Tobacco.org

Response inhibition among early adolescents prenatally exposed to tobacco: An fMRI study 

Children prenatally exposed to tobacco have been found to exhibit increased rates of behavior problems related to response inhibition deficits. The present study compared the brain function of tobacco-exposed (n = 7) and unexposed (n = 11) 12-year-olds during a Go/No-Go response inhibition task using an event-related functional MRI (fMRI) design. Prenatal alcohol exposure, neonatal medical problems, environmental risk, IQ, current environmental smoke exposure, and handedness were statistically controlled. Tobacco-exposed children showed greater activation in a relatively large and diverse set of regions, including left frontal, right occipital, and bilateral temporal and parietal regions. In contrast, unexposed but not exposed children showed activation in the cerebellum, which prior research has indicated is important for attention and motor preparation. The diversity of regions showing greater activation among tobacco-exposed children suggests that their brain function is characterized by an inefficient recruitment of regions required for response inhibition.

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Impulsive behavior in preteens linked to mom's smoking when pregnant 

New research indicates that smoking during pregnancy can lead to impulsive behavior in children. Preteenagers whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are more impulsive on a standard behavior test and use different regions of their brain while performing the test when compared to children whose mothers did not smoke. The study highlights how early exposure to cigarette smoke can alter brain development and affect lifelong behaviors and thinking patterns. The changes to brain function found were similar to those seen in children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). . . .

What does it mean?

Profound behavior and brain differences were found in preteen children who were exposed to cigarette smoke before they were born. They used more regions of their brains and were less able to restrain their actions during a standard test of impulsive behavior. Similar physical and behavioral are seen in children with ADHD.

The findings suggest that prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke results in impulsive-type behavior since this task evaluates response inhibition or the ability to override the tendency to respond to a signal.

Additionally, the study suggests that the brains of these children are less mature. Typically, younger children have a similar broad pattern of brain activation while performing the Go/No-Go task. As the children mature their brains become more efficient and only activate a more limited number of areas in the brain while performing the task. Yet the brains of the adolescents prenatally exposed to tobacco resembled the brains of younger children in how they processed the task.

This study builds on prior research that also demonstrates poor impulse control in children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. Yet it went farther by evaluating the activation pattern in the brain of the children while they were performing a task of response inhibition.

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Smokefree Innotec, Inc. Holds International Launch Conference  

Smokefree Innotec, Inc. (Pink Sheets:SFIO - News) (www.smokefree-innotec.com) today announced that it will organize a management conference June 30 and July 1 in Nashville, Tennessee, to finalize the launch of the World’s first totally smoke-free electronic cigarette, scheduled for this autumn. Among the key staffers flying into Nashville International are Dr. Robert Wang, the inventor of the device; North American Sales and Marketing Director Bill Whalen, and Manfred Bogaert, General Manager of our European subsidiary, Smokefree Innotec BVBA. Also attending the conference will be Christopher Hansen, a senior executive of SENCO G.C.S. The Company and SENCO G.C.S. anticipate the initial targeted markets will include domestic and foreign United States Military Exchange Services installations across the globe, beginning in Europe. Further expansion will include bases located in Asia and the United States.

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Research and Markets: Essential 2009 Report on Cigarette Manufacturing Industry in the U.S. and Its Foreign Trade Now Available  

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4342f0/cigarette_manufact) has announced the addition of Supplier Relations US, LLC's new report "Cigarette Manufacturing Industry in the U.S. and its Foreign Trade [2009 Edition]" to their offering.

The Cigarette Manufacturing Industry report is the most comprehensive market research report available on this industry. With complete 2008 data and sophisticated forecasts for 2009, the report provides the most updated data and analysis on the industrys key financial data, cost and pricing, competitive landscape, industry structure, and trends and opportunities.

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Monstrous 

The impact on health from smokingrelated diseases and cost to the public purse is far higher than official figures suggest, according to new research.

A study by Oxford University’s Department of Public Health found that the cost of smoking to the NHS in 2005-06 was £5.2bn, nearly four times higher than government figures suggest. The most recent estimates put the figure at £1.4bn to £1.7bn.

Dr Steven Allender, who led the study, said even this upward revision is likely to be an under-estimate as it did not take into account indirect costs such as informal care and the impact of passive smoking.

The study also found that about 110,000 people in the UK died as a direct result of smoking in 2005, an increase of 5,000 over the previous estimate.

This means that nearly one in five of all deaths in the country are due to smoking, accounting for more than 27 per cent of deaths among men and nearly 11 per cent among women.

The research has prompted renewed calls for tougher sanctions on the sale and advertising of tobacco products.

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NCTOH: Addiction is addiction is addiction 

This is a series of special reports from the National Conference on Tobacco or Health in Phoenix, AZ.

Erik Augustson, PhD, MPH for the National Cancer Institute said that tobacco dependence is a complex issue and there is no accepted definition but that the process is influenced by a variety of factors:

* Compulsive use despite adverse consequences.

* The drug reinforces behavior.

* There is a predictable pattern of withdrawal.

* Relapse--quitting is hard.

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Martinez to consider tough smoking restrictions  

Martinez could become the first city in Contra Costa County to ban smoking in most public places including parks, alfresco dining areas and outdoor workplaces.

