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ASH Daily News for 15 November 2007

Imperial Tobacco says Altadis recommends its 50 euro per share offer

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC said Altadis SA has recommended Imperial Tobacco's cash offer of 50 euros per Altadis share to its shareholders.

Altadis has also convened an EGM on Dec 18 to enable shareholders to vote on the resolution to remove from Altadis' bye laws the limitation on the number of votes that shareholders can cast at a general meeting of shareholders.

Imperial's offer, announced on July 18, is subject to the tendering of 80 pct of the share capital of Altadis in acceptance of the offer and the passing of a resolution by Altadis' shareholders to remove the voting restriction.

The acceptance period for the offer, which commenced on November 12, is expected to close on January 11, 2008.

The merger would make Imperial the second largest tobacco company in Europe, as well as consolidating its place as the fourth biggest in the world.

Source: Hemscott, 15 November 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2qc52a

Smoking in pregnancy linked to male infertility

According to Scottish scientists, women who smoke while pregnant are threatening the fertility of boys.

Researchers at Aberdeen University revealed that they have uncovered evidence that chemicals in cigarette smoke might affect a key testis gene in unborn boys.

Experts claim the research has served to underline the message that women should give up smoking before starting a family. 

The new study, published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, provides new insights into how smoking affects the fertility of boys.

The study also involved the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen, Nottingham University and Glasgow University.

Source: The Scotsman, 15 November 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3x8wqk

USA: study finds that depression is linked to smoking

According to a new study, young adults experiencing depression are more likely to smoke cigarettes and abuse alcohol.

In the past year, 3 million young adults in the United States have suffered from one or more major depressive episodes, according to the study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The study found that depressed young adults were 60 percent more likely to have started smoking cigarettes than others in their age group who had not experienced depression.

Dr. Terry Cline, administrator for SAMHSA said, "Too often people turn to cigarettes or other substances to try to deal with depression, creating a double jeopardy for the health and well-being of the individual."

The survey of more than 135,000 young adults also indicated that those who experienced depression were 35 percent more likely to start abusing alcohol and twice as likely to abuse pain medication as their peers.

"These findings show that our prevention and health promotion programs must take into consideration the potential mental health service needs of the population," Cline said.

Source: Palm Beach Post, 14 November 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2zvm6a

Nicotine byproduct found in babies of smokers

Researchers report that babies of smokers have levels of the nicotine byproduct cotinine in their urine that are five times higher than babies of non-smokers.

Dr. M. P. Wailoo, from the University of Leicester said, Cotinine may harm the heart and blood vessels by boosting both blood pressure and pulse.

Cotinine is just one of a number of potentially harmful compounds found in tobacco smoke. Passive smoking exposes babies to cotinine at an early stage of life when they may not be fully equipped to excrete the toxic chemical.

Wailoo and colleagues measured the amount of cotinine in the urine of 71 infants with smoking parents and 33 infants with non-smoking parents when the infants were just 10 to 12 weeks old.

On average, cotinine levels were 5.58 times higher in infants who had at least one smoking parent compared with infants whose parents did not smoke, the researchers report in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

They also found that having a mother who smoked was the single largest contributing factor, increasing cotinine levels by a factor of four and fathers who smoked increased cotinine levels by a factor of two.

The study also found that babies who slept in the same bed with a parent who smoked tended to have higher cotinine levels and these levels were generally higher during colder weather when parents may be more likely to smoke indoors.

These findings, the investigators say, indicate that babies become heavy passive smokers when their parents smoke.

Source: Reuters News, 13 November 2007
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2a7dwp