Adjust meds to smoking status: experts
ABRUPT smoking cessation, particularly on admission to hospital, can leave patients at risk of adverse drug reactions, experts warn.
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smoking
The following articles have the tag smoking
Qld govt accused of tobacco profits
THE Queensland government has been accused by the Heart Foundation of profiting from investments in the tobacco industry while withdrawing funding from smoking prevention programs.
Adjust meds according to smoking status, experts say
ABRUPT smoking cessation, particularly on entering hospital, can leave patients at risk of serious adverse drug reactions, experts warn.
Qld accused of profiting from tobacco while cutting quit programs
THE Queensland government has been accused of profiting from investments in the tobacco industry while withdrawing funding from smoking prevention programs.
Safety of non-smoking hotel rooms questioned
PARTIAL smoking bans in hotels do not protect non-smoking guests from exposure to tobacco smoke and tobacco-specific carcinogens, research shows.
Opt-out call for complementary medicine
A DOCTORS’ group has called for private health insurers to offer an “opt-out” clause enabling people to avoid the cost of cover for complementary medicines based on “pseudoscience”.
Australia really is the lucky country
AUSTRALIANS live longer, healthier lives than people in almost every other country, according to a major international study.
Indigenous avoidable deaths drop
AVOIDABLE deaths among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have dropped since 2001, but mortality rates for chronic diseases are still much higher for Indigenous Australians.
Drop in Indigenous avoidable deaths
AVOIDABLE deaths among Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders have dropped since 2001, but mortality rates for chronic diseases are still much higher for Indigenous Australians.
Aust pertussis vax rates lacking
AUSTRALIA has one of the lowest rates of pertussis vaccination in the developed world, according to a new report.
Australia trails other countries on pertussis vaccination
AUSTRALIA has one of the lowest rates of pertussis vaccination in the developed world, according to a new report.
Police protection for unborn
THE Queensland Police Union has called for tougher laws to send risk-taking pregnant women into safe houses in an effort to monitor their behaviour.
Cannabis a stroke risk in young adults?
AS THE push to legalise cannabis for medical use continues, New Zealand research suggests smoking the substance may double the risk of stroke in young adults.
Anti-smoking aid under TGA scrutiny
THE TGA is considering regulatory action against an unregistered herbal product which its marketers claim enables users to beat smoking addiction almost immediately.
EU menthol cigarette ban to curb uptake of young smokers
THE European Union plans to ban menthol cigarettes and force tobacco firms to print large health warnings covering 75% of packets in proposals released on Wednesday, the first for more than a decade.
Smoking rates rise after earthquake
THE prevalence of smoking in Christchurch increased following the 2010 earthquake, research shows.
Female non-smokers live 10 years longer than smokers: study
WOMEN who don’t smoke are likely to live for 10 years longer than women smokers, according to findings from the Million Women Study.
Pro-smoking apps contravene WHO ban
AUSTRALIAN researchers say pro-smoking messages being promoted through popular smartphone apps violate a World Health Organization (WHO) ban on tobacco advertising in all media.
A musical weapon to spread health awareness
HIP hop music may be the last thing most people associate with primary health care reform but for one Medicare Local (ML) it’s the best way to get public health messages where they are needed.
'It's what's on the inside that counts’ cigarette campaign blasted
HEALTH Minister Tanya Plibersek has criticised a tobacco company over a “last gasp” attempt to advertise its wares by poking fun at plain packaging laws before they take effect.
PM snubs ACL conference after smoking harm likened to gay marriage
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has pulled out of speaking at an Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) conference after its leader apparently said gay marriage was more harmful than smoking, as the Lobby’s leader backed away from the inflammatory remarks.
Brain haemorrhage risk tripled in heavy smokers
SMOKING more than 20 cigarettes a day almost triples the chances of experiencing a potentially fatal brain haemorrhage, research has shown.
R rating for films with smoking could reduce youth uptake
An R rating for any movie depicting tobacco use could substantially reduce smoking onset in US adolescents, according to a study.
Big tobacco using loophole to entice kids
TOBACCO companies are dodging Australian advertising bans by using films, TV and the internet to target children, a survey has found.
Smoking cessation needs expert training
THE difference between well-trained and untrained physicians managing patient smoking cessation can be greater than the difference between taking medication or placebo, according to a UK expert.
Outdoor smoking snuffed out in NSW
SMOKING will be banned in playgrounds, public sports grounds, swimming pools, public transport stops and the entrances to public buildings in NSW under new laws introduced to parliament today.
