http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/health.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1022891/Why-Macmillan-refused-tell-smoking-harmful.html http://tobacco.org/news/268307.html Harold Macmillan claimed smoking was no more dangerous than 'crossing a street' and argued against issuing a Government health warning, Cabinet papers released yesterday reveal. The then Chancellor, a keen pipe and cigar smoker, had another reason for ignoring evidence of a link between cigarettes and lung cancer - he was afraid of losing tax revenue. There was already growing concern that smoking caused the disease when in 1956 the Cabinet was given a scientific report showing clear statistical evidence of a connection. It prompted panic among ministers over whether they should 'expose' the facts and condemn smoking as a health risk. . . . He added: 'The Treasury think revenue interest outweighs this. (It is) negligible compared with risk of crossing a street.' Notes from the meeting on April 17, 1956, were released at the National Archives in Kew, South West London. . . . Despite repeated warnings from medical experts about the link between smoking and cancer, ministers took no action until 1965 when they banned cigarette advertising on television. The Mail UK Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA070308.smoking.kens.1d8b0f18.html?npc http://tobacco.org/news/268302.html Dr. David Wagner, a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist, counsels patients about the benefits of quitting smoking before and after surgery. "We recommend that our patients stop smoking as long as possible before the surgery, and then for at least a week after surgery," he said. Cigarettes increase the level of carbon monoxide in your blood and decrease the level of oxygen. Decreased oxygen increases your chance of a heart attack. Smoking can also slow sown surgical wound healing and even increase the risk of infection. Plus, smoking increases your risk of lung problems such as pneumonia. San Antonio Express-News Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=8588478 http://tobacco.org/news/268264.html The La Crosse County Health Department is using the results of a recent air quality study to highlight the dangers of second hand smoke. During late February, health officials monitored the air quality at 19 establishments in the county that allow smoking. They took air quality measurements over 30 minutes and then compared those results to the state and federal standards used to measure air pollution outside. WKBT Channel 8 news8@wkbt.com Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080704/hl_nm/student_smoking_dc_1 http://tobacco.org/news/268260.html Students at high schools that value caring and inclusiveness are significantly less likely to be smokers than their peers at schools placing a heavier emphasis on academics, Scottish researchers report. Students' attitudes toward a school and the quality of student-teacher relationships also appeared to play a role in whether or not students chose to smoke cigarettes, especially for boys. "Schools can make a difference," Dr. Marion Henderson of the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences in Glasgow, who led the study, told Reuters Health. "It's worth schools trying to think about the social environments they're creating." Reuters Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998696.html http://tobacco.org/news/268255.html The study, published Tuesday in the open-access online medical journal PLoS Medicine, found that 58 percent of Israelis drink alcohol, 48 percent have smoke tobacco . . . Of the 17 countries surveyed, Israelis ranked sixth in marijuana consumption, 14th in alcohol consumption, 15th in tobacco and 11th in cocaine. Ha'aretz Newspaper/Magazine feedback@haaretz.co.il (Ofri Ilani, Haaretz Correspondent) Israel Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.medwire-news.md/48/76088/Respiratory/Group_therapy_helps_hospitalized_COPD_patients_quit_smoking.html http://tobacco.org/news/268243.html Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are more likely to quit smoking if they are offered smoking cessation programs rather than standard anti-smoking information at the same time as receiving hospital treatment, Danish researchers report. Getting patients to quit is the most important factor in the treatment and rehabilitation of patients, Anders Borglykke (Glostrup University Hospital) and colleagues explain in the Clinical Respiratory Journal. However, the authors note, until now there has been little investigation into the effect of smoking cessation programs in patients hospitalized by COPD. MedWire News Denmark Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/214527,alcohol-and-tobacco-kill-far-more-germans-than-illegal-drugs.html http://tobacco.org/news/268236.html Wiesbaden - Alcohol, tobacco and the abuse of prescription medicines kill far more Germans yearly than illegal drugs do, federal statisticians said Tuesday in Wiesbaden. Earth Times Germany Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/542093/?sc=rsla http://tobacco.org/news/268219.html Researchers at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) have received an $820,000 “Team Science Program Grant” from the Florida Department of Health and the James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program to study nicotine addiction. Looking at genetic and environmental factors, FAU researchers are working to understand the chemistry that underlies nicotine addiction, help to predict an individuals’ vulnerability to nicotine addiction and ultimately develop individualized treatments for this disorder. “This is a highly competitive grant and receiving this award is an important accomplishment for Florida Atlantic University,” said Michael Friedland, M.D., dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science. “There is clearly a need for more systematic research of nicotine and other addictions at levels of analysis including genetic, biological, behavioral and social.” Newswise Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=85098418 http://tobacco.org/news/268214.html Vice Chancellor of University of Health Sciences (UHS), Prof Malik Hussain Mubbashar has said that smoking is a behaviour related disorder and there is a need to establish a multi-dimensional task force to evolve strategies for tacking this menace. According to a press release, he was addressing at a seminar on Implementation