辛基６月１日专电（记者刘硒碲）芬兰职业健康研究所１日公布的一份调查结果显示，自２００７年６月芬兰在全国所有餐饮场所全面禁烟以来，餐饮业服务人员请病假的人数减少，健康状况明显改善。

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台烟价上涨烟民选择戒烟 戒烟门诊日增六成 

台海网6月2日讯 据台湾TVBS报道，6月1日起台湾烟品健康捐调高10元，不少烟商也趁机涨价，昂贵的烟价成为压垮瘾君子的最后一根稻草？不少医院的戒烟门诊人数就有增加趋势，像基隆医院最近戒烟人数一天就增加5、6成，大部分的人说，烟太贵买不起干脆戒掉。

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