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ASH Daily news for 13 July 2010

HEADLINES

  • Surgery is good 'teachable moment' to help smokers quit

    It is well known that smokers are at an increased risk for post-surgical complications such as infections and poorly healing wounds. Likewise, smoking can contribute to lowered survival and delayed healing.

    A new review from Denmark finds that programs to help people quit smoking before surgery can reduce the risk of complications afterward.

    The fact alone that a person has surgery scheduled increases their chance for quitting smoking successfully. For smokers who want to quit and who receive preoperative stop-smoking support, this can be an optimum time.

    David O. Warner, M.D., a professor of anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, leads the efforts by the American Society of Anesthesiologists to promote smoking interventions by anesthesiologists in the period right before and after surgery.

    "Having a major surgical procedure itself almost doubles the chances that smokers will quit even in the absence of interventions," Warner said. "In our research we have found that approximately one in eight successful quit attempts in older American is associated with having a surgical procedure, proving that for smokers, having surgery can save your life in more ways than one."

    The review, led by Thordis Thomsen, Ph.D., looked at the effects of smoking cessation support, including nicotine replacement therapy and weekly counseling four to eight weeks before surgery. Thomsen is with the anesthesiology department at Herlev University Hospital.

    The researchers concluded that interventions helped people stop smoking in both the short and long term. The review examined the success of smoking intervention before surgery and in the next 12 months.

    The review comprised eight studies involving 1,156 people in Denmark, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Sweden between 2002 and 2009. In seven studies, intervention resulted in a significant decrease in smoking before surgery.

    The review appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews like this one draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

    This is an updated version of a previous Cochrane review. The update includes one new study that examines the effect of intensive intervention on smoking cessation and postoperative complications. Two new studies examine the effect of brief intervention on the same outcomes.

    "Brief preoperative smoking intervention can support smoking cessation, but if a patient receives intense smoking cessation support, the benefits may continue after the operation," Thomsen said. "Intense intervention may also reduce post-surgical problems such as wound, heart, and lung complications."

    Thomsen added, "Conclusions of the review update do not differ substantially from the previous review. However, there is more evidence indicating that intense versus brief intervention may achieve perioperative abstinence for a longer period of time and reduce complications."

    Although the reviewers recommend more studies, the evidence is clear that quitting smoking can reduce surgical complications such as infections.

    "Most published studies intervene between four and eight weeks prior to surgery, but there are good physiological reasons to think that shorter periods of preoperative abstinence may be beneficial as well," Warner said. "Postoperative abstinence is also important especially to prevent complications such as wound infections."


    Interventions for preoperative smoking cessation.
    Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 7.
    Thomsen T, Villebro N, Møller AM.

    http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab002294.html

    Source: Medical News Today, 12 July 2010
    Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/193957.php

  • Salford house fire 'started by three-year-old'

    A firefighter has described how a family escaped from their home in Salford after it was set alight by a three-year-old playing with a lighter.

    Fire crews were called to the semi-detached property on Almond Close, Salford, at about 0920 BST and found a first floor bedroom well alight.

    The family were alerted by smoke alarms previously installed by officials from Greater Manchester Fire Service.

    The fire service had received numerous calls about the fire, which was quickly brought under control.

    The occupants - two adults and five children - escaped from the house before crews arrived after the smoke alarms sounded.

    "It was these that raised the alarm and enabled the entire family to safely leave the burning building," a fire service spokeswoman said.

    "The cause of the fire is under investigation. However it is believed to have been started deliberately by the three-year-old child living in the property."
     

  • Leader of tax fraud gang jailed for 12 years

    The ringleader of a multi-million pound vodka and tobacco tax fraud was jailed for 12 years today.


    Harvey Conroy, whose gang had strong links with eastern Europe, ran a determined and professional outfit which produced fake vodka and tobacco without paying excise duty or VAT, defrauding the state of millions of pounds.


    Richard Christie QC, for the prosecution, said Conroy ran a "determined and professional" gang in a bid to make massive profits.


    They employed mainly Polish "foot soldiers" to produce more than a million litres of vodka at a fully-mechanised distillery and bottling factory in Dalston Lane, Hackney, east London, which had the capacity to push out 24 bottles every minute.


    For two years from July 2005, Conroy, 60, and his gang produced fake bottles of Smirnoff, Glen's, and Kirov vodka, Southwark Crown Court in central London heard.


    When customs officials raided the plant in June 2007, officials found £750,000 worth of vodka waiting to be sold.


    "Everything you would possibly need to package and send out the vodka to be sold was there," Mr Christie said.


    Earlier, investigators watched a lorry loaded with empty bottles being driven from North Weald Aerodrome, in Essex, to Homerton Road, near the gang's specialised distillery.


    Inside the lorry were 23 stacked palettes containing 13,000 litre bottles of fake Glen's vodka ready for sale, the court heard.


    Judge Martin Beddoe put the estimated cost of the fraud at £10 million.


    Conroy and his gang also ran a tobacco fraud alongside the vodka conspiracy, but it was still in its early days when it was shut down by investigators.


    "It's striking that the alcohol factory had exactly the same format set up for it as the tobacco factory, with the same key personnel, and was carried out in the same manner," Mr Christie said.


    The tobacco factory, at Queensway Industrial Estate, Ponders End, Enfield, north London, caused further tax losses of £687,000, the court heard.


    When it was raided in November 2007, officials uncovered several tonnes of rolling tobacco in the process of being prepared for sale in fake packaging branded Golden Virginia.


