Gene study may explain why ex-smokers put on weight

According to scientisits, the real reason why people pile on the pounds after quitting smoking could lie in our DNA.

Scientists identified a fat-burning gene that becomes more active when exposed to cigarette smoke.

The finding could help explain why smokers put on weight after giving up smoking.

But anti-smoking groups warned against smokers using the research to justify a habit that kills more than 120,000 Britons a year.

The scientists, from Cornell University in New York, focused on a gene called AZGP1 (alphazincglycoprotein1) which makes a protein that speeds up the breakdown of fat.

Comparison of millions of cells taken from smokers' and non-smokers' lungs showed the gene to be making more of the fat-busting protein in smokers.

Other studies have shown the protein plays a key role in weight loss. When mice are given it they lose weight, even if no other changes are made to their diet.

The researchers said that while their study didn't prove that smoking helps burn off fat, it could help explain why smokers tend to be more wiry.
Writing in the journal Chest, they said: 'A primary reason smokers give for not trying to quit smoking and for relapsing after cessation is weight gain and the increase in the prevalence of overeating and obesity in the United States has been attributed in part to smoking cessation.'

Anti-smoking campaign group ASH said the findings could be 'another piece in the jigsaw'.

But spokesman Amanda Sandford said: 'The overriding message must be that smoking is far more hazardous to your long-term health than putting on a bit of weight.

Source: The Daily Mail, 06 May 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/c89gc6

Western Australia: Tough new smoking laws get approval

MPs in Western Australia have reached agreement on an anti-smoking bill put forward by Independent MP Janet Wollard, ensuring its quick passage through Parliament.

Tobacco product displays will soon be banned, but specialist tobacco retailers will be exempt.

Smoking will be banned in alfresco areas of restaurants and cafes, and hotels will have to make 50 per cent of their alfresco areas smoke free.

It will also be illegal for people to smoke in cars carrying passengers under 17, with the Health Department, not police, having the discretion to issue $200 dollar fines to repeat offenders.

Dr Wollard says while she did not get everything she wanted in the final bill, it is still a significant victory.

She said, "There are many many people in public health who have been fighting for these measures. This is a step in the right direction and those groups as well as I will continue to lobby in the future."

President of the Australian Hotels Associatin Bradley Woods says although members are frustrated, they will work to implement the new laws.

"We need to work with the Government on practical common sense solutions, so we'll be trying to find ways of moving forward with the announcement today so that it's practical and it can be implemented in hotels and pubs across the State," he said.

Source: ABC News, 06 May 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/dkw93z

Croatia introduces tough anti-smoking measures

The Health Ministry says Croatia is set to implement a public smoking ban which includes bars and restaurants, echoing standards adopted by the European Union which it hopes to join by 2011.

A six-month transitory period for bars, restaurants and the tobacco industry is set to expire this week and the law restricting the use of tobacco will be fully implemented," a statement said.

The ministry stressed the law was aimed at protecting non-smokers, making up 68 percent of the country's population of 4.4 million.

According to the law, smoking at bars will only be allowed on terraces, while restaurants can allocate a separate room for smokers -- but the establishments cannot serve food or drink in these areas.

Fines of up to 2,100 euros (2,800 dollars) for individuals and up to 21,000 euros for entrepreneurs will be imposed on those violating the smoking ban.

The health ministry estimated that tobacco kills some 10,000 people every year while an additional 3,000 die from passive smoking in Croatia.

Health costs of treating smoking diseases are estimated at a significant 422 million euros annually.

Croatia already had laws banning smoking in health and education facilities, and marking out separate smoking areas in other public spaces. But the rules have often been ignored, notably in bars, restaurants and offices.

While hailed by non-smokers, the new legislation has already sparked controversy in the country whose economy heavily relies on the tourism industry.

Bar and restaurant owners, in particular have protested strongly, claiming it will seriously affect their business.

Source: Yahoo News, 05 May 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/d5yj5k

Uganda: Control tobacco growing, says minister

The agriculture state minister, Aggrey Bagiire, has directed authorities in West Nile districts to enact bylaws to regulate the cultivation of tobacco to save the region from environmental degradation. 

The directive follows a recent meeting the minister held with Koboko district leaders in Koboko town. Bagiire, who had travelled by road, expressed shock at the lack of forest cover in the area.

“These farmers have been here for over 40 years but what you see from Arua to Koboko is bad. Other than the small trading centres, there are countable iron sheet-roofed houses,” Bagiire said.

He said with the bylaw, tobacco farmers would also be required to grow food. For example, the minister said, a farmer would grow tobacco on one acre and food on two.

The officials, who included area MPs, local leaders and technical staff, complained that tobacco farmers were indiscriminately cutting down trees for firewood to cure their harvested tobacco.

Unlike the Bunyoro region that grows air-cured tobacco, West Nile produces the Virginia tobacco that is cured using smoke.

“This crop is an environmental hazard. Apart from costing us our natural trees, the soil fertility has also been depleted and yet people still remain in poverty,” Isaac Todoko, the district secretary for production, said.

Todoko said, as an effect, there was a noticeable change in the weather pattern with longer dry spells, which was forcing most farmers to abandon cultivation for livestock farming.

The district speaker, George Ambe, said some companies were operating in disregard of the Tobacco Act that required them to have woodlots for mitigation purposes.

Ambe revealed that some of the companies that did have woodlots, were not planting trees equivalent to the destruction they caused.

Source: New Vision, 5 May 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/c5ktsy

Adults important In reducing tobacco use among young people

According to research from Umeå University in Sweden a clear commitment from adults against the use of tobacco can prevent teenagers from starting to smoke or use snuff.

In 1993 a program called Tobacco-Free Duo was started in collaboration between the Country Council of Västerbotten County and the schools in the county’s municipalities. The target group was young people between 13 and 15 years of age. A central component of the program was to include adults in the task of supporting adolescents in saying no to tobacco.

In her dissertation, Maria Nilsson evaluates the effects of the program and studies the attitudes of young people to how adults, and especially parents, should approach the use of tobacco among their children.

Both boys’ and girls’ smoking declined during the seven-year evaluation period for Tobacco-Free Duo, whereas no change was observed at the national level. Using a multifaceted interventional model that includes tobacco-free duos consisting of one adult and one teenager, it is possible to bring down the use of tobacco among young people. An unexpected bonus effect of the program was reported. One adult in four who supported a young participant Tobacco-Free Duo was a tobacco user who stopped using tobacco in order to be able to participate. The Tobacco-Free Duo intervention has proven to be viable in the municipalities throughout the years. The long-term design of the program proved to be important in that the major effects were shown only after a few years of work..

In a national questionnaire study with data from three decades, teenagers are becoming more receptive of parental intervention against their children’s smoking. Young people clearly support this, whether they themselves smoke or not. They prefer to have parents get involved by persuading their children not to smoke, by not smoking themselves, and by not permitting their children to smoke at home. The results contradict the notion that young people ignore or even have negative perceptions of their parents’ attempts to counteract the use of tobacco.

“Children expect adults to work against tobacco. They say this is important and that adults can make a difference by showing a clear and positive commitment,” says Maria Nilsson.

Having a shared and consistent norm against tobacco from both schools and parents with a supportive approach can have a preventive function regarding tobacco use among young people.

Source: Science Daily, 05 May 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/d3dhd4