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ASH Daily News
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9 December 2004
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HEADLINES
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Smoking can harm skin's ability to heal
BAT Charity donations, generous to a fault?
Smoking, a stupid habit
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FULL TEXT
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Secondhand Smoking can harm skin's ability to heal
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Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have found that =
breathing "secondhand" smoke reduces the speed at which wounds heal, =
leading to greater levels of scarring.
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In secondhand smoke, many components are more concentrated than in =
first-hand smoke. For example, the concentrations of nicotine, tar, =
nitric oxide and carbon monoxide levels are at least twice as high as =
those the smoker inhales.=20

Among the findings, they discovered that exposure to smoke altered the =
arrangement of the cells' cytoskeleton - increasing the cells' adhesive =
properties and thus reducing their mobility.

Source: Evening Standard, 8 December 2004
Article link: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=3D604=20
Report link: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2121/5/13/abstract=20


BAT Charity donations, generous to a fault?
For the year ending 31 December 2003, BAT reports annual turnover of =
=A324,151 million. Of this they donated =A312,700,000, earning them the =
place of eighth most generous FTSE company in a list compiled by =
'Accountancy' magazine. This appears at first glance to be a =
commendable example of a large corporation squaring up to its social =
responsibility, but is there more to this expenditure than meets the =
eye?

Where does the money go? Relatively few of the 100 FTSE companies in the =
article identify the recipient charities but one charity it is unlikely =
to be going to is Christian Aid, which was attacked by then BAT =
Chairman, Martin Broughton, after it published a highly critical report, =
'Behind the mask', on BAT's activities in East Africa and Brazil. The =
Guardian reported BAT as saying at the time that it was building the =
company around growth, productivity and responsibility.

An international response to a question posed on the 'essential action' =
website makes interesting reading, they asked people around the world to =
identify what BAT was doing in their countries with regard to charitable =
work. Dolthawan Unnanantana from the Institute of Tobacco Consumption =
Control, Thailand, suggests that charitable investment is a means of =
overcoming restrictions on tobacco advertising "One vivid example is the =
advertisement recently published in mid-June 2001," BAT supported the =
8th Art Competition to select five artworks to represent Thailand and in =
doing so was able to promote itself.

George Banja of Consumer watch in Kenya echoes these sentiments, =
suggesting that BAT has exploited cultural and community celebrations =
"by advertising tobacco under the guise of sponsorship".

The Sri Lankan subsidiary of BAT, Ceylon Tobacco Company, is reported by =
TC online as having organised the donation of alms to devotees =
celebrating Vansek at a Buddhist temple, "Traditional Vesak lanterns =
made from cartons of CTC's Gold Leaf cigarettes were also seen at the =
temple. Ironically, they had been made by residents of a rehabilitation =
centre for victims of alcohol, tobacco, and heroin. About 4500 Gold Leaf =
packets were used to make the lanterns, which were seen by some 20 000 =
people".
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The Corporate Social Responsibility policy of BAT is available online at =
http://tinyurl.com/4p872, they encourage correspondence, posing the =
question 'do you think a tobacco company can be socially responsible?'

Source: Accountancy, December 2004=20
Article link: =
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1155329,00.html
http://www.tobacco.org/news/154936.html=20
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/qofm/0108a.html=20


Smoking, a stupid habit

Smoking has long been known to cause cancer, heart disease, impotence =
and so on -- now, damage to your IQ can be added to the list.=20

Researchers in Scotland assessed the mental abilities of 465 people who =
had been enrolled in an IQ test at the age of 11 in 1947.=20

The volunteers were tested again between 2000 and 2002, when they were =
64 years old. Roughly half of them were smokers.=20

"Smokers performed significantly worse in five different cognitive tests =
than did both former smokers and those who had never smoked," the =
British weekly New Scientist reports in next Saturday's issue.
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"When social and health factors such as education, occupation and =
alcohol consumption were taken into account, smoking still appeared to =
contribute to a drop in cognitive function of just under one percent."=20

The study, published in full in a specialist journal, Addictive =
Behaviours, was led by Lawrence Whally of the University of Aberdeen.=20

Why smoking could affect cognitive ability is unclear. One possible =
reason is that, in later life, brain cells are more susceptible to =
damage by rogue atoms called free radicals, which could be unleashed by =
the chemicals in tobacco smoke.
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Source: Yahoo news, 8 December 2004=20
Article link: =
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&cid=3D1508&e=3D12&u=3D/afp/=
healthsmokingbrain
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