of Prohibitation of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance 2002, here at UHS held in connection with the World No Tobacco Day 2008 on Monday. The seminar was organised by the Centre for Health Environment Studies of UHS in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, Punjab Health Department and a non-governmental organisation, Green Future. NewsEdge India Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Press_Releases/pr189a.html http://tobacco.org/news/268211.html Smoke-free policies reduce the exposure of both adults and children, reduce the prevalence of smoking in adults and reduce the risk of heart disease related to smoke exposure. A resulting reduction in the lung cancer burden may well occur as a result of these policies, but relevant evidence will only become available some time in the future. Further, such policies do not negatively affect the restaurant and bar industry. These findings are the latest in a series of reviews and evaluations conducted by an international group of experts convened at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), in Lyon, France. A summary of their conclusions will be published exclusively online and in the July edition of The Lancet Oncology (TLO). International Agency for Research on Cancer Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/June08/270608/bb02.htm http://tobacco.org/news/268190.html Most Muslims are aware and try to avoid committing the major sins in Islam - murder, suicide, adultery, alcohol, gambling and so on. Muslims are forbidden to harm themselves or others. Yet millions of Muslims all over the world are doing just that - harming - even killing themselves and their families by smoking cigarettes. Islamic scholars have historically had mixed views on the subject and in some Islamic countries, the actions of these Muslims have not been unanimously forbidden or even discouraged. However, in Brunei Darussalam, the State Mufti has already come up with a fatwa that pronounces tobacco use as haram (forbidden) to believers. Smoking is considered haram because those who smoke are considered to be killing themselves. The tobacco that they consume contains poisonous substance. Over three million people worldwide die from smoking-related causes each year. The Ministry of Health has also announced in their campaign that there are hundreds of poisonous and toxic ingredients found in the cigarette itself that the smoker inhales straight into the lungs. There are over 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, over 40 of which are known to cause cancer. In an authentic hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Whom so ever drinks poison, thereby killing himself, will sip this poison forever and ever in the fire of Jahannum (Hell)." Brunei Direct Brunei Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/06/28/quits-amazing-89520-20623909/ http://tobacco.org/news/268184.html The smoking ban on lighting up in pubs, clubs and restaurants is being hailed as the "single most important health measure for a generation" after record numbers gave up the habit last year. A leaked report shows 234,060 people quit cigarettes in the months before and after the law introduced a year ago - a figure up 22 per cent on the previous year. Ministers will use the anniversary of the smoking ban in England next week to publicise its success. The report, to be officially published on the July 1 anniversary, also shows that 98 per cent of premises inspected complied with the smoke-free legislation. And it says that 76 per cent of people support the ban for workplaces and other public places while just three per cent of businesses reported a negative impact on trade. The Mirror UK Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL291392620080630 http://tobacco.org/news/268183.html Smoking bans are an effective way of preventing heart disease, getting cigarette users to quit and protecting children from second-hand smoke, a World Health Organization (WHO) report issued on Monday said. The report by scientists at the WHO's International Agency for Cancer Research urged more countries to adopt smoking bans in public and at the workplace, saying there was enough evidence to prove they work, without hurting businesses such as restaurants and bars. Reuters Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=125&art_id=vn20080702055547321C755911 http://tobacco.org/news/268181.html Smoke-free policies are reducing heart disease related to smoke exposure, the prevalence of smoking in adults and the exposure of both adults and children to second-hand smoke. These and other findings are published in a special report of this month's the Lancet Oncology. The report, by the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC), also showed that smoke-free policies do not decrease the business activity of the restaurant and bar industry. The Independent Online South Africa Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.latimes.com/features/health/newsletter/la-he-winehouse30-2008jun30,0,5958243.story http://tobacco.org/news/268179.html in fact, Winehouse is not an anomaly. Health experts say that young adult smokers are no strangers to mild emphysema, a shortness of breath caused by damage to the lung's small air sacs. Smoking can permanently deteriorate the lungs, irreversibly diminishing lung capacity -- and the damage starts young, even in teens who smoke five cigarettes a day, according to one 1996 study from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston of 10,000 youths who smoked. But many smokers don't show symptoms for years, leading them to believe no damage is being done when, in fact, it is accruing all the time. "Teenagers and people in their 20s think they're invincible," says Dr. Norman H. Edelman, chief medical officer for the American Lung Assn. "They think they can wait until they're 35 to stop smoking and everything's going to be fine, but they can do permanent damage before that." . . . As well as emphysema, Samet adds, smoking can cause chronic bronchitis, lung inflammation characterized by irritation and scarring. "There are a lot of extraordinarily irritating substances in tobacco smoke. The lung has defense mechanisms that can clean out things that get in. But smokers dump so much toxic stuff in that the lungs can't keep up." Los Angeles Times jeannine.stein@latimes.com (Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer) Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT