Passive smoking linked to infertility and earlier menopause

With the end of another year almost up, many of us will be thinking about our New Year’s Resolutions for 2016. Perhaps they could include losing weight, cutting down on alcohol, giving up chocolate…but the most common resolution is usually quitting smoking.

This is not such a bad thing though; smoking is linked to numerous forms of cancer, in addition to heart disease, stroke and many more serious health problems, and a new study has demonstrated that even passive (second-hand) smoking could be the cause of infertility and an earlier menopause in women.

Published online in the Dec. 15 edition of the journal Tobacco Control, the new study reports that women with exposure to high levels of tobacco – either smoking themselves or passively – could have a menopause that occurs one or two years earlier compared to those who have never smoked or exposed to passive smoking.

For the study, researchers assessed data on 79,690 women in the age range of 50 to 79 that had completed the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI OS) – a large study began in 1991 to monitor the health of over 160,000 healthy, postmenopausal women. 88,000 women were analysed for fertility effects, with another 80,000 analysed for the onset of natural, or nonsurgical, menopause.

All of the women had experienced a ‘natural’ menopause – meaning the woman had not had a period for 12 consecutive months and they had not had surgery to remove their ovaries.

Previous research has identified a connection between smoking and higher rates of infertility and earlier menopause. However, “second-hand smoke is less researched,” especially among never-smoking women, commented the study author Andrew Hyland, chair of health behaviour at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, in Buffalo, N.Y.

Researchers discovered that smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke were found to be associated with fertility problems and an earlier onset of menopause (i.e. prior to the typical age of 50).

Current or ex-smokers were found to be around 14% more likely to be infertile and 26% more likely to experience an earlier menopause in comparison to those that had never smoked. Hyland stressed that early menopause has been linked with a higher risk of death from all causes.

The study also found that for the never-smokers exposed to the highest levels of second-hand smoke – such as living with a smoker for a decade or more – were an estimated 18% more likely to have fertility problems and early menopause.

Women who had previously smoked, reached the menopause on average about 22 months before the women that had neither smoked or been exposed to smoke. Moreover, it was found those exposed to the highest level of passive smoke reached menopause 13 months earlier than those not exposed.
This latest study is just one of many important reminders that we should avoid all smoke, said Patricia Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y.

“This study provides additional motivation and incentive for women of all ages to avoid smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke, as well as to quit smoking,” she said. Both are associated with premature birth, low birth weight, infant death and certain birth defects, she added.

“This evidence, in addition to the data from the current study, offers health care providers, particularly ob-gyn practitioners, the information needed to counsel women about the hazards of smoking and second-hand smoke, and to encourage cessation,” Folan said.

Secondhand smoke linked to 30% increased stroke risk

Think just because you do not smoke that you are safe from the thousands of toxic chemicals contained in cigarettes?…Think again. Non-smokers who are regularly in the company of people lighting-up, may still be ingesting all those dangerous fumes and having their health put at jeopardy – through what is known as secondhand (passive) smoking.

It seems a new study emerges every single day that further demonstrates how bad smoking is for the body, and the latest research shows that non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke can be at a significantly increased risk of suffering a stroke.

The study – published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine - led by Angela M. Malek, PhD, from the Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, found that secondhand smoke can raise the risk of developing a stroke by an estimated 30%.

Researchers analysed the national, population-based study ‘Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke’ (REGARDS), a study that assesses cardiovascular disease occurrences and death rates of people aged 45 or over.

Within the REGARDS database, 45% of the people were African-American and 55% were Caucasian. For the purpose of their study, the researchers focused on 22,000 individuals, of which 38% were African-American and 45% were males. Around 23% in total of these people were exposed to secondhand smoke.

Researchers delved into the information deeper to determine if certain types of stroke could be linked to smoking, applying adjustments as well as taking into account factors such as diabetes, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.

The findings demonstrate that from April 2003 to March 2012, study participants had reported 428 stroke. Of this total, 352 were ischemic, 50 were hemorrhagic and 26 were due to other subtypes of stroke. Even taking into account the variable factors, there was still a 30% risk of stroke for nonsmokers.

“Our findings suggest the possibility for adverse health outcomes such as stroke among nonsmokers exposed to SHS and add to the body of evidence supporting stricter smoking regulations,” commented Malek.

She added: “In the future, it is necessary for studies to analyse the role of heart diseases in the relationship established in this current research. Possible exposure to other environmental factors such as air pollutants in relation to stroke should also be explored.”