Govt may sue big tobacco for smoking-related health costs
THE federal government is considering suing the tobacco industry for smoking-related health costs, in what would be an audacious counterattack to big tobacco’s court challenge of plain packaging laws.
Shop fined $380,000 for openly displaying cigarettes
THE owner of an airport duty free shop has been hit with a $387,500 penalty – more than half of which goes to the NSW Ministry of Health – after openly displaying 29 cartons of cigarettes in a sales area.
NZ plain packaging sparks anger from Big Tobacco
THE New Zealand government’s plan to follow Australia’s lead on plain packaging of tobacco products has sparked anger from British American Tobacco New Zealand and Phillip Morris who say they will fight the move in court.
Social media: a new tool to curb smoking
HEALTH promotion experts are trying to turn the tables on peer pressure by using social media to foster an anti-smoking culture among young people.
5kg gain after quitting raises risk of type 2
AN INCREASED risk of type 2 diabetes associated with quitting smoking is confined to patients who gain at least 5kg when they give up tobacco, a study suggests.
Closing gap on Indigenous smoking ‘challenging’
A FEDERAL government target of halving Indigenous smoking prevalence by 2018 under the Closing the Gap initiative will be “challenging”, researchers say.
Govt files defence for plain packaging of cigarettes
THE federal government’s battle with big tobacco over plain packaging laws has entered its next phase, with the government filing its defence in the High Court.
Long-term PPI use increases hip fractures post menopause
POSTMENOPAUSAL women using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) long-term have an increased risk of hip fracture, a large study shows.
NRT no better than ‘cold turkey’
GUMS, patches and nasal sprays that supply smokers with nicotine do not help people quit cigarettes over the long term any better than going it alone, a US study says.
More older mothers as average maternal age hits 30
AUSTRALIAN women continue to delay having babies, with the average maternal age hitting 30 years in official records for the first time.
Ban smoking in cars, doctors tell UK govt
THE British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for a blanket ban on smoking in cars in the UK.
Asthma now more strongly linked to poverty
ASTHMA rates among children and young adults are falling but a gap is opening up between the rich and poor. The latest report card on asthma in Australia, released today, found the prevalence of the condition among five- to 34-year-olds dropped by a quarter between 2001 and 2007–08 and remained stable among older adults. However, people from poorer backgrounds were increasingly more likely to have the illness than those in wealthier areas. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report, Asthma in Australia 2011 , said the finding ...
Vitamin intake gives smokers a psychological licence to puff
SMOKERS who take multivitamin pills typically fool themselves into thinking it’s ‘okay’ to smoke more because they have made a healthy choice, an experiment suggests.
Let’s unite against Big Tobacco’s smoke signals
BIG Tobacco is at it again. Trying to defend the indefensible. Flogging a product known to be lethal and justifying it because it is "legal". So was thalidomide, and you know the story there. At least once the dangers of that particular drug were known, it was promptly removed from the market. Only now, 50 years on, are its victims seeking answers and compensations for lives lived without limbs.
Praise for plain packaging move
A LEADING medical journal has hailed as “laudable” Australia’s plans for plain packaging of cigarettes and urged the Federal Government not to be deterred by growing international opposition. An editorial in The Lancet Oncology said Australia’s initiative will likely set a precedent, with New Zealand, Canada, and the UK predicted to follow, and the US planning more prominent health warnings on packets from September next year. However, the editorial warned that “the battle lines are drawn” on the issue, with opposition coming not only from the tobacco industry but ...
No smoking signs may plant a craving for cigarettes
NO-SMOKING signs may be driving more people to light up, a psychological study suggests. Scientists say the messages have an "ironic effect" on smokers that increases their craving for tobacco. Without being aware of it, they react to the signs by thinking of and wanting cigarettes. "You get ironic effects when you couple information that people perceive with negation," said researcher Brian Earp from Oxford University. "When I say ‘don't think of a pink elephant’, I've just put the thought of a pink elephant in your head. "A lot of public health messages are ...