    "The factories were designed to defraud the state of both excise duty and VAT over two years from July 2005," Mr Christie said.


    "The aim of the factories was to create massive profits for the defendants."


    Conroy, of Totteridge Common, Whetstone, north London, acted as the managing director of the conspiracies with the five other men in the dock all playing key roles, Mr Christie said.


    Several Polish workers arrested during the raids fled while on bail and remain on the run, the court heard.


    The vodka scam ran from at least January 2005 and, following its success, the tobacco factory was set up in January 2007.


    Charles Conway, in mitigation for Conroy, said: "He's now a spent force."


    He said the Polish financiers behind the scams had never been caught and, referring to Conroy, added: "Although he may be at the top of the tree in relation to this case, he's not in relation to this conspiracy.


    "The top of the tree are the Poles because they would be the ones benefiting most. They must be."


    Conroy and four other men were convicted of their roles in evading duty and VAT on the vodka and duty on the tobacco while a sixth man was convicted of being involved in the vodka fraud only.


    Conroy was convicted of three counts of conspiracy to cheat HMRC along with:

    * Michael Oliver, 62, of Cae Brynton Road, Newport, Gwent, who was jailed for 10 years.

    * Alan Saunderson, 59, of Linden Close, west Kensington, London, who was jailed for eight years.

    * Steven Davis, 46, of South Quay Square, Poplar, east London, who was jailed for 10 years; and

    * Geoffrey Hall, 51, of Town End Crescent, Stoke Goddington, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, who was jailed for 11 years.


    A sixth man - Christopher Hill, 60, of Glenroy Court, Magor, Monmouthshire - was convicted of two count of conspiracy to cheat HMRC by evading duty and VAT on alcoholic products.


    He was jailed for six-and-a-half years.
     

    Source: The Independent, 12 July 2010
    Link: http://tinyurl.com/22n824p

  • Ireland: Report reveals youth smoking levels

    A quarter of teenagers think they can buy cigarettes in shops despite being under age, a watchdog has revealed.

    The Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) said the number of 15 to 18 year olds who believe they can buy a pack of 20 has fallen from a third since an in-store advertising ban came into effect a year ago.

    Norma Cronin, OTC chairperson, praised the ban saying it would help to reduce the number of young people taking up smoking in the long term.

    "Once again, Ireland has displayed leadership in tobacco control as we continue to restrict opportunities to promote tobacco to the next generation," she said.

    However, Ms Cronin added: "The fact remains that one third of retailers are still prepared to sell tobacco to minors and this is not acceptable.

    "I urge all retailers of tobacco to ensure that tobacco is not sold to minors and thus prevent the start of a serious addiction to nicotine."

    Since July last year, shopkeepers have been barred from using promotional, marketing or advertising material to display cigarettes for sale in-store.

    A survey of teenagers commissioned by the office during 2009 showed support for the ban grew from 56% before it was introduced to 68% afterwards.

    It also showed 33% of those surveyed thought they or their friends could successfully buy cigarettes before the ban while afterwards only 25% thought they could get away with it.

    The OTC said the percentage of retailers refusing to sell cigarettes to under 18s had increased to 68%, compared to a 60% in 2008 and 52% in 2007.


     

    Source: Belfast Telegraph, 12 July 2010
    Link: http://tinyurl.com/28kjaep

  • Ireland: Hefty fines handed out for breaches of smoking ban

    Thousands of euro in fines have been handed out to businesses and private individuals found guilty of breaching the smoking ban, with one pub being hit with a huge €2,500 penalty in the past 12 months.

    New figures revealed by the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) show that last year a total of 25 people were brought to court due to anti-smoking legislation offences.

    Of these people, 19 were convicted under the smoking in the workplace act, resulting in fines of between €500 and €2,500.

    According to the OTC’s annual report, 18 cases brought to court related to pubs, one to a hotel, five to taxi firms, and one to an amusement arcade.

    A total of 11 cases were taken against businesses that allowed smoking in areas which were not authorised by the legislation, five against businesses that permitted smoking in another illegal area, and three to private individuals who refused to comply with the legislation while in a public place.

    The HSE Dublin North East area — which comprises of the north side of the capital, Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan — had the highest number of cases and convictions, with the 10 individuals brought to court found guilty of breaching the health and safety in the workplace law.

    This was followed by the HSE West (10 cases, six convictions), the HSE South (four cases, three convictions) and HSE Dublin Mid Leinster (one case, no convictions).

    Despite the large level of fines imposed, the official OTC figures indicate an increasing support for the smoking ban as more convictions took place in 2007 (47), 2006 (37) and 2005 (45) than last year.

    Among the other issues raised by the group’s annual report was that 98% of stores are now compliant with new laws imposed on tobacco advertising in 2009.

    The group’s National Tobacco Retail Audit – 2009 Monitoring report also indicates that the number of retailers refusing to sell cigarettes to customers who are under the age of 18 has also risen, to 68%, compared to just 52% in 2007.

    OTC chairperson Norma Cronin said the figures are a further sign of the benefits of tough smoking legislation in this country.

    "Tobacco is the leading cause of premature death in Ireland as there are 6,000 deaths each year from tobacco-related diseases.

    "We need to build on our ground-breaking legislation and other actions to deliver reduced smoking rates and a decrease in tobacco related deaths," she said.


     

    Source: Irish Examiner, 13 July 2010
    Link: http://tinyurl.com/2fynqbk