Heart Disease Prevention - Why Quit Smoking And How?

For smokers, lighting up a cigarette is a pleasure but non-smokers find smoking irritating. Smoking can put both smokers and people around them (via second-hand smoke) at a higher risk of developing chronic medical conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, lung cancer, and stroke.

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Heart Disease Prevention - Why Quit Smoking And How?

Heart Disease Prevention - How To Reduce Smoking Rates?

Cigarette smoking can harm almost every organ of the body and reduce the health of smokers in general. Smokers can eventually develop many diseases, including lung cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). So nearly every nation in the world have been trying very hard to reduce the smoking rates.

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Heart Disease Prevention - How To Reduce Smoking Rates?

Heart Disease Prevention - New Way To Help Quit Smoking Successfully

The relapse rates for smokers trying to quit can be extremely high, ranging from 60 to 90 percent, within the first year. To refrain from resuming smoking, smokers should perhaps discuss the risks of cigarette smoking with their children. This is because they were at least 50 percent less likely to go back to smoking. Find out more at:

Heart Disease Prevention - New Way To Help Quit Smoking Successfully

Heart Disease Prevention - Would Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Cut Smoking And Encourage Quitting?

Most people are aware of the health hazards that the smoking can cause and yet many smokers find it hard to quit. This is because tobacco contains nicotine, which is an addictive substance. Some scientists have been pushing for lower levels of nicotine in tobacco as early as in 1990s hoping to help smokers quit and prevent new users from becoming lifelong smokers. And for years, researchers have been testing... Click the following link for more details:

Heart Disease Prevention - Would Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Cut Smoking And Encourage Quitting?

Effect of Smoke-Free Laws On Youth Smoking Behaviors

Almost every organ of the body can be harmed by smoking, which will cause many diseases including heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). More importantly, smoking will not only harm smokers themselves but also people around them.

Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States, as shown in the figures for 2014 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 42,000 of these deaths came from secondhand smoke exposure. That is why governments around the world have tried all means to curb smoking. One way to do this is to implement smoke-free laws.

Smoke-free laws for public spaces initially aimed to prevent secondhand smoke exposure. But a 11-year study indicated that smoke-free laws in workplaces were linked to a lower likelihood that adolescents and young adults would start to smoke, and smoke-free bar laws were associated with fewer days of smoking for youth who had already started. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of California and published online September 8, 2015 in journal ‘JAMA Pediatrics’. The study was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth from 1997 to 2007 was used to analyze the effect of smoke-free laws on individual smoking behaviors of 4,098 teens and young adults who aged between 12 and 18.

The youth were asked whether they had ever smoked in 1997, and in later years were asked whether they had smoked since the last interview. Those who were smokers reported on how many of the previous 30 days they had smoked. The answers obtained were compared to the state level cigarette taxes, and smoke-free laws at the state, county and city levels.

It seemed that smoke-free bar laws did not affect whether or not the youth would start smoking, but smoke-free workplace laws lowered the odds of smoking initiation by 34 percent. Taxes were linked to a lower percentage of new smokers but not current smokers among adolescents and young adults. Each 10-cent increase in cigarette taxes would decrease the likelihood that a youth would start smoking by 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, youths living in areas with 100 percent smoke-free bar laws were 20 percent less likely to be smokers and current smokers smoked 15 percent fewer days per month than those not covered by such laws.

There has been conflict between groups pushing for smoke-free laws and those concerned with youth smoking initiation. But the new findings indicated that there is really no conflict: Smoke free policies can be prevention policies too! According to researchers, policymakers should combine smoke-free laws and cigarette taxes so as to have the maximum effect.

Why Should Air Pollution Be Controlled?

When the air is physically, biologically or chemically contaminated either indoor or outdoor, the air is said to be polluted. Air pollution occurs when any harmful gases, dust, smoke enters into the atmosphere and makes it hard for plants, animals and humans to survive.

Air pollution can cause depletion of ozone layer, global warming and acid rain as well as many health problems. It is known to create several respiratory and heart conditions along with cancer. Millions of people die because of direct or indirect effects of air pollution. According to a recent study, air pollution currently causes 3.3 million premature deaths a year globally, and it will kill up to 6.6 million a year worldwide by 2050.

Researchers from The Cyprus Institute, Energy, Environment and Water Research Center, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Cyprus University of Technology and King Saud University, College of Science published their findings online September 16, 2015 in the journal ‘Nature’.

