ASH Daily News for 23 October 2007

New figures reveal North-East has highest number of smoking deaths

New figures reveal that more people aged over 35 in the North-East die from smoking related diseases than anywhere else in England.

The shocking new statistics show that older smokers in the region are significantly more likely to die from smoking related diseases than smokers from any other part of the country.

The figures in The Health Profile of England 2007 have been published by the Department of Health.

The figures show that in the North-East 315.1 smokers per 100,000 people over the age of 35 die of smoking related diseases each year.

This compares badly with the average for England of 234.8 and the East of England's rate of 198.1.

Even the North-West, which often has poorer health statistics than the North-East, has a lower annual rate of smoking related deaths with 289.8 deaths.

The Government report shows that Britons drink more alcohol, eat less fruit and vegetables and are more likely to die from smoking than the average European.

While life expectancy is at its highest level yet, there are problems tackling public health issues.

Rates of obesity, diabetes and alcohol related admissions are rising across England and there are stark differences between the health of people in the North and South.

Men in the North-East and North-West live for more than two and a half years less than those in the South-East and South-West.

Source: The Northern Echo, 22 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/323a2t 

More commit to quit smoking in the South-East

New figures reveal that more than 17,483 people from South-East England agreed to quit smoking in time for the July ban.

Between April and June this year, the Department of Health say more than half of those had successfully quit for four weeks after setting a quit date with their local NHS Stop Smoking Service in the South East.

During the same period, the national NHS Smoking Helpline took 52,563 calls, whilst 3,080 would-be quitters signed up to the interactive programme.

Helen Atkinson, Regional Tobacco Policy Manager in the South East, said: "It's great to see that so many smokers are now accessing the full range of services offered by the NHS to help them quit.Research shows that smokers are up to four times more likely to quit successfully if they use support than by relying on willpower alone."

Source: Enfield Independent, 22 October 2007  
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cfk6q

Australia: New research shows that smoking increases weight gain

Researchers say they have blown away one of the last excuses of smoking, that it keeps them slim.

A study by a team from the universities of New South Wales and Melbourne has found a few cigarettes a day may result in the body storing too much fat, not less.

The research, published in the American Journal of Physiology, exposed mice to cigarette smoke and  were fed either a low fat diet or a feast.

The results show smoking mice might have eaten less but they did not lose weight.

Professor of pharmacology at the University of New South Wales Margaret Morris says if it is true, humans who smoke are probably losing muscle and other precious organs, not fat.

She added, "People who quit smoking and then complain that they have actually put on weight probably have because of increased appetite."

Professor Morris said, "In many people and in our animals, cigarette smoke suppresses signals that increase appetite, so the powerful chemical message induced by smoking to suppress feeding and withdrawal of nicotine is unhelpful in that regard."

"So I think the message from this study is that using smoking to suppress body weight gain, if you're overweight, is not going to be helpful."

While the number of people smoking continues to fall, it has been tougher getting the message through to young women.

Professor Morris says although young women might think they look slimmer, they are now being told it is actually muscle not fat they are losing.

"Our work actually points out that this is a very powerful health message, if it's true in humans, then the combination of these two behaviours is very, very unhealthy," she said. 

Professor Morris says it is important for more research to be done. "This is a long-term study, we have fed the animals for seven weeks, the smoking was equivalent to moderate cigarette smoking in humans, and we know that they had carboxyhaemoglobin levels in that range."

"So, if we can make the leap into humans, yes, I think it is quite important."

Source: ABC News, 23 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/yooonh

Study: Working During Adolescence Increases Risk of Smoking

According to researchers from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, adolescents are at an increased risk of smoking when they start working. Investigators found that adolescents who worked more than 10 hours per week also started smoking at an earlier age than their peers.

The authors recommend that the workplace be considered as a location for smoking prevention programmes or policies.

"Our findings highlight the importance of working on smoking behaviours of adolescents, which is an area that has not received much attention in current efforts to reduce youth smoking," said Rajeev Ramchand, lead author of the study.

Using data from the Baltimore Prevention Intervention Research Center studies, the researchers analysed work and smoking patterns of the study participants, 55 per cent of whom were male and 85 per cent, African-American. The adolescents have been followed since the first grade, so the authors were able to review multiple years' worth of data.

During year 10 of the PIRC studies, 26 per cent of the adolescents worked, and one year later, close to 40 per cent were employed as babysitters, fast food restaurant staff, store clerks and in other retail positions. Tobacco use during this time increased from 13 per cent at year 10 to 17 percent at year 11. Adolescents who worked during two consecutive study years and those who started to work during the 10th and 11th year of the PIRC study were more than three times more likely to report tobacco use initiation when compared to their non working peers.

The study results coordinate with the previously published precocious development theory, which states that adolescents seek out the rewarding aspects of adulthood ahead of their counterparts by assuming social roles and adult like behaviours.

"There is a clear relationship between working for pay and adolescent tobacco use. Ensuring that adolescents work in smokefree environments may be a promising way to prevent some adolescents from starting to smoke. However, more research is needed to systematically evaluate what features about the workplace, or about working, are most closely linked with adolescent smoking," said Ramchand, who is now an associate behavioural scientist with the RAND Corp.

The study is published in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Source: The JHU Gazette, 22 October 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/yp788x