Smoking (again)
I’ve wrote about smoking a couple of times recently. I promise I won’t start doing it all the time.
I wanted to do this follow-up though.
The NYC Health Department has a new report out called “Who’s Still Smoking“. This report says that “two thirds of the city’s smokers – almost 800,000 adults – tried to quit in the past year, but only 17% of those succeeded. Data from the survey identify emotional distress and binge drinking as possible obstacles to quitting”.
In NYC there are 240,000 less people smoking now than in 2002. The decreases have been seen in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens but in Staten Island the numbers have not gone down.
The press release has some good tips for quitting too: New report on smoking shows who’s quitting, who’s not.
In other smoking news - almost 2 million older people in China today are expected to die from emphysema and related diseases due by second-hand smoke according to a report published in the Lancet recently.
The Cheerful Oncologist blogged about this recently too. I would guess, like the commenter over there, that some of the problem is due to the pollution from industry in China. But as China is going ban all tobacco advertising, promotions and sponsorship by 2011 at least they are trying to do something about the smoking problem.
August 26, 2007
This week in health and science - 8/26/07
I haven’t been happy with anything I’ve started to post lately. Here’s my pick of this week’s posts which are all much better than mine:
Nutrition
Ruth at Eating Fabulous wrote about a paper in Cell concerning vitamin K and osteocalcin: the “formation of osteocalcin is dependent on Vitamin K” and “osteocalcin appears play a role in glucose metabolism by regulating the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas and release it into the bloodstream”.
Cancer
Gloria blogged about a new study that indicates tha a diabetes medication might be effective against cancer: “Tumor cells that lack the regulatory gene p53 can be killed by the widely-prescribed diabetes drug Metformin”.
Heart Health
Kendra James wrote this week about “what happens to my heart during sex“. Apparently there are 4 stages our hearts go through: Arousal, Plateau, Orgasm and Resolution.
Women’s Health
Kristen at Lively Women discussed issues concerning breast enhancement surgery while contemplating her friends decision to have it done. What are your thoughts on this surgery?
August 18, 2007
This week in health and science - 8/18/07
All week I had planned to write another post but everyday something came up and prevented me from doing it.
Women’s Health
Hsien-Hsien at Eye on DNA wrote this week about “What happens after a positive breast and ovarian cancer (BRCA) genetic test?“. Most people apparently don’t change anything in their llife.
Nutrition
At Eating Fabulous there is a post about 10 superfoods. They were orginally written for men’s health - but apply to women too.
Heart Disease
It may be that a person’s waist to hip ratio is a better indicator of future heart problems.
Smoking
I’ve written a bit about smoking lately - The Cheerful Oncologist writes this week about what goes through the mind of someone smoking for the first timd and last time?
Aging
A 94-year-old great-great-grandmother who left school at the age of 12 just got a master’s degree! We need more people like this to help eliminate many misperceptions of aging.
Other
At www.scientificblogging.com there is a post about a paper in The Lancet about how 90% of the population in developed countries have high blood pressure. Lifestyle factors are largely to blame - low physical inactivity, a high salt, high fat diet, alcohol and smoking.
Ruth reported this week about the new vaccine for multiple sclerosis that is being tested. The vaccine seems to help people with MS and there is currently a trial taking involving 290 more patients.
Tris at The Homely Scientist writes about West Nile Virus and how it is leading to a better understanding of mutation and lethality.
August 11, 2007
This week in health and science - 8/11/07
I’m a little late this week. Here’s what I think are the most interesting blog posts and news of the week:
Genes and DNA
Hsien-Hsien Lei wrote about a disease associated with aging: exfoliative glaucoma and how it has been discovered that one gene - lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1) is responsible for it. Exfoliative glaucoma can result in glaucoma and possibly cataracts, lens dislocation, and central retinal vein occlusion resulting in blindness. About 10-20% of people after age 60 are affected to some degree by exfoliation syndrome.
Penny at Genetics and Health reports that there may be evidence of a genetic link between inflammatory bowel disease and ankylosing spondylitis.