Ugly cigarette packaging intended to deter new smokers
THE Federal Government has fired its latest salvo in the war against smoking, proposing that tobacco companies should be forced to make cigarette packs plain and olive green in order to be “as unattractive as possible”. The draft legislation, launched last night by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, would also ban companies from putting their logos on packaging. Instead, health warnings and graphic pictures would take up to 90% of the front of the pack and 75% of the back. “We’ve done a lot of research to ensure that we make the cigarette packs as unattractive as possible,” ...
iPhone apps unlikely to help smokers quit
A REVIEW of 47 quit-smoking apps for the iPhone shows most are unlikely to help patients. One of the major problems with the apps is that while they may provide personalised motivation, few recommend or refer users to counselling, quit lines or other support networks, the researchers said. Lead author Professor Lorien Abroms, a health communications expert from George Washington University, said most apps failed to mention the benefits of nicotine replacement therapy and around half of them embraced non-evidenced-based techniques such as hypnosis. The review covered 47 free and paid applications available in 2009. ...
GPs trial online lung age estimator
AUSTRALIAN GPs have begun trialling a new online lung-health tool that may prove a valuable aid in convincing smokers to kick the habit. The Lung Age Estimator, which illustrates individual lung function decline and determines a person’s ‘lung age’, was developed by the Australian Lung Foundation and researchers from the University of Adelaide. It is currently undergoing trials by GPs around the country, and is expected to be available by the end of the year. It creates a personalised graph using a patient’s actual age, height and lung function test results. The graph depicts normal lung ...
Sixty years since landmark study linked smoking to cancer
IT IS 60 years today since the publication of the landmark paper by Doll and Hill that identified smoking as a cause of lung cancer. The paper was published in the British Medical Journal on 30 September 1950. However, according to Professor Mike Daube, president of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health, despite an incontrovertible body of evidence on the damaging health effects of smoking, more than 960,000 Australians have died as a result of smoking. “We will reach the millionth Australian death from smoking during 2013,” he said. Professor Daube welcomed plans ...
Cigarette tax hike is snuffing out smoking
THE Gillard Government’s cigarette tax hike appears to be having the desired effects, with a new poll showing a 9% jump in the number of smokers attempting to ditch their habit. The 25% increase in tax on cigarettes was announced in April this year, and according to a poll by Galaxy Research in the two months immediately after, around 38% of smokers attempted to quit. This compares to just 29% of smokers who were attempting to quit in the three months before the announcement. The online poll, which was commissioned by Pfizer Australia, also showed that ...
Pro-smoking messages channelled through YouTube
INCREASING numbers of videos extolling the benefits of tobacco are appearing on Internet video-sharing site YouTube, including some that researchers say appear to be professionally made. Analysis of English language videos on YouTube that contained tobacco brand images or words revealed 163 videos, the majority of which (71.2%) contained pro-tobacco content. Only 3.7% had definite anti-tobacco content. More than 20 of the videos were regarded by the study authors as appearing to be “very professionally made”. Half of the videos contained smoking imagery, and 70% mentioned a brand name in the title. Archive material, sports and ...
Australians of the Year call for plain packaging of tobacco
THE country’s six medical Australians of the Year have issued a united call to all political parties to support the plain packaging of tobacco products. The move – proposed as part of the Labor Government’s National Preventative Health Strategy – has been aggressively opposed by the tobacco industry. It has been reported that the proposal has prompted the tobacco industry to launch an anti-Labor advertising campaign ahead of the Federal Election. Professors Peter Doherty (Australian of the Year 1997), Sir Gustav Nossal (2000), Fiona Stanley (2003), Fiona Wood (2005), Ian Frazer (2006) and Patrick McGorry (2010) ...
Pregnancy breath test a smoking gun?
ALL pregnant women could soon be subjected to carbon monoxide tests to encourage them to kick a smoking habit, BBC News reports. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has called for carbon monoxide tests to be performed on all pregnant women during their first antenatal visit. However, midwives have criticised the move, believing the test will make women who are identified as smokers feel guilty. Commenting on behalf of the Royal College of Midwives, London, education and research manager Sue Macdonald said the “use of the monitor has the potential to make women feel guilty and ...
Cardiovascular risk factors rife in Scotland
NEARLY all Scottish adults have at least one major lifestyle risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with more than half burdened with three or more risk factors. A recent health survey of 6574 Scottish adults revealed only 2.5% had no risk factors at all. This compared to around 6% or 7% in nations with similar socioeconomic profiles, said lead author, Professor David Conway of the University of Glasgow. He said Scottish people were “living dangerously”. The survey analysed the prevalence of five cardiovascular risk factors; smoking, heavy drinking, lack of exercise, poor diet and obesity. The most ...