Plans to ban smoking in prisons – riots predicted

Smoking looks set to be banned in all prisons across England and Wales following the ministry of justice confirming a pilot scheme will be rolled out next year that will forbid smoking in every part of a prison, including cells and exercise yards.

Instead, inmates will be offered nicotine patches in an attempt to help them beat any cravings. The pilot scheme will commence in the spring of 2014, starting in Exeter and Eastwood Park Women’s Prison, before gradually introduced in more prisons over the course of a 12-month period.

The plans have been formulated out of fear that those inmates and prison officers who do not smoke may decide to launch compensation claims against the Prison Service because of the secondhand/passive smoking they are being subjected to. The dangers of secondhand smoking  is a topic that Medical Specialists Pharmacy have previously highlighted.

However, the issue of forbidding prison inmates from smoking could be viewed as a human rights issue and cause a string of legal challenges. Some even fear there is a very real prospect of inmates rioting in prisons all across England in Wales. If some criminals have a violent nature to begin with, denying them a highly addictive substance such as nicotine could cause total pandemonium.

Not only are cigarettes addictive – and about 80% of the 84,300 prison inmates smoke – but it is also seen as a valuable prison currency that is regularly traded on the prison wings. Not being able to light up as they see fit, will probably not go down too well.

Prisoners are currently given the freedom to smoke outside in the exercise yards and within their cells due to the fact it is deemed to be their “permanent or temporary home”. Bad behaviour can already result in a temporary smoking ban but the universal ban will anger the more exemplary, well-behaved inmates who look forward to cigarette breaks as an escape from the tedium of prison life.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, agrees with the proposed smoking ban but told The Times it would be difficult to implement.

He said: “There is no pretending otherwise. It could cause disturbances but they have done it successfully in Canada and in young offender institutions in England and Wales. We welcome this move. It is our policy to have smoke-free prisons for our members. We will work with the ministry to make sure it works effectively.”

In addition, there are those who say that prisoners already have a cushy life. It seems it is a weekly occurrence for stories to emerge of inmates posting pictures to their Facebook accounts showing just how cushy their life actually it.

Dee Edwards, of the R and K Foundation, a crime victims’ group, said: “Prisoners are already better fed and cared for than pensioners so why should they be treated any different to the rest of society? It’s getting to point where you can’t even smoke outside a building now so I don’t see why prisoners shouldn’t be banned. If you have a low level criminal who smoke 20 a day may be it will even act as a deterrent if they think they could do to jail and not be able to smoke.”

However, Mark Johnson, chief executive of the prisoner charity User Voice, says that smoking is a “human right” and believes that prisoners who smoke may decide to take legal action if it is banned.

Child asthma problems alleviated since the smoking ban

A study has found that the total number of children requiring hospital treatment because of their asthma has declined since the introduction of the July 2007 smoking ban – prohibiting lighting up in all enclosed public spaces such as restaurants, nightclubs, bars, shopping centres, etc.

The Imperial College London’s analysis on NHS figures has been published in the journal Pediatrics. They looked at admission rates dating all the way back to April 2002 and  they explain there has been an incredible 8.9% reduction in hospital admissions following the first 12 months after the ban came into play.

Intriguingly, researchers identified that preceding the 2007 ban there was a 2.2% rise each year in the number of children admitted to hospital due to severe asthma symptoms that include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest. Taking into account the predicted 2.2% rise annually, researchers say that in those first 12 months, the ban had therefore helped to decrease admissions by 12% with this decline continuing in subsequent years and a 3.4% fall per year for the next two years. This clearly demonstrates the positive impact the legislation is having on health in addition to emphasising how damaging cigarette smoke actually is.

Lead researcher Dr Christopher Millett says that the drop works out at an estimated 6,802 fewer hospital admissions in the first three years of the smoking legislation coming into effect.

Dr Millett spoke on the huge health benefits since the introduction of the ban, commenting: “There is already evidence that eliminating smoking from public places has resulted in substantial population health benefits in England, and this study shows that those benefits extend to reducing hospital admissions for childhood asthma. Previous studies have also suggested that the smoke-free law changed people’s attitudes about exposing others to second-hand smoke and led more people to abstain from smoking voluntarily at home and in cars. We think that exposing children to less second-hand smoke in these settings probably played an important role in reducing asthma attacks. The findings are good news for England, and they should encourage countries where public smoking is permitted to consider introducing similar legislation.”

