Posts Tagged ‘smoking’

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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If you still have doubts about the perils of smoking, a new report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association should clarify any suspicion. After looking at 13 major studies which evaluated the number of heart attacks after smoking bans were instituted in the US, Canada and Europe, researchers found that the total number of heart attacks dropped almost immediately – 17% within one year – and nearly 36% over a three-year period. This dramatic decline in heart attack rate is not only due to less smokers having heart attacks, but passive or secondhand smokers are spared as well. “This study adds to the already strong evidence that secondhand smoke causes heart attacks, and that passing 100 percent smoke-free laws in all workplaces and public places is something we can do to protect the public,” said study author James Lightwood, assistant adjunct professor in the department of clinical pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco. [Circulation via Medical News Today]

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Using global figures from 2004, researchers estimate that 1 in 25 deaths worldwide is related to alcohol consumption. This includes deaths from injuries, accidents and diseases like liver cirrhosis, cancer and cardiovascular disease. The highest percentage of deaths linked to alcohol were found in countries of the former Soviet Union where 1 in 7 die of an alcohol related cause. One of the countries with the lowest alcohol related mortality is India where about 95% of women and 80% of men abstain from drinking. Much of the focus of this research is to shed light on the parallels between alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking-they both cause high disease and economic burdens, especially on developing countries. The researchers are calling for an international effort in alcohol control, especially in emerging economies like China and Thailand where increasing industrialization and westernization is correlating with increasing alcohol consumption.

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The British Medical Journal today published a revealing study on the risks of smoking during pregnancy. Women smokers who do not quit prior to 15 weeks of pregnancy are 3 times as likely to give birth prematurely. And if you are a long time smoker and think that quitting now won’t make a difference, think again. Women who stopped smoking during pregnancy, compared to nonsmokers, have the same rate of preterm birth. This goes to show that it’s never too late to quit.

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University of Pennsylvania researchers published the results of a smoking cessation study in this week’s New England Journal Of Medicine which showed that people who were given financial incentives to quit smoking were more successful. One group (442 workers) received information about smoking cessation, while a second group (436 workers) got the same information, in addition to financial incentives comprising of $100 if they completed the program, $250 dollars if they quit within 6 months of enrolling in the study, and $400 dollars if they abstained from smoking for an additional 6 months. Not only did the incentive group show greater rates of enrollment, after 18 months of quitting more ex-smokers from the incentive group remained smoke-free.

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Testicular cancer usually strikes men in their 20s and 30s, especially in those who have an undescended testicle or a family history of the cancer. And now a study published this week in the journal Cancer has linked marijuana use with an increased risk of testicular cancer. The risk appeared to be highest among men who had reported smoking marijuana for at least 10 years, used it more than once a week or started using it before age 18. It is yet unclear how marijuana can raise testicular cancer risk or whether this is, in fact, a true association.

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Most of us know about the dangers of second-hand smoke. But have you heard about third-hand smoke? If not, you’re not alone. A new Harvard study suggests that less than half of all US households have heard of the term, which refers to the residual toxic chemicals that can cling to people’s hair, clothing, furniture, carpeting, and other household surfaces, even after second-hand smoke has cleared the room. It’s what one smells when someone who was just smoking walks into a room, or when you enter a hotel room where people were smoking. Third-hand smoke is especially harmful to children and infants because they are more likely to inhale the chemicals when held in close proximity to a smoker, or someone who was exposed to second-hand smoke. Children are also more likely to touch and lick household surfaces, thus ingesting the toxins, which pose a cancer risk. Therefore, simply airing out a room, or even quitting smoking, may not completely protect children from the dangers of smoking. Parents should be cognizant of potential sources of third-hand smoke. A good tip is to change your clothing prior to cradling your child if you’ve been exposed to cigarette smoke.

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Smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease, including heart attacks. It is, therefore, no surprise that the CDC reported this week that hospitalizations for heart attacks in Pueblo, Colorado have sustained a 3-year decrease after the city implemented a law making public and work places smoke-free. Multiple studies have shown similar rapid and dramatic decreases within one year after the implementation of smoke-free laws. However, this was the first study to show that the benefits continue years after the initial drop.

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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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At this week’s American College of Gastroenterology annual scientific meeting, researchers presented data which supports that women require less exposure to tobacco in order to increase their risk of colorectal cancer. Heavy smokers were almost twice as likely to develop significant colorectal cancer than women who were not exposed to tobacco smoke. The researchers also found that smoking can raise the risk of pancreatic pre-cancerous growths, especially in people who have a strong family history of the pancreatic cancer. Read more. Share your opinion.

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