Young people want tobacco put out of sight in shops

Young people overwhelmingly support putting tobacco products out of sight in shops according to new research by Cancer Research UK. Almost two thirds (64 per cent) of 11 to 16 year olds want cigarettes put out of sight in shops. Only 16 per cent do not agree with the proposal. Researchers interviewed more than 1,400 youngsters from across the UK. The results show the strength of support for new tobacco control legislation being discussed in the House of Lords on Wednesday.

One of the key new measures in the proposals is to remove all tobacco products from sight in shops. Researchers say there is good evidence that this will help to reduce the number of young people who start smoking by protecting them from tobacco marketing. Almost three quarters (72 per cent) of those who had never smoked agreed that cigarettes should be put out of sight. Occasional and regular smokers and those who used to smoke or have tried smoking were less likely to agree.

More than half (55 per cent) of those who smoked occasionally, had smoked in the past or had tried smoking, agreed that cigarettes should be put out of sight. Nearly 30 per cent of regular smokers also agreed. Girls were more likely than boys to support putting cigarettes out of sight - 67 per cent of girls compared with 61per cent of boys.

Professor Gerard Hastings, lead researcher based at the University of Stirling, said: "Children see through the hypocrisy of the adult world which tells them not to smoke, but at the same time, allows tantalising displays of tobacco products in shops up and down the land. They also recognise the simple truth that children have a right to be protected from such dangerous blandishments. Policy makers must listen to them and ensure that tobacco is put out of sight as soon as possible."

Younger children were also more likely to agree (77 per cent of 11 year olds) than older children (51 per cent of 16 year olds) that cigarettes should be put out of sight. Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: "Tobacco advertising has been banned on television, in print and on billboards. Yet children are still regularly exposed to branding on packs and attractive tobacco displays in shops.

"Tobacco marketing deliberately tries to build a relationship with potential new young smokers. Over 80 per cent of smokers start before the age of 19 and half of all long-term smokers will die from cancer or other smoking-related diseases - that's why we want to make smoking history for our children. With so much support from young people we urge Parliament to listen and put tobacco out of sight."

Source: Medical News Today, 04 May 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/cxqrht

China: Cigarette order goes up in smoke

A county government in central China has rescinded an order which was intended to make officials smoke more to help the local economy, local authorities said on Tuesday. Functionaries in Gongan county in rural Hubei province had been ordered to smoke at least 23,000 packs of cigarettes a year, worth nearly 4 million yuan ($586,700), to cushion government finances, according to regional media reports.

Those who failed to meet smoking targets or were caught smoking brands from other provinces would have been fined, the reports added, citing a government document issued earlier this year. But the government has now backtracked after an uproar in the local press criticizing the policy as being harmful to health and a waste of public money.

"We decided to remove this edict," said a statement placed on the county government's website (www.gongan.gov.cn), saying it violated regulations about the issuing of notices. The edict had originally been made to prevent the illegal distribution of cigarettes in the county and "to protect tax revenues and consumers' rights," it added.

China is the world's largest cigarette producer and Chinese are the world's most enthusiastic smokers, with a growing market of about 320 million making it a magnet for multinationals and focus of international health concerns.

Source: Reuters UK, 05 May 2009
Link:  http://tinyurl.com/dkc74n

US: Cigarette smoke may rob children of needed antioxidants

Children exposed to cigarette smoke have lower levels of antioxidants, which help the body defend itself against many biological stresses. A University of Rochester Medical Center study looked at the levels of antioxidants versus the amount of smoke exposure in more than 2,000 6 and 18 years old in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The study, which was presented at the Pediatric Academic Society Meeting in Baltimore, shows that secondhand smoke exposure is associated with lower levels of antioxidants in children.

"We don't know enough yet to say that this group of children need supplements to make up for the antioxidants they're losing, but it's always wise to feed children an abundance of fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants and other healthy nutrients," said Karen Wilson, M.D., M.P.H., a senior instructor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the study's author.

Antioxidants are believed to play an important role in protecting the body's cells against free radicals, which can damage cells. Free radicals are produced during many body processes including when we use oxygen and respond to infections. It is not completely understood how antioxidants work together to neutralize free radicals, but scientists continue to discover more antioxidant compounds, including those examined in the study – vitamins E and C, folate and beta-carotene.

Children's exposure to tobacco smoke was determined by the level of cotinine in their blood (cotinine is a byproduct of metabolizing tobacco smoke). The higher the level of cotinine in a child's blood, the lower the antioxidant level, after controlling for diet and supplements. The study also looked at vitamins that were not antioxidants and found that these compounds did not seem to be reduced with smoke exposure.

Source: First Science, 04 May 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/da4rru

Switzerland: Women more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens, new results suggest

Women may be more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco, according to new results reported this week at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland. Swiss researchers studied 683 lung cancer patients who were referred to a cancer centre in St Gallen between 2000 and 2005 and found women tended to be younger when they developed the cancer, despite having smoked on average significantly less than men.

"Our findings suggest that women may have an increased susceptibility to tobacco carcinogens," report Dr Martin Frueh and colleagues. Dr Enriqueta Felip from Val d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, conference co-chair, notes that the results support a growing awareness that smoking presents greater risks to women than men.

"In the early 1900s lung cancer was reported to be rare in women, but since the 1960s it has progressively reached epidemic proportions, becoming the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States," Dr Felip said. "Lung cancer is not only a man's disease, but women tend to be much more aware of other cancers, such as breast cancer," she said. "Several case-control studies seem to suggest that women are more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens than men."

On the positive side, other research presented at the conference suggests that women tend to do better than men after surgery to remove lung tumors. Irish researchers led by Dr Bassel Al-Alao studied 640 patients whose non-small-cell lung cancer was surgically removed over a 10-year period, 239 of whom were women. They found that median survival after surgery was 2.1 years for men, and 4.7 years for women.

Source: Medical News Today, 04 May 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/d4qtep