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ASH Daily News

9 November 2006

[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]

HEADLINES

Study suggest smoking damages female fertility

Poll shows Scots still support smoking ban

Study links early secondhand smoke exposure to bladder cancer

Punch taverns owner upbeat ahead of smoking ban

FULL TEXT

Study suggest smoking damages female fertility

Heavy smoking significantly reduces the chances of a woman becoming pregnant because it undermines the ability of fertilised eggs to implant in the lining of the womb, according to research to be published today.

Previous studies have shown that smoking reduces sperm count, harms egg quality, hastens the menopause and increases the dangers of premature birth and the need for caesarean sections.

Now Spanish and Portuguese researchers have found that among women having IVF with donated eggs, heavy smokers had lower pregnancy rates than light or non-smokers.

This suggests that cigarettes have an independent harmful effect on the lining of the uterus.

They concluded that those who either did not smoke or smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes per day were more than 50 per cent more likely to have a baby.

Dr Sérgio Soares, the director of the IVI fertility clinic in Lisbon, is the lead author of the study to be published online in the reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. "The non-heavy smokers had a significantly higher pregnancy rate," he said.

"The fact that we see this result in a situation in which the oocytes [eggs] were donated by other women demonstrates that cigarette smoking negatively affects the receptiveness of the uterus independently of its effect on ovarian function.

"In spite of all the noise generated about the effects of smoking in a series of health areas, its possible effect on uterine receptiveness has never been evaluated until now.

"It means that we should now be telling patients, if they are heavy smokers, that even if fertilisation takes place they have less chance of achieving a successful pregnancy."

The researchers compared the outcomes of first cycle IVF treatment received by 741 non-smokers and light smokers and 44 heavy smokers who had treatment at the fertility centre in Valencia, Spain, between 2002 and 2005.

The key finding was that 52.2 per cent of the light or non-smokers became pregnant, compared to 34.1 per cent of the heavy smokers.

Source: BBC, ITV, 9 November 2006
Article link: (BBC) http://tinyurl.com/sz9be


Poll shows Scots still support smoking ban

The majority of the Scottish public still support the country-wide smoking ban which was introduced in March, research reveals.

A poll of more than 1,000 Scots by Populus, commissioned by tobacco company funded lobby group Forest, found 63% believed the current policy to be "about right".

Only a quarter of respondents (24%) thought the Act, which bans smoking in enclosed public places, had gone too far.

However, 61% of those surveyed were against the ban being extended to outside pubs and bars.

Source: Caterer, 9 November 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/y9luul


Study links early secondhand smoke exposure to bladder cancer

Smoking while underage - or even being exposed to second-hand smoke as a child - increases the risk of bladder cancer in later life, a study suggests.

Researchers funded by Cancer Research UK looked at data on almost 430,000 people across Europe.

They found people who smoked before the age of 15 were three times more likely to get bladder cancer later in life.

Those exposed to secondhand smoke in childhood were almost 40% more likely to develop bladder cancer.

The disease is the fourth most common cancer among men and kills more than 4,800 people in the UK each year.

Dr Naomi Allen of Oxford University, a UK researcher who worked on the study, said: "Previous research has shown that there's a strong link between smoking and bladder cancer.

"But this study also suggests that young people who are exposed to second-hand smoke are more at risk of going on to develop the disease in later life.

"This adds to the growing body of evidence that children and adolescents may be even more vulnerable to the harmful effects of tobacco smoke than adults."

Professor John Toy, Cancer Research UK's medical director, said: "Although more research is needed to confirm the seeming effects of childhood exposure to second-hand smoke, the study's findings support the health value of the smoking ban in public places."

Source: BBC, 9 November 2006
Journal link: http://tinyurl.com/g46du


Punch taverns owner upbeat ahead of smoking ban

Pub group Punch Taverns posted a bigger-than-expected jump in annual profits on Thursday and sounded an upbeat tone about coping with next year's planned smoking ban in England and Wales.

Punch, the UK leader with over 9,200 pubs, said pre-tax profits rose 21% to £250m in the year to August 19 from £207m a year earlier. It added that the new financial year was seeing "solid performance across all areas".

"We continue to see further opportunities to both invest in and add to our estates," the chief executive, Giles Thorley, said in a statement.

"The results for the 12 months showed strong growth and trading in the current year has started well."

The group's estate of over 7,800 tenanted pubs grew like-for-like revenues by 1%, with 96 new pubs bought and 551 of its weaker pubs sold.

Punch has 493 pubs in Scotland and said it had dampened the impact of a recently introduced smoking ban there with new outside smoking areas and better amenities, often including "a quality food offer".

"Since the ban in Scotland was introduced, overall sales have been little changed, and whilst we remain cautious on the initial impact until a full year has elapsed, we are confident that overall quality of trading will ultimately improve," the group said in a statement.

In England and Wales, 95% of Punch's pubs have usable outside space, it said.

Source: Guardian, Telegraph, 9 November 2006
Article link: (G) http://tinyurl.com/y5urpo (T) http://tinyurl.com/y8gl4u

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