China has the most air pollution fatalities with 1.4 million deaths a year, followed by India with 645,000 and Pakistan with 110,000. The United States, with 54,905 deaths in 2010 from soot and smog, ranks 7th highest for air pollution deaths.

By combining a global atmospheric chemistry model with population data and health statistics, the researchers estimated the relative contribution of different kinds of outdoor air pollution, mainly from so-called fine particulate matter, to premature deaths.

Their results indicated that in India and China, for example, the emissions from heating and cooking, have the largest number of death, while in much of the United States and a few other countries, emissions from traffic and power generation are crucial. In the eastern United States and in Europe, Russia and East Asia, agricultural emissions are the biggest source of the kind of fine particulate matter that gets into people's lungs, causing illness, disability and death. The study has highlighted a need to have air quality control, particularly in heavily populated parts of Asia.

Heart disease, stroke or a lung disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are the common causes of death associated with air pollution. Air pollution is also linked to deaths from lung cancer and acute respiratory infections. Research showed that air pollution triggers heart attack even when levels are rated as safe. Exposure to pollutants can raise the risk of heart attack by up to 5 percent, with the effects being felt within a day, according to evidence presented at the European Society for Cardiology Congress 2015 held from August 29 to September 2 in London.

Would Raising Legal Age To Buy Cigarettes Cut Use?

Numerous studies have shown that smoking can cause many medical disorders including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, lung cancer and respiratory disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking causes more than 480,000 Americans die (1 in 5) each year.

In the United States, the smoking rates have dropped sharply from 42 percent of the population in 1964 to 18 percent today because of the smoking curbing measures that have been implemented over the years. Yet 40 million Americans continue to smoke. That is why scientists are still finding ways to bring down the smoking rates further.

On March 12, 2015, the Institute of Medicines (IOM) released a report stating that increasing the minimum age to buy tobacco-related products to 21 or 25 from 18 could significantly reduce their use and tobacco-related diseases in the United States. The study was conducted at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Their findings showed that if the minimum age were raised to 19, smoking prevalence would decrease by 3 percent by 2100, and it would decrease by 12 and 16 percent in the same period if the legal age were raised to 21 or 25.

By increasing the minimum age to buy tobacco products, it is possible to cut many illnesses caused by smoking. For instance, it was estimated that if the legal age were raised to 21, there would be 249,000 fewer premature deaths for people born between 2000 and 2019, 45,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer and 4.2 million fewer years of life lost. It also would result in about 286,000 fewer pre-term births and 438,000 fewer babies born with low birth weights.

Cigarettes are sold in most American states to customers who age 18 and above. States like Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey, and Utah have set the minimum age to 19 while New York City and several other localities nationwide have already raised it to 21.

A 2012 report by the United States Surgeon General revealed that increasing the legal age would help suppress the cigarette use before it becomes an adult habit. Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers first light up by the age of 18, and 99 percent start by 26.

Raising the minimum sales age to 21 can put legal purchasers outside the social circle of most high-school students. Most people supplying cigarettes to teens who age between 18 and 20, and many of them are still in high school. Right now, with 18 as the minimum age, a 16-year old could easily come into contact with an 18-year old, but they are much less likely to come into contact with a 21-year old, according to some health experts.

More than 70 percent of Americans and 58 percent of current smokers support increasing the minimum age to 21, as reported by a study published in February 2015 in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Tobacco Control’.

Can Mobile Phone Help Smoker Quit?

Smoking is bad for the health as it harms almost all organs of the body. It will lead to many diseases including lung cancer, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), heart disease and stroke. The secondhand smoke from smokers’ cigarettes can also cause many of these diseases to people around them.

Governments around the world have been actively finding means and ways to suppress smoking rate by educating smokers as well as implementing smoking bans (or some called smoke-free laws).

According to a New Zealand’s study, text and video messages that appeared on mobile phones and designed to help people quit smoking almost doubled the success rate for attempted quitters, comparing with people who did not have such assistance.

The findings, which were published on November 14, 2012 in ‘The Cochrane Library’, reported that 9 percent of intended quitters stopped smoking for at least 6 months when reminded and encouraged through mobile phone messages, compared to 5 percent who did not have such service.

Mobile phone programs involved a text message or video conveying motivation and advice sent to smokers every day for several weeks to prepare them for the designated quit day. After the quit day, multiple messages were often sent to intended quitter each day for weeks. The messages offered encouragement, tips on getting through cravings and additional resources to quit again after a relapse.

Researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand and other institutions reviewed 5 studies and compared mobile phone messaging to no extra help.

A total of 9,100 smokers were tracked for 6 months. Among 4,730 participants assigned to a text or video messaging program, 444 managed to kick the habit. On the other hand, 240 out of the 4,370 participants who did not receive any additional services stopped smoking for 6 months.

Quit smoking requires a great deal of effort and most people require few attempt to quit. Many of the intended quitters still continue smoking even if they have tried a texting program. Nevertheless, the mobile texting programs are automated and easy to scale up for widespread use. It is important to offer smokers as many tools as possible to help them quit smoking.

How Many Lives Were Saved By Anti-Smoking Efforts?

In the United States, a total of 20.6 percent of the population currently smokes, including nearly 4 million youths.

Smoking can sabotage the health of not only the smokers themselves but also people around them by second-hand smoke. Diseases that can be caused by smoking include lung cancer, hypertension (high blood pressure) and stroke, heart disease and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

Every year, 5.4 million people are killed worldwide because of smoking. It accounts for 1 in 10 adult deaths worldwide. It is believed that the number of people die of smoking-caused disease can be reduced, if smokers can kick the habit as early as possible.

A paper, appeared on March 24, 2012 in the ‘Journal of the National Cancer Institute’ on March 24, 2012, reported that anti-smoking measures like higher taxes on cigarettes, limits on selling to kids, and campaigns to educate people on the dangers of smoking could have saved more than 800,000 lives.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Yale School of Public Health and other universities and institutes that formed the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) consortium.  

Being funded by the National Cancer Institute, the study used various mathematical models, including one developed at Yale, to analyze trends in smoking and quantify the impact of various anti-smoking measures. Detailed cigarette smoking histories were recreated and significant events, like the Surgeon General’s report on the dangers of smoking, were factored in.

The surgeon General’s 1964 report was the first to warn of the harmful effects of cigarettes. If everyone had quitted smoking after that report, 2.5 million lung cancer deaths could have been spared, according to researchers.

Of course, since this did not actually happen, there were more than 2 million deaths among men from lung cancer and more than a million women from 1975 to 2000.

With the help of mathematical model by Yale, researchers managed to calculate smoking rate and found that the gradual reduction in smoking over the period between 1975 and 2000 resulted approximately 824,000 fewer lung cancer deaths, 603,000 of which were among men. Models used by other teams yielded similar results, showing anti-smoking measures prevented about 33 percent of potentially avoidable lung cancer deaths.

The findings showed the effect of the anti-smoking measures. It is hoped that increased efforts should be exerted in further lowering the cost in life from smoking.

How Did Movies Affect Teen Smoking?

Smoking is undoubtedly a unwanted habit that should not be encouraged because it can cause smokers as well as people around them (through secondhand smoke) suffer chronic diseases including lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary) and erectile dysfunction. It can lead to birth defects, too.

Teens smoke for a number of reasons. Pressure among the peers and smoking habit of parents or relatives tend to influence the teens to follow suit. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, indicated that smoking among teens is somehow related to movies with tobacco.

According to their findings that were published on July 14, 2011 in the ‘Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report’, number of movies in the United States in which an actor smoked fell sharply between 2005 and 2010.

55 percent of movies that had huge box office grossing in the United States in 2010 did not have smoking scenes, compared with a third of films that scored huge box office success in 2005.

During the same 6-year period, the number of tobacco incidents in top-grossing movies fell by 56 percent, though there were still some 2,000 scenes where an actor used tobacco either openly, on screen, or implicitly, off-screen. In fact, the percentages of 2010 top-grossing movies with no tobacco incidents were the highest observed in 2 decades.

In 2010, a study released by CDC found that the percentage of middle school students in the United States who smoked fell from 11 percent to 5 percent between 2000 and 2009 and those who experimented with smoking fell from nearly 30 percent to 15 percent.

Meanwhile, use of other tobacco products like cigars, pipes and chewing tobacco was also down among middle school boys aged between 11 and 14. The smoking among high school students was also down though less sharply.

17 percent of high school students smoked cigarettes in 2009, comparing to 28 percent in 2000, while 3 in 10 high school students tried smoking 2 years ago, comparing to nearly 4 in 10 in 2000.

The drop in onscreen smoking might have contributed to the decline in smoking among middle school and high school students.

How To Help Women Quit Smoking?

