Posts Tagged ‘lung’

Hi Everyone,

We are excited to let you know about a new feature of RightHealth’s DailyDose blog.  Starting today, every Monday will be “Ask the Doctor” day.  In every Monday’s DailyDose post, I will respond to one of the questions posed by our readers.  If you have a question about a personal health issue or want to learn more about health topic that you find interesting, please email it to dailydose@righthealth.com.  Don’t worry, your identity will be kept confidential.

Please understand that we can’t answer all of your questions each week!  But we’ll do our best to select the questions which have the broadest interest among you.

So let’s get started!  This week’s question is from Mark V…

The cardiologist who recently examined President Obama, an admitted occasional smoker, told the Commander in Chief that although he received a clean bill of health, he’s still at risk for heart disease because he is a smoker in a high-stress job. Does smoking less frequently or just occasionally reduce the health risks for smokers?

Smoking accounts for over 400 thousand deaths annually in the United States, mostly in the form of lung cancer, stroke, and coronary heart disease. In fact, smoking increases every kind of cancer risk with 80% of lung cancers linked to smoking. It doesn’t matter if you smoke only one cigarette a day or one pack a day. The act of smoking will increase your risk of these diseases. We also know there is a clear link between second hand smoke and cardiovascular disease. Approximately 23 to 70 thousand premature deaths occur each year in the U.S. because of second hand smoke.

Does smoking less reduce health risks? The answer is yes. If you smoke three packs a day as opposed to one pack a day, you do have more of a risk for heart disease.  But it’s not until you quit smoking do you see some amazing results. Here’s what we know:

• At 20 minutes after quitting your blood pressure decreases and the body temperature of your hands and feet increase, due to improved circulation.
• At 24 hours you begin to see a decrease in heart attack risk.
• At 48 hours your senses of smell and taste improve and nerve endings actually begin to regrow!
• After 1 year your risk of coronary heart disease drops by 50%.
• After 5-15 years your stroke risk drops by 50%.
• After 10 years your risk of lung cancer drops by 50%.
• After 15 years your risk of coronary heart disease and death rate returns to the same level as those who never smoked.

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The medical community took a second look at the humble aspirin once again due to findings from a new Harvard Medical School study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. After looking at nearly 1,300 colon cancer patients researchers noted that, of those who used aspirin regularly, death from the disease decreased by nearly 30%. This is quite significant since almost 50,000 people will die from colon cancer this year alone. It’s the second leading cause of cancer death after lung cancer. Although no formal recommendations have been made with regards to aspirin use in colon cancer (further studies will be needed), patients should speak to their physicians prior to initiating daily doses of the medication. [via Yahoo! News]

See guides for aspirin and colon cancer. Share your comments here.

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New York University researchers published in the New England Journal of Medicine today that long term exposure to high levels of ozone, a main component of smog, is linked to an increased risk of death from respiratory diseases. Many studies have linked ozone to poor health, and others have shown that high-ozone days are linked to increased risk of acute health problems the next day, such as more asthma and heart attacks. However, this is the first study to demonstrate the effects of long term ozone exposure. In fact, the risk of dying from respiratory disease was more than 30 per cent higher in metropolitan areas with the highest ozone levels. During the 18-year study the city with the highest mean daily maximum ozone concentration was Riverside, California; the lowest ozone city was San Francisco. But even so, the average amount of ozone in San Francisco correlated with a 14 percent increase in death from respiratory diseases.

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Folic acid, or folate, is a vitamin that is currently recommended to pregnant women to reduce the risk of congenital abnormalities in newborns. However, according to an article in the latest Archives of Disease in Childhood, researchers have concerns that folic acid may actually increase the risk of respiratory illness in children. After studying more than 32,000 infants, researchers found that those with mothers who had taken folic acid supplements during the first three months of pregnancy had higher risk of wheezing and other respiratory complaints in the first 18 months. Scientists speculate that folic acid may cause airways to become inflammed. Further studies will be required before any change in recommendations is made. Until then, folic acid remains a recommended supplement during pregnancy.

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The American Cancer Society kicked off their 33rd annual Great American Smoke Out yesterday in an effort to help smokers quit. The goal of the event is to get smokers to quit for one day, in hopes that the day will inspire them to remain smoke-free for good. Smoking is the major risk factor for lung cancer, the top killing cancer globally in both men and women. Studies have found by calling 1-800-Quit-Now, a free service in the US, a person’s chances of successfully quitting tobacco more than doubles.

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