Smoking / Tobacco
Important Facts You Should Know
“In the United States, smoking-related illnesses account for an estimated 438,000 deaths each year. On average, these deaths occur 12 years earlier than would be expected, so the aggregate annual loss exceeds 5 million life-years.[1] These deaths are due to a myriad of cancers (see below), cardiovascular diseases, chronic lung diseases, and other causes. It has been estimated that 30% of cancer deaths and 20% of all premature deaths in the United States are attributable to smoking.[2]
Tobacco products are the single, major avoidable cause of cancer, causing more than 155,000 deaths among smokers in the United States annually due to various cancers.[3]
The majority of cancers of the lung, trachea, bronchus, larynx, pharynx, oral cavity, nasal cavity, and esophagus are attributable to tobacco products, particularly cigarettes. Smoking is also associated with cancer of the pancreas, kidney, bladder, myeloid leukemia, liver, stomach, and cervix,[4] and has been linked to colorectal adenomas and cancer.[5]
Smoking also has substantial effects on the health of nonsmokers. Environmental or second-hand tobacco smoke is implicated in causing lung cancer and coronary heart disease.[6,7] Environmental tobacco smoke has the same components as inhaled mainstream smoke, although in lower absolute concentrations, between 1% and 10%, depending on the constituent. Carcinogenic compounds in tobacco smoke include the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and the nicotine-derived tobacco-specific nitrosamine, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK). In rodents, total doses of both PAH and NNK are similar to doses received by humans in a lifetime of smoking induced pulmonary tumors.[8] Elevated biomarkers of tobacco exposure, including urinary cotinine, tobacco-related carcinogen metabolites, and carcinogen-protein adducts, are seen in passive or second-hand smokers.[9-12]”
Other Facts About Tobacco
Tobacco is one of the strongest cancer-causing agents. Tobacco use is associated with a number of different cancers, including lung cancer, as well as with chronic lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
- Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing an estimated 438,000 deaths - or about 1 out of every 5 - each year.
- In the United States, approximately 38,000 deaths each year are caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.
- Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States, with 90 percent of lung cancer deaths among men and approximately 80 percent of lung cancer deaths among women attributed to smoking.
- Smoking also increases the risk of many other types of cancer, including cancers of the throat, mouth, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix.
- People who smoke are up to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than nonsmokers, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked. Smoking also causes most cases of chronic obstructive lung disease, which includes bronchitis and emphysema.
- In 2006, approximately 20.8 percent of U.S. adults were cigarette smokers.
- Twenty-three percent of high school students and 8 percent of middle school students in this country are current cigarette smokers.
Source:
(National Cancer Institute)
Exercise Helps Curb Cigarette Cravings Amongst Smokers
According to a survey directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20.9 percent of adults over the age of 18 in the United States are smokers. The risks of smoking are numerous and well-known, including an increased risk for lung cancer, emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Many methods are available to help smokers quit, and a new theory about smoking cessation is being explored by scientists: a small body of new research shows that exercise can decrease cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
A study recently published in Mental Health and Physical Activity examined the effects of exercise on a group of 45 smokers. After being deprived of cigarettes for 12 hours, the subjects performed bouts of moderate and high intensity activity and then completed surveys about their mood, cravings and withdrawal symptoms. The results were then compared to a group of smokers who did not exercise. Results clearly indicated that moderate bouts of activity enhanced mood and decreased withdrawal symptoms and cigarette cravings. Although researchers agree that larger studies are needed to provide concrete evidence that exercise is a viable option for smoking cessation, this small study provides valuable insight.
Source:
(Health E-Review: Volume 5, Issue 10)
Cash bribes ‘help smokers quit’
Bribing smokers with cash incentives helps them stop, US research suggests.Smokers are three times more likely to kick the habit for at least six months when they are paid up to $750 (£520), a new study has found.
Nearly 900 General Electric workers took part in the test across 85 US sites. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
GE will launch a similar scheme in 2010 for all US employees, believing it will be cost-effective in the long term.
It aims to save some of the estimated $50m spent annually on extra costs for smoking employees.
The company believes it will get back what it spends over three to five years, through reduced illness and increased productivity.
Financial incentives: Previous studies had indicated that smaller financial incentives had little effect on quitting smoking, said Kevin Volpp of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who led the research project.
“Incentive programs work if they’re well designed and adequately funded,” Mr Volpp told Reuters news agency.
“If you do a low-budget incentive program, it may have little effect.”
“Our study shows that if you’re able to get people smoke-free and keep them smoke-free for six months or more, there’s a fighting chance they can stay smoke-free on their own,” he said.
In the GE study, half the participants were given the financial incentive, while the rest were merely encouraged to join quit-smoking programmes.
Source: BBC News, Published: 2009/02/12 03:06:48 GMT
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