Dr. John's Health Matters
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Posts tagged "tobacco"
Tuesday, Sep 1st, 2009 ↓Tobacco Smoking May Increase Risk for Tuberculosis →
September 1, 2009 (Medscape.com)— Tobacco smoking is associated with a 2-fold increased risk for active tuberculosis, according to the results of a prospective Taiwan cohort study reported in the September 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
“Previous case-control studies and a small number of cohort studies in high-risk populations have found an association between tobacco and active tuberculosis, but no cohort studies have been conducted in the general population on this association to date,” write Hsien-Ho Lin, MD, ScD, from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues.
The goal of the study was to evaluate the association between tobacco smoking and active tuberculosis in a general population cohort of 17,699 participants older than 12 years enrolled in the Taiwan National Health Interview Survey. An in-person interview at baseline determined smoking status and other covariates. During follow-up from 2001 to 2004, incident cases of active tuberculosis were identified with use of the National Health Insurance database. After adjustment for age, sex, alcohol intake, socioeconomic status, and other covariates, the association between smoking status and active tuberculosis was estimated with multivariate logistic regression.
During the 3.3 years of follow-up, there were 57 new cases of active tuberculosis. Current smoking was linked to an increased risk for active tuberculosis (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.01 - 3.73). Compared with patients older than 65 years, those younger than 65 years showed a stronger association between current smoking and the risk for active tuberculosis (adjusted OR, 3.04 vs 0.78; P for interaction = .036). There were significant dose-response associations for cigarettes per day (P for trend = .0036), years of smoking (P for trend = 0.023), and pack-years (P for trend = .0023).
“Tobacco smoking was associated with a twofold increased risk of active tuberculosis in a representative cohort of Taiwan’s population,” the study authors write. “The finding that smoking increases the risk of tuberculosis suggests that tobacco control be considered as an important component in the global effort to eliminate tuberculosis.”
For full medical article, see link above.
Heart Suffers From Just a Few Whiffs of Smoke →
Sept 1, 2009 (Therapytimes.com)—Just a few whiffs of tobacco smoke or dirty air can have a profound negative impact on your heart’s health.
Study results released today by the American Heart Association suggest that exposure to even a small amount of smoke — whether it’s from your own cigarette or someone else’s — greatly increases your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. The same goes for breathing in air polluted with carbon monoxide emissions.
“It doesn’t require extreme exposure to have significant cardiovascular effects. Even passive exposures to ambient air pollution and secondhand smoke contribute to significant increases in cardiovascular mortality,” study author C. Arden Pope III, PhD, says in a statement.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: heart cardiovascular risk disease smoke tobacco risk danger exposure cigarette breathing air pollution
How Cigarettes and Smoking Impact Your Pet’s Health →
Sept 1, 2009 (Mercola.com)—A growing body of research shows there are no safe levels of exposure to secondhand smoke — for humans or for animals. And one new study shows that nearly 30 percent of pet owners live with at least one smoker — a number far too high given the consequences of exposure to secondhand smoke (“SHS”)
An estimated 50,000 Americans lose their lives to secondhand smoke annually and 4 million youth (16 percent) are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes. A number of studies have indicated that animals, too, face health risks when exposed to the toxins in secondhand smoke, from respiratory problems, allergies and even nasal and lung cancer in dogs and lymphoma in cats. In addition, the ASPCA, one of the largest animal rights groups in the U.S., lists tobacco smoke as a toxin that is dangerous to pets.
“Nicotine from secondhand smoke can have effects to the nervous systems of cats and dogs,” said Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, Medical Director of the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center. “Environmental tobacco smoke has been shown to contain numerous cancer-causing compounds, making it hazardous for animals as well as humans.
In order to better protect dogs, cats or other pets, the foundation and ASPCA recommend that smokers—who often consider their domestic pets a part of the family—“take it outside” when they are smoking.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: cigarette second hand smoke smoking pet risk tobacco exposure nicotine nervous system cancer toxin
Parents Play Key Role In Whether Teen Tobacco Use Becomes A Daily Habit →
Sept 1, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Researchers have found new evidence showing that parents play a key role in whether or not their adolescent children who experiment with tobacco progress to become daily smokers before they graduate from high school.
A study published on-line and in the September issue of journal Pediatrics shows that parents can be a positive or negative influence on their children’s future smoking habit.
“If parents really don’t want their children to smoke they need to communicate that by establishing clear guidelines in their families about not smoking and discuss them with their school-age children.” said Min Jung Kim, a research scientist with the University of Washington’s Social Development Research Group and lead author of the study.
At the same time, parents can increase their children’s chances of smoking by their own use of tobacco.
“If parents smoke, teens have more access to cigarettes than teens who have non-smoking parents. A second preventive measure for smoking parents is to quit smoking themselves,” said Kim.
For full article, see link above.
List Of Hazardous Chemicals In Smokeless Tobacco Is Expanded In New Study →
Aug 16, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Attention all smokeless tobacco users: It’s time to banish the comforting notion that snuff and chewing tobacco are safe because they don’t burn and produce inhalable smoke like cigarettes. A study that looked beyond the well-researched tobacco hazards, nitrosamines and nicotine, has discovered a single pinch –– the amount in a portion –– of smokeless tobacco exposes the user to the same amount of another group of dangerous chemicals as the smoke of five cigarettes.
The research on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in smokeless tobacco was reported at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). It adds to existing evidence that smokeless contains two dozen other carcinogens that cause oral and pancreatic cancers, the scientists say.