Razib at ScienceBlogs has a post about lactase persistence and how it spread through human populations, which I found interesting as I am very lactose intolerant.
Women’s Health
Gloria of Cancer Commentary blogged about how although exposure to sunlight raises the risk of skin cancer the higher vitamin D levels acquired has benefits also. Most recently some data suggesting a connection to breast cancer: “the lower the levels of vitamin D in a woman’s blood-stream, the greater the risk of her developing breast cancer at post-menopausal stage.”
Aging
Elizabeth at GenBetween writes about how older workers who are not retiring are “driving corporations to offer flexible work arrangements“. Baby Boomers seem to be a driving force of change in many aspects life like work, healthcare, etc. I can’t wait to see what they do next!
Kendra at A Hearty Life blogged about how many elderly patients refuse treatments recommended by their doctors. Treatments refused include cardiac catheterization and surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, intubation, dialysis, and transplantation. I think that if more medical procedures were more effective and less physically painful/uncomfortable that less people would refuse them.
Nutrition
David Bradley from Sciencebase discusses how taking multivitamins, mineral supplements, and antioxidants can be dangerous. In particular he writes about how “copper ions sometimes act as antioxidants and sometimes as pro-oxidants”. Personally, for now I prefer to eat right and not take any supplements - someday more will be known about what and how much to take is safe or helpful.
Ruth at Eating Fabulous reviewed Fiber One Chew Bars (Oats and Chocolate) recently. She says they were “texture just right: chewy, but not rough, not dry, doesn’t crumble, and doesn’t take ages til you can swallow without injuring your throat.”. Generally I try to avoid anything with added sugar anymore, but if in a hurry they sound like a good choice to keep in mind.
Other
Dr. Val has a good post about the dangers of drinking raw milk - cows are not clean animals and can carry bacteria that are harmful to people. There are reasons why we started pasteurizing milk: “This process has virtually eliminated milk borne illness in this country, including the transmission of Tuberculosis, Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria.”
Dr. Val also writes about how to report side effects of medications directly to the FDA - I had no idea this was possible to do!
The Biotech Weblog reports that E. coli has been linked to Crohn’s Disease and that a possible new target for treating high cholesterol may developed: “proprotein convertases may play a role in regulating the concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)”.
Elisa at HealthyConcerns.com writes about her experience with a corneal ulcer - something to be aware of if you wear contacts.
August 9, 2007
Smoking Part 2: What should be done?
A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that 1 billion people will die from diseases related to tobacco in this century. However the number of deaths could be reduced dramatically if governments banned smoking in public and work places, banned cigarette advertisments and increased tobacco taxes.
Despite the fact that right now 5.4 million people are still dying each year due to tobacco, in some places smoking levels are beginning to decline. For example the New York City smoking rate has decreased by 20% since 2002 to only 17.5% of the population. NYC achieved this rate in part through anti-smoking ads as well as through higher taxes and bans on smoking in public places.
The dangers of cigarette smoke are very severe. One carcinogen from tobacco is called NNK (4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone) and is known to cause lung cancer - it is only found in people’s bodies due to tobacco. Recent research has shown that 2nd hand exposure to tobacco smoke increases levels of NNK by 6% for each hour of exposure!
Given all the dangers of tobacco smoke - and how many lives could be saved if people were not exposed to it - it seems that banning smoking in all public places is the only logical thing to do.
As non-smokers also bear some of the costs of smoking related illnesses - including tax payer funded research into these illnesses which could be better spent on non-lifestyle preventable diseases - aggressive campaigns to discourage smoking also seem justified. What do you think?
August 7, 2007
Health care reform
I saw an article last week from Reuters (unfortunately I lost the link) about reforming health care in the U. S.. A couple of points stood out to me:
1) Dr. Julie Gerberding - the director of the CDC was quoted as saying “If we are seriously thinking about building a health system, then we need to be training professionals in a collegial and collaborative manner.”. It was explained that she thinks that the way doctors, nurses, veterinarians, pharmacists and dentists are educated needs to be changed - that they need to start their educations all together to “to foster cooperation and a sense of common mission”. I agree but think they should add eye doctors to that list too. Vision is a vital part of a healthy person as any other function or part of the body. I never understood why teeth and eyes were somehow separated from the rest of our bodies when getting health care or insurance.
