http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/greece.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=207456 http://tobacco.org/news/297447.html It was a Greek tragedy for opponents of the proposed tobacco display ban this week after hopes of a last-minute reprieve were dashed. The Greek government raised an objection to the UK government's regulations covering the implementation of the ban. But according to a statement from the European Commission seen by The Grocer, the objection arrived a day too late the deadline for European member states to raise any objections was Monday. The Grocer Europe Greece Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100012_23/02/2010_115122 http://tobacco.org/news/297442.html The possibility of smoking being banned in all public places is an option being seriously considered by the Health Ministry, sources said yesterday, as officials held talks with workers’ unions with a view to overhauling the current ban, which is generally accepted to have been a flop. The scientists on the steering committee that is examining Greece’s smoking laws yesterday advised the government to impose a blanket ban in place of the current regulations, which offer various loopholes and have proved too complicated for many business owners to understand or implement. “A new law was passed seven months ago but it had many problems,” said Health Minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou. “This has been made clear to us during meetings with workers’ representatives. The problems have to do with contradictions and the lack of thought that has gone into the regulations.” Kathimerini editor@ekathimerini.com Greece Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8503444.stm http://tobacco.org/news/296579.html Much trumpeted legislation aimed at stamping out smoking in Greece, Europe's most tobacco addicted nation, has been declared a failure by health campaigners. A lack of enforcement and widespread public defiance is being blamed for the Greeks' inability to conform to European standards. As the BBC's Malcolm Brabant reports, Greek rebelliousness is one of the biggest obstacles. BBC Online Greece Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307671,greeces-smoking-ban-not-working-say-officials.html http://tobacco.org/news/296521.html More than six months after Greece introduced a ban on smoking in public places, officials were conceding that the third attempt to stamp out the habit is failing, it was reported Friday. Greece, one of the last bastions of smoking in the European Union, introduced a ban on smoking in public places on July 1. According to a report in the Greek daily Kathimerini, despite awareness campaigns that were initially well received by the public in the countdown to the ban, the necessary reforms have not been carried out to ensure that the restrictions are enforced. As a result, smoking continues in most bars and cafes, public offices and hospitals, according to Panayiotis Behrakis, the head of the steering committee set up to oversee the implementation of the restrictions. "The whole country is smoking," Behrakis was quoted as saying to Kathimerini. . . . One of the problems seems to be that bar and cafe owners have submitted incomplete applications for revised operating licenses. Small cafes and restaurants with premises measuring less than 70 square metres have had to choose between becoming tobacco-free or admitting only patrons who smoke. In addition, companies with more than 50 employees will be able to set up dedicated smoking areas on their premises. Earth Times Greece Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100018_05/02/2010_114655 http://tobacco.org/news/296516.html More than six months after smoking restrictions were applied in public spaces, in line with European Union legislation, little has changed, authorities have told Kathimerini. Although an awareness campaign was well received by the public in the countdown to the July 1 ban, the necessary reforms have not been carried out to ensure that the restrictions are enforced. As a result, smoking continues in most bars and cafes, public offices and hospitals, according to Panayiotis Behrakis, the head of a steering committee set up to oversee the implementation of the restrictions. “The whole country is smoking,” he said. Kathimerini editor@ekathimerini.com Greece Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8449252.stm http://tobacco.org/news/295133.html The Greek government has announced increases in taxes on alcohol and tobacco as it seeks to counter the country's debt crisis. . . . Tax on a pack of cigarettes will rise from 57.5% to 70% on 12 January. The Finance Ministry said the measures would increase revenues. The government has ruled out increasing VAT. BBC Online Greece Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122684263/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 http://tobacco.org/news/293051.html Wiley InterScience Greece Cyprus Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.medwire-news.md/57/85310/Diabetes/Exposure_to_secondhand_smoke_increases_risk_for_Type_2_diabetes.html http://tobacco.org/news/293031.html Chronic secondhand smoke exposure significantly increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes, show results from a study of Greek and Cypriot elderly men and women. “While active smoking is strongly related to the development of diabetes mellitus, the role of exposure to secondhand smoke in the development of diabetes mellitus is unclear,” write Demosthenes Panagiotakos (Harokopio University, Athens, Greece) and colleagues in the journal Diabetic Medicine. The researchers recruited 1190 elderly men and women aged 65 years or above from several Greek and Cypriot islands in the Mediterranean during 2005–2007. MedWire News Greece Cyprus Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100010_11/11/2009_112320 http://tobacco.org/news/292496.html The ban on smoking in most bars and cafes is not being adhered to nor applied properly, the government said yesterday, adding that it is launching a review of the law that was passed earlier this year after pressure from the European Union. Health Minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou said that she had noted “great gaps in the application of the smoking ban” and would be re-examining the legal framework supporting it. At the end of last month, it was revealed that state inspectors had received more than 2,500 complaints about people violating the ban. It also emerged that some 2,200 cafe and bar owners in Athens had applied to turn their venues into all-smoking establishments but that none of the paperwork had been processed by authorities, in most cases because the applications were incomplete. Xenogiannakopoulou said she wants to address such problems. Kathimerini editor@ekathimerini.com Greece Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.medwire-news.md/40/84310/Lipidology/Smoking_cessation_significantly_increases_adiponectin_levels.html