Smoking is definitely not a good habit for health. Smokers are at a higher risk of getting not only lung cancer but also other diseases including heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). More importantly, smokers can pose health risk to people around them through secondhand smoke.

While smokers are aware of the risk they face, many of them especially females are reluctant to quit because they afraid they could gain weight after they stop smoking. In fact, most smokers who quit smoking will eventually gain 5 to 15 pounds.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center reported that a combination of specialized counseling and the anti-smoking drug Zyban might boost, at least for a while, chances of quitting smoking for female smokers.

Zyban is a prescription drug used to help smokers give up their habit. It comes in a pill form, and it does not contain nicotine. Hence, it is not a nicotine replacement therapy product. Zyban is the trade name of the drug called “bupropion” and it was approved in 1997 as a stop smoking aid.

The findings, appeared on March 22, 2010 in the ‘Archives of Internal Medicine’, showed that over a period of 6 months of treatment, women who received the combo therapy were more successful at quitting than those who received weight counseling only, and more successful than those who received standard smoking-cessation counseling plus Zyban.

Over the period of 6 months, 34 percent of women in the group that received weight counseling and Zyban consistently abstained, comparing to 21 percent of women who received standard counseling and Zyban, 11 percent of those who received weight counseling and placebo (inactive pills) and 10 percent of those who had standard counseling and placebo.

However, the positive effect faded after treatment ended. At the 1-year mark, 24 percent of women in the group that received weight counseling and Zyban had still remained abstinent, as compared with those in the group that received standard therapy/Zyban. Yet, researchers still insisted that cognitive behavioral therapy, which was developed by them, aimed at smokers' weight-gain issues could give certain women an extra push to quit.

Can Peer Pressure Prevent Youngsters From Smoking?

Being bad for our health, smoking has been accused as the culprit that causes heart disease, osteoporosis, stroke, and lung cancers. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), smoking kills about 4 million people every year, and some health experts even estimate the deaths from smoking worldwide would exceed 10 million by 2020.

A 2006 study indicated that 9.5 percent of worldwide students aged between 13 and 15 smoke cigarettes and those from European countries accounted for the highest rate at 19.1 percent.

As compared to using traditional posters, advertisements and comic strips to tell young people about the harmful effects of smoking, British researchers found that enrolling an influential student to convey the anti-smoking message to their schoolmates could be a feasible way of getting youngsters to stay away from smoking.

Researchers from the University of Bristol, western England, and Cardiff University in Wales carried out a project known as ASSIST to cover 59 schools in western England and Wales, involving 11,000 students aged between 12 and 13. Their findings were published on May 10, 2008 in the British journal The Lancet.

The researchers implemented the peer-pressure project, known as ASSIST in 30 schools while asked the remaining 29 schools to carry out their normal anti-smoking education to act as control group.

The students were first asked to nominate influential schoolmates in their year group. These individuals were then invited to a recruitment meeting where the researchers explained the purpose of being a 'peer supporter.'

After getting consent from their parents, these peer supporters participated in a 2-day training session held outside the school. The risks of smoking and the economic benefits of stopping were made known to them. Meanwhile, they were also taught the skills in communication, conflict negotiation and resolution and understanding self-esteem.

The training continued and was beefed up in 4 school-based sessions. Over the following 10 weeks, the 'peer supporters' began to interact with and disseminate the benefits of not smoking to the peers in their year group.

Students in schools where the ASSIST program was tried were 25 percent less likely to engage in regular smoking immediately after the intervention, as compared with the control group. However, the success rate gradually lowered over time, and the reduction was 15 percent after 2 years.

The ASSIST program was said to be popular among students and staffs in the schools where it was tried and the researchers pointed out that their results did support a shift in thinking on how to tackle smoking. For the past, anti-smoking campaigns have been targeted at cessation rather than prevention, and have been focused mainly on adults instead of youngsters.

Is Smoking Ban In Public A Right Decision?

Smoking is bad for health! This message has been publicized and circulated for years, yet how many smokers have accepted the advice and kicked the habit.

Being a risk factor for heart disease, lung cancer, and many other ailments, smoking can not only harmful to the smokers themselves, but also to the people around them through second-hand smoke. According to World Health Organization (WHO), smoking kills about 4 million people each year, causing a quarter of deaths related to heart disease.

In recent years, many Western nations have begun varying types of smoking bans in public places like restaurants, pubs, cafes, etc to protect people from second-hand smoke. On June 30, 2008, WHO has also published a report indicated that “smoking bans are an effective way of preventing heart disease, getting cigarette users to quit, and protecting children from second-hand smoke.”

