Smoking •

E-cigarettes Affect The Immune System

June 26, 2016 By Tara Hamilton

Man comparing cigarette with e-cigarette.

E-cigarettes are dangerous for your health.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Recent research has shown that e-cigarettes might be as dangerous as normal cigarettes. Over the last few years, these electronic devices have been regarded as a possible replacement for traditional cigarettes.

However, many experts stated that people should be encouraged to quit smoking instead of receiving poor replacements that will do nothing more than keeping them addicted to nicotine. Plus, the costs are the same and even higher.

In addition to this, researchers have now accounted also for the consequences of e-cigarettes on our immune system. During the latest study, a team of scientists analyzed and compared the gene-expression profiles in e-cigarette users, cigarette smokers, and non-smokers.

Based on the results, they established that the use of e-cigarettes leads to significant changes in the nasal mucosa. More precisely, these abnormalities occur in the immune-related gene expression. It is also worth mentioning that these changes have been previously observed in cigarette smokers, meaning that e-cigarettes might have the same effect on our organism as traditional cigarettes.

Nevertheless, further research is needed in order to determine the whole variety of consequences brought by the use of e-cigarettes. Until now, experts are positive that these electronic devices and everything that implies vaping definitely have an effect on the health of consumers.

According to Ilona Jaspers, Ph.D. of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, latest research has proved that e-cigarettes are clearly not a safe alternative for smokers. Furthermore, the data collected until now showed that further investigation is needed to establish the specific risks of using these electronic devices.

She also stated that vaping affects the respiratory immune health, so everyone must be aware of this fact. Worse, based on the results of the latest study, participants who were e-cigarettes users had a greater impact on their gene-expression profile compared to the participants who were cigarette smokers.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no smoke-free law in Southeast states, at least not one that would prevent teenagers and children to start smoking. According to Corinne Graffunder, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, such a regulation is very useful as it helps smokers quit, improve indoor air quality, and it changes people’s perspective.

Plus, smoke-free laws also reduce asthma hospitalizations and decrease the risk of heart attack among Americans who are non-smokers. Hopefully, scientists will find out more about the use of e-cigarettes as soon as possible in order to raise awareness about the potential risks of using these electronic devices.

Image Source:Static Flickr

Girls Learned to Kick Butts

March 17, 2016 By Tara Hamilton Leave a Comment

Girls Inc. hosted the Kick Butts National Day and educated girls about the dangers of smoking.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – The dangers of smoking are even inscribed on the cigarette packages. But there is still a compelling need for education when it comes to the risks that the habit poses to the body of the smokers. And since history taught us that far better to prevent than to treat, there is now a campaign that teaches children the risks of taking up smoking. That is how Girls learned to Kick Butts.

The junior members of the Girls Inc. from Washington County were visited yesterday by the organizers of the Kick Butts campaign. The adolescent girls were taught all about the dangers of smoking as part of the Kick Butts National Day.

Only in Maryland, tobacco-related products claim 7,500 yearly, costing the citizens and the insurance companies $2,71 billion. The local organizers also said that each year tobacco companies spend over $130 million on marketing cigarettes to children and adolescents. Apart from being an extremely immoral gesture, the campaigns stand at the limits of legality.

The Girls Inc. program director, Victoria Hines, was thrilled to host the local campaign. According to her, it is crucial that girls and young people, in general, learn tobacco prevention. Seeing how cigarettes are responsible for more deaths than any other legal substances put together, it is better to prevent than to treat.

Furthermore, she added that the Kick Butts campaign is teaching girls that smoking is not as cool as others portray it. The members of the Girls Inc. were educated on the dangers that the habit poses to the human body.

The nationwide organizers are describing the Kick Butts National Day as being “a day of empowerment” with a clear goal: educating children about the risks of tobacco addiction before they even have a chance at taking up the deadly habit.

Older members of the groups designed special activities for the children in honor of the Kick Butts national day. The younger participants were thus encouraged to participate in poster contests, relay races, and bowling and basketball games.

The central theme of the event was, obviously, the silent health problems that can be developed by smokers. Cancer, lung problems, yellow and black teeth were among the side-effects discussed during the event, children leaving the school with a lot of arguments against the deadly habit.

After the day was over, the 13 and 14 years old girls were able to explain how smoking can cause blockage in the lungs, lead to strokes and heart attacks and generally give you a terrible breath.

Wednesday Girls learned to Kick Butts as part of a national campaign.

Image source: www.pixabay.com

Cold Turkey Is the Better Way to Quit Smoking

March 16, 2016 By Ryan Harris Leave a Comment

Smoking creates an addiction that is very difficult to kick back.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Smokers usually say that they want to quit, but they just don’t find it in them to do so abruptly. One last cigarette turns into one cigarette per day, then one cigarette per coffee and sooner, rather than later they find themselves smoking a pack a day, again. So cold turkey is the better way to quit smoking, and scientists agree.

Tobacco companies only tell you that “Smoking causes addiction”. That is true, but they should rather say “Quitting smoking will be the hardest thing you will ever do in your life”. Because it’s true. Nicotine is as much a drug as illegal substances and quitting is tough.

That is why researchers are always searching for new ways of improving this difficult transition that smokers must undergo. And there are a lot of options out there like nicotine gum, drops, patches and lozenges.