Public health messages need to stress smoking link to depression
PUBLIC health campaigns should place more emphasis on the risk of depression from smoking, experts say. A New Zealand longitudinal study of 1265 children followed annually to age 16 and then at 18, 21 and 25 years, found a “persistent significant” association between nicotine dependence and major depression. Adults who reported nicotine dependence had twice the risk of developing depression compared with those with no history of nicotine dependence. “Collectively this evidence is consistent with the conclusion that there is a cause and effect relationship between smoking and depression in which cigarette smoking increases the risk of symptoms ...
Smoking grandmothers pass down cancer risk to grandkids
A CHILD whose grandmother smoked has double the risk of childhood cancer as the grandchild of a non-smoker. This increased relative risk of cancer added to the evidence that damage from tobacco smoke might be passed down through generations of a family, researchers said. The study of 128 children with cancer and 128 matched controls was conducted in Spain by Spanish and American researchers. Exposure and use of tobacco was determined over three generations, with the smoking habits of mothers and maternal grandmothers being assessed. Sixty per cent of mothers of children with neuroblastoma were ...
Occasional cannabis a path to harder drugs
OCCASIONAL use of cannabis in adolescence increases the risk of illicit drug use in adulthood and could lead to low educational achievement, Australian research suggests. A study of almost 2000 Victorian secondary school students found those who used cannabis infrequently (less than once a week) had higher rates of alcohol and tobacco dependence and illicit drug use 10 years later than non-users. They were also less likely to have completed post-school qualifications by the age of 24. Lead author Professor Louisa Degenhardt, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of NSW, said: “It ...
UK kids exposed to more smoking on screen
RESEARCHERS have expressed concern about the amount of smoking portrayed in movies watched by adolescents in the UK. A study has found British youths were exposed to 28% more on-screen smoking than their US counterparts due to differences in movie classification. The authors found 79% of films rated ‘R’ (for adults) in the US were rated ‘15’ or ‘12A’ in the UK and classified as suitable for adolescents. Researchers identified the number of smoking-related scenes in 572 top-grossing films screened in the UK from 2001 to 2006 compared with the US equivalent and in relation to the average ...
Jakarta to ban smokers from free healthcare
HEALTH officials in Jakarta say they will exclude smokers and their families from the city’s free healthcare schemes for low-income households.
Strabismus in children linked to pre-natal risk factors
STRABISMUS is associated with a number of early-life risk factors, some of which may be modifiable and provide opportunities for prevention in the future, research suggests. A population-based study of nearly 15,000 British children, found 345 with strabismus, suggesting about two in every 100 children are affected by the age of three years. Little has previously been discovered about potentially modifiable risk factors, the researchers said. They found independent associations between neurodevelopmental strabismus and smoking beyond the first trimester of pregnancy, as well as maternal illness during pregnancy. In addition, isolated strabismus was associated with assisted ...
World report - 31 July 2009
• DUTCH BAN ON CAFE SMOKING OVERTURNED AN attempt to ban smoking in Dutch cafés has been stalled after a court ruled new laws do not apply to small cafés that do not employ staff. An appeals court in the city of Leeuwarden overturned an earlier conviction against a café owner who failed to implement the Dutch Government’s recent smoking ban, which came into effect in July 2008. The ban was based on European legislation designed to protect employees, and the judge ruled that there was “no clear obligation in the text of the law for ...
Action needed on nicotine addiction
A RENEWED focus on research into treatments for nicotine addiction is needed, US experts say. Writing in The Lancet , researchers from the US National Institute on Drug Abuse said that more focus was needed on treating nicotine addiction in order to reach national targets of smoking reduction. The proportion of people who successfully quit smoking had remained constant in the past 20 years, they said, and existing smokers were more severely addicted than they had been in the past. One problem they saw as vital was the lack of funding for new treatments, given ...
The endothelium and chronic disease
The link between lifestyle and chronic disease may now be undisputed, but where is the biological connection? INACTIVITY, smoking and bad diets are all known causes of heart disease. Some risk factors such as high cholesterol and hyperglycaemia provide a window to what’s going on, but there’s more to it than that. In the early 1990s, a clue was found when Harvard researchers associated obesity with a form of chronic, low-level systemic inflammation, which they called ‘metaflammation’ because of its link with the metabolic system. This suggested that obesity might need to be reframed as an inflammatory ...
World report - 26 June 2009
• FRENCH CIVIL ACTION OVER DOCTOR-PHARMA TIES A FRENCH non-profit doctors’ organisation has filed civil charges against nine academic medical specialists considered key opinion leaders, claiming they failed to disclose ties with drug manufacturers. Formindep, an organisation promoting independent medical information, has joined with a leading consumer protection group to file the charges with French medical authorities. They claim the nine doctors, considered leading medical experts in fields such as menopause, diabetes care and Alzheimer’s disease, violated France’s public health code. It requires them to declare ties to relevant products while making public statements. “These ...
