ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531

[VIEW HTML VERSION
http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]

ASH Daily News

2 December 2004

HEADLINES

Mitchells and Butlers seeks smoker segregation
DNA test could help cessation
Child Asthma rate rockets to 1.4m
Almost 5 million killed by smoking in 2000


FULL TEXT

Mitchells and Butlers seeks smoker segregation

Tim Clarke, chief executive of Mitchells and Butlers (the owners of All Bar One, Harvester, O'Neills and Ember Inns chains), has called for a dilution of the government's white paper proposals on smoking in public places and has suggested the restoration of the 'traditional divide between saloon and lounge', segregating smokers and non-smokers under one roof.

"The enforced separation of food and smoking may well encourage more venues to remove food and retain smoking", said Mr Clarke, going on to suggest that the ban would not help curb anti-social drunkenness, "in the jargon of the trade, food softens pubs, food soaks up alcohol and encourages more female customers - you don't get those smoky, all male environments." He then went on to say that the four year consultation period gave plenty of time to allow a pub-industry compromise, based on voluntarily making 80 per cent of pubs non-smoking, to have an impact.

Mr Clarke said that, regardless of the outcome of the Government's plans, M&B would continue to drive forward its own food sales.

Source:The Guardian, The Times, Daily Express, 2 December 2004
Article link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1364276,00.html


DNA test could help cessation

Scientists at Oxford University have found that 35 percent of us are born with a gene that predisposes us to nicotine addiction. A DNA test based on these findings, and which can be used to tailor a personal cessation strategy, is being launched today. The test kit, called NicoTest, costs £94 and contains a device to take a pin-prick of blood, which the smoker places on an absorbent pad and sends to a laboratory for DNA analysis.

Not everyone who carries the gene takes up smoking, said Dr Robert Walton, "Our research shows, however, that smokers with the gene who are trying to quit are much more likely to succeed if they choose nicotine replacement rather than a non-nicotine based drug or treatment."

The article in the Daily Telegraph reports that 'up to forty per cent of smokers with the 'addiction gene' can stop successfully in the short term with NRT according to the researchers. Generally 20 per cent or less of those who start any treatment succeed in stopping for at least a year.'

Source: Daily Telegraph, The Sun, Daily Mirror, 2 December 2004
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/6sxaa


Child Asthma rate rockets to 1.4m

The number of children suffering from asthma has rocketed in the past 30 years, a new study has found. With almost 1 and a half million children living with asthma, Britain has one of the highest rates in Europe.

The findings, released today by the British Thoracic Society, are based on research carried out among 11 year olds. The technique used - known as eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation - is said to be the gold standard for testing athletes for asthma.

The researchers said the rise was due to environmental pollution and passive smoking.

Source: The Evening Standard, BBC News online, 1 December 2004
Article link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4056925.stm


Almost 5 million killed by smoking in 2000

Smoking killed almost 5 million people around the world in 2000 with over half the deaths occurring in smokers aged 30 - 69. Researchers from Harvard University and the University of Queensland found the numbers of premature deaths were evenly split between the developed and developing world. But men were over three times as likely as women to die an early death as a direct result of smoking. The leading cause of smoking related death was cardiovascular disease.

Source: Irish Times, 30 November 2004
Article link: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=6450

---------------------------------
Unsubscribe:

Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org
----------------------------------