http://tobacco.org/news/289532.html MedWire News: Researchers in Greece have discovered that smoking cessation, aided by the pharmacologic agent buproprion, results in a significant increase in adiponectin levels within 2 months. “Smoking has been associated with low serum levels of adiponectin, an adipocytokine with insulin-sensitizing, anti-inflammatory, and anti-atherogenic properties,” say Stamatis Efstathiou (Hygeias Melathron, Athens) and colleagues. “However, no data are available so far in regard to the short-term impact of smoking cessation on serum adiponectin concentration.” To investigate further, the team recruited 106 apparently healthy Greek smokers without additional cardiovascular risk factors to the study. The participants were prescribed the well-established pharmaceutical aid buproprion 150 mg/twice daily for a period of 9 weeks. . . . Presenting their results at a poster session at the European Society of Cardiology annual meeting in Barcelona, Spain, the researchers report that quitters’ adiponectin levels were significantly increased by 1.9 µg/ml compared with baseline by the end of the study. In contrast, non-quitters’ adiponectin levels remained unchanged at 9 weeks. MedWire News Greece Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=630175 http://tobacco.org/news/289022.html In the study, researchers used electrical stimulation to test the taste threshold of 62 Greek participants. Applying an electrical current to the tongue generates a unique metallic taste. Measuring the amount of current required before a person perceives this taste enables researchers to determine taste sensitivity. The 28 smokers in the study scored worse on this test than the 34 nonsmokers. The researchers then used endoscopy to measure the number and shape of a type of taste bud called fungiform papillae. They found that the smokers had flatter fungiform papillae, with a reduced blood supply. The study was published online Aug. 20 in the journal BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders. HealthDay [HealthScout] Greece Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20090821/cigarette-smoke-dulls-taste-buds http://tobacco.org/news/288856.html Cigarette smoking not only causes cancer and cardiovascular disease, it also dulls taste, making food less palatable, a new study suggests. Scientists in Greece enlisted 62 young men of the country’s military forces, about half of whom were smokers, to test for taste sensitivity and to measure the number and shape of taste buds. The average age of the men was 25. The taste buds on smokers’ tongues were found to be flatter than the buds on the tongues of the nonsmokers, the researchers say. There was no difference in the numbers of taste buds between the two groups. “Statistically important differences between the taste thresholds of smokers and nonsmokers were detected,” Pavlidis Pavlos, leader of a team of researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, says in a news release. However, a few of the smokers perceived taste similarly to nonsmokers, and researchers say more study is needed to explain why. Smoking can affect the shape of taste buds and also affect vascularization, or the formation of blood vessels, he says. “Nicotine may cause functional and morphological alterations” of taste buds "without severely affecting their number," Pavlos and colleagues write. WebMD Greece Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6815/9/9/abstract http://tobacco.org/news/288759.html Background Nicotine has been recognized as capable of inducing changes in taste functionality in conditions of chronic exposure.The objective of this study was the evaluation of taste acuity in smokers and non-smokers and the differences concerning the shape, density and vascularisation of the fungiform papillae (fPap) of their tongue. Methods Sixty-two male subjects who served in the Greek Military Forces participated in the study and were randomized chosen. Thirty-four of them were non-smokers and 28 were smokers. All of the smokers used to hold the cigarette on the centre of their lips. Taste thresholds of the participants were measured with Electrogustometry (EGM). The morphology and the density of their fungiform papillae (fPap) on the tongue's tip were examined with Contact Endoscopy (CE). . . . Conclusion The majority of smokers showed elevated taste thresholds in comparison to non-smokers. Smoking is an important factor which can lead to decreased taste acuity. The combination of methods, such as EGM and CE, can provide useful information about the vascularisation of taste buds and their functional ability. BioMed Central Greece Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819234654.htm http://tobacco.org/news/288758.html Smokers have fewer and flatter taste buds. A study of the tongues of 62 Greek soldiers, published in the open access journal BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders, has demonstrated how cigarettes deaden the ability to taste. Pavlidis Pavlos led a team of researchers from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki who used electrical stimulation to test the taste threshold of the soldiers and endoscopes to measure the number and shape of a kind of taste bud called fungiform papillae. He said: "Statistically important differences between the taste thresholds of smokers and non-smokers were detected. Differences concerning the shape and the vascularisation of fungiform papillae were also observed." . . . Pavlos concludes: "Nicotine may cause functional and morphological alterations of papillae, at least in young adults." ScienceDaily Greece Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100008_20/08/2009_109973 http://tobacco.org/news/288752.html The chief of a study into the smoking habits of young people has called on authorities to emphasize in forthcoming anti-smoking campaigns the threat of social exclusion, noting that this is more likely to influence youngsters than repeating the health risks associated with nicotine. “People are looking for a different motive for quitting smoking – that’s the impression I get from the youngsters’ responses,” said Giorgos Anogeianakis, who heads the experimental physiology department of the Aristotle University’s Medical School in Thessaloniki. According to the study, carried out over a period of one year with a sample of 1,400 secondary school pupils and university students in the northern city, nonsmokers are increasingly shunning smokers. Nonsmokers said they prefer the company of others who do not smoke and smokers tend to spend most of their time with other smokers, Anogeianakis said, noting that this pattern reflects new smoking restrictions which segregate the smoking from the nonsmoking public. Kathimerini editor@ekathimerini.com Greece Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:00:00 GMT