Nurses should take the lead on smoking cessation: expert
AUSTRALIA needs to adopt a blanket recommendation that would see all primary care staff raising the issue of smoking cessation with patients, according to a leading advocate of tobacco control. Professor Nick Zwar, from the department of general practice at the University of NSW, said similar recommendations had been adopted in the UK. Under the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, every nurse must consult their patients about giving up smoking, understand the motivations and barriers that underpin smoking cessation, and be aware of the options available to support patient with quitting. ...
Prevention MBS call following smoking study success
PRACTICE nurses are the ideal general practice team members to help patients overcome their smoking addiction, according to a NSW study. Professor Nick Zwar, professor of general practice at the University of New South Wales, presenting his study at the APNA ‘Right Stuff’ conference, said practice nurses were successful counsellors when it came to smoking cessation. A total of 35 GPs and 31 practice nurses from 23 practices in Sydney took part in the study, counselling 498 patients. Patients were offered counselling and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), after GPs and nurses had undergone a four-hour training workshop. After six months, ...
Upturn in US smoking rates down to recession
IN an ominous sign for public health, US smoking rates have increased for the first time in a decade, with the recession being blamed for the rise. Public health academic Michael Eriksen, co-author of WHO’s Tobacco Atlas , said the most recent US prevalence data revealed a rise in smoking in 2008, after the recession began. In 2008, 20.9% of adults said they were current smokers, compared to 19.7% in 2007, the first increase in smoking rates for more than a decade. Despite a rise in US federal taxes on tobacco, cigarette company profits remained ...
Smoking-SIDS link explained
MATERNAL smoking depresses an infant’s ability to become fully aroused in response to a life-threatening situation and has replaced prone sleeping as the greatest modifiable risk factor for SIDS in developed countries. In the world’s first polysomnographic study of arousal linked to smoking, researchers at the Ritchie Centre for Baby Health Research, Monash University, showed that cortical arousal was impaired in 12 smoke-exposed healthy infants at ages 2-4 weeks and 5-6 months when compared with 12 infants not exposed to smoke. The mothers had smoked 15 cigarettes a day on average through pregnancy and after birth. ...
Screen family in alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency
A DIAGNOSIS of α 1 -antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency in an individual should prompt screening of their extended family, an expert says. Melbourne respiratory physician Dr Jonathan Burdon, a spokesman for the Australian Lung Foundation, said family members identified as high risk could then be given advice on lung health. “If you have the ZZ phenotype, you have the potential to develop emphysema, without [other triggers] such as smoking,” he said. “It’s sensible to screen if you have an index of suspicion, such as classic x-ray appearance of lower-zone predominant emphysema... in a young person.” Dr Burdon ...
Quit smoking by 15 weeks and baby’s in the clear
PREGNANT women who stop smoking by 15 weeks’ gestation reduce their risk of having a spontaneous preterm birth or delivering a small for gestational age baby to the same level as non-smokers, Australian research shows. However, those who continued to smoke after 15 weeks had three times the rate of spontaneous preterm birth and almost double the rate of small for gestational age infants compared to those who stopped smoking. Women who gave up smoking within 15 weeks did not have increased measures of stress, anxiety or depression. The findings led the researchers to recommend all ...
World report - 27 March 2009
• CHINA'S ANTI-SMOKING PUSH TARGETS DOCTORS THE Chinese Health Ministry is targeting the country’s male doctors who smoke, believing it to be one way to reduce the country’s soaring smoking rate. China has the highest rate of smoking among doctors in the world, with 56.8% of male doctors using tobacco, according to the China Preventive Medicine Association. Ten medical schools and 10 medical associations have already signed up to the campaign, pledging to make their premises smoke-free and promote tobacco control among their students and members. More than half of adult Chinese males smoke, according ...
ADHD stimulant therapy may avert future substance abuse
USING stimulants to treat children with ADHD does not increase the risk of future substance use disorders and cigarette smoking and may also protect against them, say researchers. Researchers followed 114 children and young adults aged 10-24 years over five years and found those exposed to stimulants were 73% less likely to develop a substance abuse disorder, and 72% less likely to smoke in the future compared to subjects who did not receive stimulants. “These results should allay lingering concerns among clinicians and families about future substance use problems when prescribing stimulants to a child with ADHD,” ...