These policies have undoubtedly achieved their aim of protecting the health of non-smokers by decreasing exposure to second-hand smoke. In addition, they have many effects on the smoking behavior that compound the health benefits.

The scientists at the WHO's International Agency for Cancer Research, who are responsible for the report, reviewed more than 900 studies and government reports looking at the impact of smoking bans across the world. They also cited studies that suggest smoke-free workplaces have lead to a 10 to 20 percent decrease in hospital admissions for heart disease a year, after a smoking ban.

They believe that implementation of such policies can have a broader population effect of increasing smoke-free environments.

As indicated in a separate report released by Cancer Research UK on June 30, 2008, England's ban adopted a year ago has spurred more smokers to kick the habit, and it was predicted the restrictions would prevent 40,000 deaths over the next 10 years.

Your Peer May Help You Quit Smoking!

Smoking is bad! It will lead to stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and many other possible diseases. It is merely impossible to find anyone who is not aware of the ills of smoking. Despite hefty taxes, public bans and health warnings, the number of youth picking up this habit is still on the rise. Very often, once a younger starts the first cigarette, chance that he or she would be addicted is high, and this really worries many health experts.

The annual “World No Tobacco Day” was held on May 31, 2008. This year, the theme used by World Health Organization (WHO) is “Tobacco Free Youth”. It aimed to encourage teens to lead a smoke-free lifestyle.

Threats of possible health hazard are unlikely to fear youth, who tend to believe they are invincible. However, if youth is given the right information about cigarettes, they will make the right choice: smoking is bad.

Many have argued that young people smoke because of the influence from the friends surround them. However, a new study found that peer influence could in fact help smoker kick the bad habit.

From 1972 to 2003, two American professors studied thousands of smokers as a social network of relatives, friends and colleagues. Their findings, which were published in June 2008 in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported that groups of friends who smoked would quit not individually but as a whole group. When cluster after cluster of smokers disappeared, those remained would find themselves being isolated with fewer friends.

Smoking cessation groups admitted that their programs would actually work better if they focused on groups, rather than individuals.

Let us hear the confession of a youngster.

“2 months ago, I faced a dilemma. 3 of my close friends at work quit smoking. I then faced a choice: get rid of the cigarettes, or make new smoking friends. I finally chose to quit.”

He further added that he is glad that he is now part of a global phenomenon as clubs, pubs and restaurants around the world is moving to edge smoking out as a lifestyle choice.

Quit Smoking Brings Health Benefits To Women!

Smoking is bad for health! This is a fact that is recognized by most people, but it just could not convince those die-hard smokers. In 2000, about 5 million premature deaths were attributed to smoking. World Health Organization has projected that by 2030, each year, tobacco-related deaths will account for 3 million deaths in industrialized countries and 7 million in developing countries.

That is why the governments in many countries such as Germany, France, etc. are forced to pass legislation to ban smoking in public areas since the beginning of 2008. Health experts believe smoking will bring health hazards not only to the smokers themselves but also to the surrounding people in the form of secondhand smoke.

A group of researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and colleagues reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association on May 6, 2008 that women smokers who quit could enjoy major health benefits within 5 years, though it could take decades to correct respiratory damage and lower their risk of lung cancer.

The researchers studied more than 121,000 United States female nurses whose health histories were recorded in 1976 and followed during the ensuing years.

The study found that those who stopped smoking had reduced their risk of death from all causes including heart disease and vascular problems within the first 5 years by 13 percent. After 20 years, the risk of death from any cause was actually the same for those who quit and those who had never smoked.

For deaths due specifically to respiratory diseases, there was an 18 percent reduction within 5 to 10 years of quitting, but it would need 20 years to reach the level found in nonsmokers. While there was a 21 percent reduction in the risk of lung cancer death within 5 years, it took 30 years for that excess risk to diminish.

The findings also indicated that 64 percent of deaths in current smokers and 28 percent of deaths in past smokers are attributable to smoking.

In the light of youngsters are taking up cigarettes at early age, the researchers also suggested that women who start smoking later in life would have a lower risk of many lung and heart diseases.

In fact, a survey implemented in 2003 has indicated that 13 percent of smokers started their first cigarette at the age of 13 or 14, and 22 percent of all the United States high school students were smoking at that time.

Although the current study involved only women, other research has already found benefits for men who stop smoking.