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ASH Daily News for 14 December 2006

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ASH Daily News
 
14 December 2006
 
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HEADLINES
 
Study suggests damaged arteries heal after quitting smoking
 
Australia looks at banning smoking in cars
 
RJ Reynolds funding smoking ban challenge
 
Philip Morris USA raises cigarette prices
 
FULL TEXT
 
Study suggests damaged arteries heal after quitting smoking
 
Early signs of heart disease in young adult smokers may quickly dissipate soon after they kick the habit, a new study from Japan shows.
 
Smoking disrupts the normal function of the lining of arteries, known as the endothelium, which must contract and relax to regulate blood flow. This can promote the development of atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries" thereby increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to the authors of the report in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
 
The researchers used positron emission tomography or "PET" imaging to examine the effects of smoking cessation on the blood flow in the coronary arteries of 15 men in their twenties and thirties who reported smoking an average of 20 cigarettes per day for more than 5 years and agreed to stop smoking for at least 6 months.
 
The men had no evidence of heart disease and, aside from smoking, no other risk factors for heart or blood vessel disease.
 
According to Dr. Nagara Tamaki of Hokkaido University in Sapporo and colleagues, after just one month without cigarettes, abnormal coronary artery function visible on PET scans had normalized. The improvement was preserved six months after the study subjects had quit smoking, the team reports.
 
The finding that young healthy smokers have impaired artery function but that it is reversible within a month after smoking cessation, supports the value of quitting smoking to ward off heart disease in young adults, the investigators say. They are eager to see if similar benefits can be obtained in middle-aged smokers.
 
Source: Reuters, 14 December 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/yzknec
 
 
Australia looks at banning smoking in cars
 
A national ban on smoking in cars carrying children will be debated at a ministerial meeting on drugs on Friday as new figures reveal the plan has widespread public support.
 
Survey results released by the Cancer Council Victoria shows 90 per cent of Victorians think smoking should not be allowed in cars when children are present - a view shared by 85 per cent of smokers and 90 per cent of former smokers.
 
Quit executive director Todd Harper said the data was representative of the huge community support for any measure that protected young people from the dangers of second-hand smoke.
 
Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing Christopher Pyne will raise the proposal, which has attracted broad support from health groups, at a meeting of federal, state and New Zealand ministers in Sydney on Friday, his spokesman confirmed.
 
The South Australian government had already approved a ban on smoking in cars carrying children, and Tasmania was also considering the move, he said.
 
Source: The Age, 14 December 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/y6wdu6
 
 
RJ Reynolds funding smoking ban challenge
 
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is paying the legal bills of two US restaurant owners who are fighting a smoking ban to be imposed in Allegheny County next year, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
 
The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company has paid for two lawyers to argue against the ban on behalf of the owners of Mitchell's Bar & Restaurant and the Smithfield Cafe, spokeswoman Maura Payne said.
 
'We are a joint client with the restaurateurs,' she said. 'And we will be providing the funding. 'Reynolds paid for the attorneys from the Jones Day law firm to file briefs this week and oppose county officials at a hearing Monday before Common Pleas Judge Michael A. Della Vecchia.
 
They will argue for an injunction against the ban.
 
Tobacco firms have bankrolled dozens of campaigns around the country to block smoking bans or lawsuits filed after the ordinances pass, Bronson Frick of the California-based Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which first reported the funding.
 
Source: Selftrade.co.uk, 14 December 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/yjcraj
 
 
Philip Morris USA raises cigarette prices
 
Philip Morris USA said on Wednesday it was raising prices on all its cigarette brands by 10 cents per pack as of Dec. 18, a move that had been expected by analysts.
 
The price increase was accomplished by lowering promotional discounts the company offers on its Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Parliament and Basic brands, while raising list prices on other brands, a spokesman for the unit of Altria Group Inc. said.
 
Since changes in promotional discounts are typically passed on to consumers, the move could raise the average price a smoker pays for a pack of top-selling Marlboro cigarettes at a convenience store to $4.04 from $3.94, for example. Price increases can vary if retailers also add to the increase.
 
Six cents of the increase will be needed to cover increased payments by Philip Morris to U.S. states under the Master Settlement Agreement between cigarette companies and the states, Citigroup analyst Bonnie Herzog said in a research note.
 
"However, overall we believe this proves there is still some pricing power left for the industry," said Herzog, who rates Altria as a "buy." "We expect the other manufacturers will follow suit."
 
The move comes about a year after Philip Morris USA last increased prices, a 5-cent-per-pack hike in December 2005.
 
In India tobacco may become costlier from the next fiscal year. A governmental committee is likely to suggest that tobacco be taxed at a rate higher than the maximum 12.5% for normal goods.
 
Source: Reuters, The Financial Express (India),14 December 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/y8u872
 



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