2) She also said that the “system is focused on treating disease and on end-of-life care, with little attention paid to preventing disease and helping people lead healthier lives.”. That’s bothered me for a long time too. How frequently have you had a doctor talk to you about what you can do to be as healthy as possible? I’ve never had a doctor initiate a discussion like that. And have you ever tried asking a doctor questions about nutrition or fitness? They don’t seem to know a lot about it. Maybe that’s not what they are trained for and can’t be expected to know everything - but then our health insurance needs to include visits to professionals who can help us with nutrition and fitness. Diet and exercise are the two most important things a person can control to stay healthy and yet our doctors don’t know enough about them to help people do the right thing. We’re left on our own and most people don’t know enough themselves or can’t afford to pay a nutritionist or personal trainer to help them.
What do you think?
August 3, 2007
This week in health and science - 8/3/07
It’s World Breastfeeding Week - from August 1st to the 7th! Read more at Health Observances.
Cancer
ramunas lists some very nice characteristics of hereditary, familial and sporadic cancers.
Gloria at Cancer Commentary wrote about the new technique that is being developed for detecting pancreatic cancerusing light. Pretty cool stuff, and one that is close to my heart as my dad had pancreatic cancer.
Allergies
I wish I could afford a hypoallergenic cat! Still way too expensive for me! Maybe in a few years - read more: Hypoallergenic Cat, Anyone?
Healthy Choices
Kristen at Lively Women has a great list of 5 things young people should do to stay healthy - do you have anything to add?
Other
Earlier this week I wrote about the problem of hospital cleanliness including problems with MRSA. This week Penny at Genetics and Health wrote about how the bacteria mutated and evolved in one dying man.
I hope I never need one, but if I do, I’m glad to hear they are making big improvements in artificial hips.
MyDocHub Blog has a great list of the Early Symptoms of Pregnancy - I didn’t know pregnancy could cause all of these. Of course they could be symptoms of something else too.
August 2, 2007
Smoking Part 1: Pregnancy and young children
A number of studies have been reported lately that link various health problems in babies and children to pre-natal or 2nd hand cigarette smoke. It is well established that women who smoke or are exposed to smoke while pregnant have a greater chance of having babies with low birth weight, pre-mature birth, SIDS and lung problems, etc. Some recent studies present additional evidence of cardiovascular and pulmonary problems due to smoking.
In Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association a study of 456 babies show that mothers who either smoked or were exposed to smoke while pregnant had babies with significantly higher systolic blood pressures than babies born to women who did not smoke or were not exposed to 2nd hand smoke.
In another study of 244 kids 4-12 years old it was found that kids whose parents smoked had reduced lung function similar to that of people who smoke themselves. Children whose parents smoke also have lowered endothial function in their arteries - a sign of damage (Circulation).
A nicotine byproduct called cotinine can be found in the urine of babies who have even one parent who smokes. Compared to babies without parents who smoke, babies with a smoking parent have 5.58 times as much cotinine (Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition).
Additional recent research tying health problems to women smoking include women having a 59% greater chance of begining menopause before age 45 (BMC Public Health). Other research shows a connection between smoking and stillbirths - women who smoked during their 1st and 2nd pregnancy had a 35% greater chance of still birth (BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology).
Considering all the evidence indicating how damaging cigarette smoke is to babies and young children it surprises me that there are still women with children who smoke. Of course it can be difficult to avoid 2nd hand smoke sometimes - especially if family members smoke or if someone works in a place that allows smoking.
Even if someone doesn’t care about the health of people around them - I would have thought the threat to one’s own health would be enough to convince more people to stop.
– More on that thought in Smoking Part 2 (coming soon).