Medical Specialists Pharmacy finds Dr Millett’s comments particularly interesting as he touches on many topics that we have previously addressed such as the underestimated subject of second-hand (passive) smoking. Not just displeasing because of the foul odour, second-hand smoking can be a killer and those who do smoke need to be clued-up about this serious matter and consider the harm they are inflicting on those around them – in addition to themselves. Parents who are smoking inside their cars  is another factor not considered often enough and the impact this has to their children’s health – especially if a child is asthmatic as this is one factor that can cause their symptoms to flare-up.

Emily Humphreys, head of policy and public affairs at Asthma UK, was happy with the findings of the study and she said: “It’s great to see growing evidence of the positive impact of smoke-free legislation. This is something we campaigned for, so it is particularly encouraging that there has been a fall in children’s hospital admissions for asthma since its introduction.”

Asthma is a long-term respiratory condition where the air passages within the lungs become unexpectedly inflamed, narrowed and swollen. This leads to a prevention of airflow into and out of the lungs. Asthma attacks happen usually following a response to an allergen, cold air, exercise, or emotional stress.

There are a predicted 5.4 million people in the UK currently receive treatment for asthma – 1 in every 11 children and 1 in every 12 adults. This equates to 8.8% of the total population (62 million estimated in 2010). In addition, it affects a staggering 300 million people worldwide.

Although there is no cure, asthma can be controlled through the use of preventer and reliever inhalers and Medical Specialists provide many varieties of each and more information about these and how to obtain them can be found on the Asthma and Allergies area of the website.

Many parents smoke inside the car and damage their child’s health

A new study that has been released online and due to appear in the December 2012 issue of ‘Pediatrics’ has revealed that parents will often carelessly expose their children to tobacco smoke in their cars. This is even happening when the parents are still adopting a ‘smoke-free’ policy inside the home.

In the study, researchers from MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) quizzed 795 parents who were smokers, regarding their car-smoking policy and behaviour. Specifically, investigators were trying to determine whether or not the parents actually left their children exposed to tobacco smoke inside the car.

The parents were interviewed upon leaving their child’s doctors’ office in one of 10 paediatric practices, spanning eight U.S. states. The results showed that 73% of parents acknowledged that there had been someone smoking inside their car within the previous three months.
There were 562 parents who had not bothered to adopt a ‘smoke-free’ policy for themselves or others inside the car, and almost half (48%) of this total admitted that they had smoked in the car when their child was present.

Many of the parents said they adhered to a strict no-smoking policy inside the home; however only 24% said that they also had a ‘strictly enforced’ smoke-free in their car.

In addition, some statistics attained from the interviews shows that there is definitely a lot more work to be done in regards to how paediatricians can play their part in encouraging parents to completely protect their children from cigarette smoke.

It was found that only approximately one-fifth of the parents claimed that the paediatric health care provider had bothered to ask them about their smoking status. Moreover, only 12% of parents reported that they have received advice to refrain from lighting-up inside their cars.
Emara Nabi-Burza, MBBS, MS, the study’s lead author, says those parents who smoke need to take more responsibility for protecting their children and recognise the huge negative impact that tobacco smoke can have on their child’s health.

Emara commented: “Workplaces, restaurants, homes and even bars are mostly smoke-free, but cars have been forgotten. Smoking in cars is not safe for motorists and non-smokers – especially children, who have no way to avoid tobacco smoke exposure in their parent’s car. Now that we know the magnitude of the problem, paediatricians and the public can act to help these children.”

Involuntary/secondhand smoking (SHS) such as the aforementioned example, is an incredibly understated subject that Medical Specialists believe the government and health authorities need to put more work into, in an attempt to reduce it. Babies and new-borns are a particularly major high-risk group when it comes to SHS. A mother who smokes during her pregnancy will leave the unborn baby with a decreased oxygen supply and the baby will have raised levels of carbon monoxide in their bloodstream.

Other problems that could therefore arise include the baby having a low birth weight, miscarriage, premature birth or sudden infant death syndrome; whereby babies of mothers who smoke are twice as likely to die from this compared to babies carried by a non-smoker. Children that are exposed to SHS, such as when their parents smoke in their cars, could be left with long-term suffering from persistent colds, ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, and severe asthma. SHS can severely impact lung growth in children and can then cause them to cough, wheeze, and suffer with breathlessness.

If you are a parent and this article has concerned you, it is not too late to make some positive changes to your life to improve the health of both you and your children. For example, never allow smoke into your house. If you, a friend or family member wants to smoke, go outside to do it. Explain this policy to your guests when they enter your home and do not put out any ashtrays around the house. Also do not allow smoke into your car. If you or a passenger wishes to smoke, stop at a place where you or they can smoke outside of the vehicle.

