Friday, May 31, 2013

World No Tobacco Day: Activist raise pitch against meddling in tobacco-control policies

Strategies used by the tobacco industry to dilute, delay and prevent tobacco-control policies must be tackled aggressively, say anti-tobacco activists.
"Ever since 1998, when tobacco companies were forced to make documents public, we have had an idea of strategies used by tobacco companies to hoodwink governments and underplay the harms of tobacco use while informing the public," Ehsan Latif, director of the department of tobacco control for the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, said. This year's theme for World No-Tobacco Day is 'Stop Tobacco Industry Interference'.

"We know what we are up against, but governments do not always know how best to protect public health policies against tobacco industry interference," Latif, in a press statement on Wednesday, said.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Smoking in pregnancy linked to serious birth defects

If all the research about the links between smoking and health problems like lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke, as well as the associations between smoking and its impact on infertility, pre-term delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight and SIDS haven’t been enough to convince you to kick the habit, maybe this will.
A new review of dozens of past scientific studies has definitively linked smoking with certain serious birth defects including heart defects, missing or deformed limbs, gastrointestinal disorders and facial disorders.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Some countries have hidden cigarette brand names from consumers with plain packaging. Some countries demand retailers hide the cigarettes away. Some countries have put nasty images on the packaging so consumers can see what could happen to them someday if they continue to smoke, and some are just starting over. But one country is just planning to get rid of the darn things altogether.
It’ll take a few years, of course, for Scotland to get all tobacco products out of its country, but the plan is to have them gone by 2034, according to the UK's thecourier.co, so smokers might want to get their trips to Scotland over with sooner rather than later. The country has already banned smoking from public places and raised the age of purchase from 16 to 18; it now plans to ban smoking from the grounds of all hospitals and force retailers to sell smokes in plain packaging.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

BBC admits Casualty smoking storyline did not have to be dropped

Clare Hudson, head of productions for BBC Wales, originally said plot was dropped due to Wales's tough anti-smoking lawshe BBC has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn over claims that it had to axe a storyline in Casualty about the dangers of smoking because of Wales's stringent anti-smoking laws.
BBC Wales head of productions Clare Hudson made the comment in evidence to members of the Welsh national assembly earlier this week, highlighting the difficulties that tough smoking regulations posed for programme-makers which she said could cost the Welsh economy up to £20m a year.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

How do you stop smoking cigarettes without drugs?

Did you know that one half of all the smokers in the world want to quit right now but don't know how? What's worse is that 95 percent of smokers who quit smoking without some form of help will return to the cancer-causing habit within six months. These are dismal statistics, and there is more than one good reason for the massive failure of programs to help smokers quit and stay smoke-free for life. Let's delve into the pros and cons of all stop smoking choices, including acupuncture, hypnosis, "cold turkey," e-cigs or electronic cigarettes, Chantix and Zyban medications, scare tactics like commercials, problems with the patch and nicotine gum, lack of nutrition advice, and finally organic tobacco as a means of weaning off nicotine. Online Cigaronne cigarettes.

For a select few, medications may work, but for most, it's just another horror story.

The top six fruits for energy and quit smoking

 This may be controversial. Since high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been pointed out as a leading cause of fatty liver, obesity, and other bad health issues, many assume the same is true for consuming fruits.

Yes, fruits contain fructose. But that fructose is in much smaller quantities than HFCS. Dr. Mark Hyman refers to the massive amounts of HFCS in processed foods and beverages as pharmacological, or intensely condensed and isolated or extracted from it's food source. (Source below)

All the doctors sourced below agree that fructose in excess gets converted mostly to triglyceride fats instead of glucose for energy. Even table sugar (sucrose) gets converted to glucose more efficiently and without clogging up the liver.

The sudden surge in obesity and type-2 diabetes began with the introduction of HFCS into processed foods and beverages.

Smoking addiction similar to gambling; both are fixed to rob you of everything

The best metaphor for the smoking addiction and how it has gotten so many millions of people hooked is gambling. Gambling is a major addiction in the United States for many people.