Dr. Nicola Lindson-Hawley, a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University’s Nutfield Department of Health Sciences Primary Care, conducted a study in order to determine the best method of smoking cessation. According to her conclusions, cold turkey is the better way to quit smoking.

In order to reach these conclusions, Dr. Lindson-Hawley gathered a sample of 700 heavy smokers that were at it for a long time and wanted to quit the habit. She then divided them into two equal groups.

The first group was supposed to approach the situation directly, meaning that they went cold turkey. They established a date and from then on they didn’t touch a single cigarette.

The second group gave up smoking on a gradual level, meaning that they started to reduce the quantity of smoked cigarettes every day for two weeks before finally renouncing the habit.

Both groups beneficiated from adjuvants like nicotine patches, drops or gum, as well as medication. Furthermore, they were offered special medication like Chantix. All of this before starting the quitting program.

After a month had passed from the beginning of the experiment, the team discovered that 49 percent of the participants who decided to approach the cold turkey method were successful, as opposed to 39.2 percent of those who renounced the habit gradually.

After six months, the rate of success was considerably diminished. The cold turkey group was still measuring a 22 percent rate of triumph over the addiction, and the gradual group rated 15.5 percent.

Even though not even half of the participants managed to quit on the long-term, it seems like cold turkey is the better way to stop smoking. Also, people should never forget that there are special, free hotlines that can offer their assist to those who want to kick the habit.

Image source: www.pixabay.com

E-Cigarettes Speed Regulation Called After Worrying Youth Data

April 18, 2015 By Joe Hennessey Leave a Comment

Public health officials are piling up the pressure on the U.S. government to hastily regulate and bar access to e-cigarettes after new research data showed use tripled among high school and middle school teens last year.

The data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday raised worries among health authorities who warn e-cigarettes will build a new generation of nicotine addicts who will eventually turn to smoking conventional cigarettes.

Cigarette use fell more than a quarter over the same period. E-cigarette advocates explained the data could indicate e-cigarettes are steering young people away from traditional cigarettes, a theory denied by tobacco control advocates.

The Food and Drug Administration is the regulatory body of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco. It proposed to expand its authority to e-cigarettes, among other products, in 2014.

FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum announced on Friday the agency is “moving forward to finalize the rule.” Its purpose is to release it in June, but a delay is very probable. The agency was sent more than 135,000 public comments on the move and must review them all, in accordance to the law.

The proposal must be reviewed by the Department of Health and Human Services. The next step is the approval of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, which studies the potential economic consequences of the new regulation.

OMB has not yet obtained the rule, and when it does, it has at least 90 days to approve it.

The proposal would prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to people who are under the age of 18. Also, approval of new products will require FDA approval. Public health officials have also demanded a ban on flavored tobacco products, but also on internet sales and television advertising, which they claim attract children.

The agency has announced the rule would be the first step in a series of potential future rulings.

Some states are moving to set restrictions of their own. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer pushed forward a proposed legislation that would offer the Federal Trade Commission the right to determine what constitutes marketing to children, a step which would allow the FTC to collaborate with states’ attorneys general to impose bans.

At least 43 states have laws that restrict e-cigarettes sales to minors and some are targeting to incorporate e-cigarettes into clean air acts that ban smoking in public places.

Image Source: Guardian Liberty Voice

Smoking is Even More Harmful Than Previously Thought

February 16, 2015 By Matthew Slotkin Leave a Comment

Scientists recently linked 5 diseases and health condition that hadn’t previously been associated to smoking to this unfortunate habit. While the fact that cigarette smoking is linked to lung disease, cancer, artery disease, heart attack or stroke is scientifically supported, some scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine have proved that smoking is also related to increased risks of infection, kidney disease, intestinal disease caused by inadequate blood flow as well as heart and lung illnesses that had not been previously attributed to tobacco.

Scientists studied almost 1 million people and followed them for 10 years in oder to get the most accurate results. And their findings regarding the actual cigarette-related deaths are baffling. Officially it appears that smoking kills around 480,000 people each year in the U.S. But according to Dr. Eric Jacobs, who was a co-author of the study, smoking could actually be killing around 60,000 extra Americans every year (13 % more out of the 480,000 deaths currently attributed to the addictive habit every year).

If these recent findings were applied to the world wide scale, an extra 780,000 across the world could be dying because of smoking each year.

The number of additional deaths potentially linked to cigarette smoking is substantial.

“In our study, many excess deaths among smokers were from disease categories that are not currently established as caused by smoking, and we believe there is strong evidence that many of these deaths may have been caused by smoking,”

Dr. Eric Jacobs said.

An editorial accompanying the study, written by Dr. Graham Golditz, stated that low-income people tend to underestimate the dangers of tobacco use and need more help in order to quit. They have no idea that smoking is worse than previously thought.

By and large the research found that smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to die from one of the established smoking-related diseases, such as: most kinds of heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, pneumonia, tuberculosis, influenza, atherosclerosis, aortic aneurysms and other arterial diseases, acute myeloid leukaemia, diabetes, cancers of the lung, colon and rectum, pancreas, kidney, liver, bladder, lip, oral cavity, stomach, larynx and esophagus.

All the above diseases were responsible for deaths among men and women who were still smoking at the end of their lives. Only 17% of deaths female smokers’ deaths and 15% of male smokers’ deaths were traced to other causes than the ones mentioned above.

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