On Wednesday, the City Council is holding a public hearing on an ordinance that would prohibit smoking in common areas such as laundry rooms, hallways and lobbies of multi-unit dwellings. It also would cover outdoor public places such as parks, bus stops and at public events. It also would ban smoking in all indoor and outdoor workplaces, as well as in vehicles used for work.

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4 Factors That Increase Odds of Heart Failure 

Smoking, high blood pressure, excess weight, and diabetes are major risk factors for increasing the size of the heart's left ventricle (the main pumping chamber) a new study shows. An increase in the size and thickness, or "mass," of the left ventricle is a worrisome condition that can lead to heart failure.

Boston University researchers say that in a study of more than 4,200 people, those four risk factors were strongly correlated with greater left ventricle mass over the short term (four years), as well as over the long term (16 years).

The study is published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

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Asthma and Smoking Could Be Dangerous Combo  

Doctors say smoking and asthma can also be a dangerous combination. “None of your medications will work,” says Dr. Kay Walker, an allergies and asthma physician. “Not only just your simple quick inhaler, but the long term medications which cut down on the inflammation simply cannot be as effective in somebody who is an active smoker.”

Doctor Walker says the chemicals in cigarettes paralyze parts of the lungs that clear out dust and particles. The damage can also prevent inhalers and medicines from helping you during a life-threatening asthma attack. “Because you are continually damaging the lungs, you are continually causing more inflammation, which overwhelms our ability to try and control it.”

Second-hand smoke can also be a problem for asthma sufferers of all ages.

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British men 40% more likely to die from cancer than women  

British men are almost 40 per cent more likely than women to die from cancer-- and stereotypical behaviours like playing down early symptoms may be part of the reason, a new report suggests.

Researchers at the National Cancer Intelligence Network and Cancer Research U.K. released a report Monday that concludes British men are 16 per cent more likely than women to develop the disease in the first place.

The researchers looked at cancer as a whole, taking age into account while comparing men to women. When they excluded gender-specific malignancies like prostate and ovarian cancer and also lung cancer (since the disease and its main risk factor, smoking, are known to be more common in men), the gender gap became more much more pronounced.

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California Democrats Seek Budget That Raises Tobacco, Oil Taxes 

California’s Democratic legislative leaders want to raise taxes on oil companies and cigarettes by $2 billion to help close the most-populous U.S. state’s $24 billion budget deficit.

The increases will be included in a budget the Democrats plan to vote on next week, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said. Democrats say the additional funds are needed to avert Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposals to cut or eliminate state programs that aid the unemployed and the poor.

“This is a serious response to a serious problem,” Bass, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said in a statement.

The Democrats’ decision sets the stage for a battle with Republican lawmaker

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BAT to Buy Indonesian Clove-Cigarette Maker for $494 Million  

British American Tobacco Plc, Europe’s largest cigarette maker, will buy control of PT Bentoel Internasional Investama of Indonesia, the nation with Asia’s most lax restrictions and most smokers after China and India.

BAT today said it will pay $494 million for 85 percent of Bentoel, marking its first foray into clove-flavored cigarettes, known as kretek in Indonesia for the crackling sound they make when lit. Bentoel, whose brands include Star Mild, will help BAT boost its local market share to about 9 percent.

BAT, the London-based maker of Lucky Strike, is expanding in a country with few of the restrictions seen in Europe and the U.S. More than 90 percent of Indonesia’s tobacco users smoke kretek, which can contain double the nicotine and almost triple the tar of conventional tobacco, and minors can buy a cigarette for less than 4 cents.

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Star Patents Held Invalid in Reynolds Jury Trial Win (Update4)  

Star Scientific Inc.’s patents for reducing carcinogens in cigarettes are invalid, a federal jury said, giving a victory to Reynolds American Inc. and causing Star to plunge more than 80 percent in after-hours trading.

The U.S. jury rejected Star’s efforts to seek hundreds of millions of dollars from Reynolds over a process to reduce tobacco-specific nitrosamines that cause lung cancer, finding Reynolds didn’t infringe Star’s patents, and that the two Star patents were invalid. Star pledged to appeal.

Star claimed during the trial that Reynolds was unable on its own to reduce nitrosamines as much as Star could, so opted to use the technology as part of an effort to “neutralize” competition. Reynolds denied the claim, and challenged the validity of the Star patents.

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Japan Tobacco Stock Jumps on Buyout of U.K.’s Tribac (Update1)  

Japan Tobacco Inc., the world’s third-biggest maker of cigarettes, climbed to a six-month high in Tokyo trading after agreeing to acquire Tribac Leaf Ltd. to improve its access to tobacco growers.

Japan Tobacco rose 7.3 percent to 325,000 yen at the close of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the highest since Dec. 8.

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'Wicked Plants' Creep Through Brooklyn Gardens 

In her new book, Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, author Amy Stewart focuses on plants that are illegal, dangerous -- even deadly. . . .

This summer, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is showcasing many of these "evil plants" among its lily ponds and greenhouses. They feature scores of examples of plants that make you sick, make you hallucinate, and a few that can even kill. Though there are no illegal plants, like cannabis, the garden does have some that are dangerous, like jimson weed. It's said that jimson weed, named after Jamestown, made many of the first settlers sick.

As she runs her fingers through a beautiful hedge of yew at the garden, Stewart says the innocent-looking plant is quite poisonous if eaten. She's learned to be careful by wearing gloves. She recalls becoming dizzy one day while wandering through a field of tobacco.

"It was like being covered with nicotine patches," she says. "My heart started racing."

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