“This study once again clearly shows us that smokeless tobacco is not safe,” said Irina Stepanov, Ph.D., who led the research team. “Our finding places snuff on the same list of major sources of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as smoking cigarettes.” PAHs are widespread environmental contaminants formed as a result of incomplete burning of wood, coal, fat in meat, and organic matter. PAHs form, for instance, during the grilling of burgers, steaks and other meat.
The findings come in the midst of a rise in both marketing and consumption of smokeless tobacco, which many consumers regard as less dangerous than other forms of tobacco. Estimates suggest that sales of moist snuff in the United States have doubled since the 1980s.
“The feeling of safety among some smokeless users is wrong,” said Stepanov, a chemist with Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. “A total of 28 carcinogens were identified in smokeless tobacco even before our study. Continued exposure to these over a period of time can lead to cancer. Now we have found even more carcinogens in snuff.” In addition to the heightened cancer risk, she noted that chronic use of snuff leads to nicotine addiction, just as it does with cigarette smoking.
For full article see link above.
Tags: risk cigarette smokeless tobacco chemical nitrosamine nicotine danger carcinogen cancer pancreatic oral chewing snuff hydrocarbon
German study links debt, obesity and access to healthy food →
Aug 7, 2009 (Foodnavigator.com)—People in financial debt are more likely to be obese, concludes a study from Germany that adds to concern that healthier foods cost more than energy-dense foods of low nutritional value.
he current financial squeeze has implications for household spending, and people may borrow more to make ends meet. In Germany, where the new study was conducted in 2006-7, 7.6 per cent of households (more than 6 million people) are over-indebted.
The researchers, led by Prof Eva Münster of the University of Mainz, noted that the link between socio-economic status, health and over-weight is well-documented but over-indebtedness has not been included in definitions of socio-economic status.
Prof Münster and her team found that on average over-indebted individuals tended to be younger, with lower education and income, than the general population. They had a higher prevalence of overweight, obesity, depression and tobacco use.
For full article see link above.
Tags: debt diet nutrition overweight obesity finance calorie socio-economic status age education depression tobacco food consumption
Even Low Levels of Smoking Can Lead to Severe COPD in Women →
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 19 09 - Women seem to be more susceptible to the harmful effects of smoking than their male counterparts, according to findings from a case-control study of subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), presented Monday at the international conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.
For full medical article, see link above.
Putting Swine Flu in Perspective: Smoking and Hypertension Lead to 862,000 Yearly Deaths →
SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 — Smoking and hypertension top the list of preventable causes of death in the U.S., researchers found.
Each of these two factors accounted for 20 percent or more of preventable deaths in American adults — an estimated 467,000 per year for smoking and 395,000 for hypertension, according to Majid Ezzati, Ph.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues.
Obesity and overweight were the next most common preventable causes, according to their analysis of mortality from modifiable dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors in the April 28 PLoS Medicine.
For full medical article, see link above.
Tobacco, Marijuana Combine to Increase COPD Risk →
TORONTO, April 14 09 (Medical News) — Smoking both tobacco and marijuana increases the risk of respiratory symptoms and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but marijuana alone apparently does not, Canadian researchers said.
The combination of the two was associated with a greater risk than smoking tobacco alone, according to Wan Cheng Tan, M.D., of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and colleagues.
“We were able to detect a significant synergistic effect between marijuana smoking and tobacco smoking,” Dr. Tan and colleagues said in the April 14 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
For full medical article, see link above.
Smoking Linked to Risk for Pancreatitis →
March 30, 2009 (Medical News) — Smoking appears to be associated with an increased risk for acute and chronic pancreatitis, according to the results of an observational, population-based cohort study reported in the March 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
For full medical article, see link above.
Second-Hand Cigarette Smoke Exposure may Cause Depression →
Mar 24 09 (NaturalNews) Cigarette smoke, whether first-hand or second-hand, has been linked with countless physical health ailments, including the major killers cancer and heart disease. And it could affect one’s mental and emotional state, too. According to USA Today, a report which was presented at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting held in Chicago had found that passive smoking more than doubled a person’s risk of getting major depression, as compared to non-smokers who were not exposed to second-hand smoke.
For full article, see link above.
Smokeless Tobacco Doesn't Help Addicts Quit Smoking →
ROCKVILLE, Md., March 5 09 (Medical News) — Use of smokeless tobacco is up, especially among teens, but those who hope it will help them quit smoking find it less than effective, researchers here said.
Smokeless tobacco use has increased, particularly in males ages 12 to 17 — from 3.4% in 2002 to 4.4% in 2007, according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
For full medical article, see link above.
Smokeless Tobacco Use May Increase Stroke Risk →
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Nov 28 08 - Results of a study published in the November issue of Epidemiology suggest that the use of oral snuff may increase the risk of fatal stroke.
“Oral moist snuff (“snus”) is a type of smokeless tobacco widely used in Sweden,” Dr. Maria-Pia Hergens, of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues write. “Possible associations between snuff use and stroke have been investigated only to a limited extent.”
For full medical article, see link above.
Regular Family Meals Reduces Teen Girls' Chance of Drug Use by Half →
Dec 02 08 (NaturalNews) Teenage girls whose families eat meals together regularly have a 50 percent lower chance of using alcohol, tobacco or marijuana than girls from families who did not regularly spend such time together, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School and published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
For full article, see link above.
Smoking Boosts Risk of Aortic Aneurysm Event in Postmenopausal Women →
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 15 2008 (medscape) — In postmenopausal women, the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs and ruptures was increased nearly nine-fold by smoking, a large cohort study showed.
Compared with women who never smoked, current smokers were 8.73 times (95% CI 5.04 to 15.12) more likely to have an abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture or repair, Frank Lederle, M.D., of the Minneapolis VA, and colleagues reported online in BMJ.
For full medical article, see link above.