For anyone who does smoke though and wishes to stop for good, whether a parent or not, allow Medical Specialists to help you with hugely effective smoking cessation treatment. Champix is a prescription medication that works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack, an incredibly small price when it comes to your long-term health and the health of those around you. Champix mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment.

Smoking cause over 30% of severe rheumatoid arthritis cases

Smoking cigarettes and cigars is thought to behind more than 30% of all cases of severe rheumatoid arthritis, research suggests. It is also to blame for more than 50% of cases in people who are genetically predisposed to developing the debilitating condition, a Swedish study found.

Around 350,000 people in the UK are affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is an autoimmune disease which occurs when the body's immune system attacks the lining of the joints, causing them to become red, swollen, inflamed and painful. It is three times more common in women than men.

In the study, more than 1,200 Swedish men and women with RA, and 871 without the condition were questioned about their smoking habits. They were then grouped according to how long they had smoked. Blood samples were also taken to measure levels of anticitrullinated protein/peptide antibody (ACPA), a marker for disease severity, and to assess the participants’ genetic profile for susceptibility to RA.

The findings showed that the heaviest smokers were more than 2.5 times as likely to test positive for ACPA. A heavy smoker was defined as someone who had smoked 20 cigarettes a day for at least 20 years. Among those who had a genetic predisposition to the disease, and who tested positive for ACPA, smoking accounted for more than half the cases (55 per cent). Those who smoked the most had the highest risk. They  also found that the risk of RA fell for people who had quit smoking, the longer they had given up smoking. However, among the heaviest smokers, the risk was still relatively high, even after 20 years of not having smoked.

Based on these figures, the researchers calculated that smoking accounted for 35 per cent of ACPA positive cases, and one in five cases of rheumatoid arthritis, overall.

Although the risk of RA from smoking is not as high as for lung cancer, where smoking accounts for 90 per cent of cases, it is similar to that for coronary artery heart disease, said the researchers. The researchers, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said other environmental factors may add to an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis, including air pollutants and hormonal factors. But they suggest that their findings are sufficient to prompt those with a family history of rheumatoid arthritis to be advised to give up smoking.

The above findings are published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

If you or your partner are worried about smoking and the effects it could be having on you or your family there are options available. Firstly a visit to your local GP is in order for advice and guidance on how to stop smoking.

 

There also may be a local NHS Stop Smoking Services, which could give you the extra support you need to quit.

There are also treatments widely available on the market today such as Champix the smoking cessation treatment. If you would like further information on where to buy Champix online please visit www.medical-specialists.co.uk

Smokers' rush to quit overwhelms clinics in Tokyo

The recent hike in the price of cigarettes in Tokyo has so many smokers seeking medical treatment to help them quit, clinics and drug companies are struggling to keep up with demand.

In mid-October, a man in his 60s who had smoked 20 cigarettes a day for 30 years visited Tokyo Medical University Hospital in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. He had tried to stop smoking a few times in the past, but could only go without tobacco "for two days at the most," he said.

This time, swayed by the October price hike and his wife's urging, the man knocked on the door of a clinic to seek medical help in kicking the habit.

On his first visit, the man received a lengthy lecture from Dr. Yoji Hirayama about the damage smoking causes to one's health. He was asked to confirm his resolve to quit and told to discard all his remaining cigarettes.

To ease irritability and other side effects of quitting, the man was prescribed Champix--a nicotine-free drug designed to help smokers quit. At the hospital a few weeks later, Hirayama asked the man if he still felt like smoking.

"Only for a moment after dinner," he replied. "I don't think I'll smoke anymore."
 

According to Hirayama, more smokers began visiting his clinic for treatment around August, and the same was apparently true at other medical institutions. So dramatic was the uptick in the number of people wanting to quit before the price hike, it led to a nationwide shortage of the Champix drug.

Champix manufacturer Pfizer Inc. said that up through August, it had supplied enough to treat 70,000 patients a month in Japan. The quantity rose to enough for 170,000 patients in September, and from Oct. 1 to Oct. 6 alone the company provided enough of the drug for 80,000 patients.

Some clinics in Toyko have declined to accept new patients for nicotine addiction treatment, but Yuko Takahashi, a doctor in charge of such treatment at Kyoto University Hospital, encourages smokers not to abandon their efforts to quit and even buy Champix online if they can't get medical assistance.

Fighting baldness

Unfortunately, this makes hair follicles shrink until hairs no longer appear from them and affects the hair we do have. And due to the hereditary aspect, if it runs in your family, it's probably an inevitable part of your future.It's a cruel twist of fate that the very hormone that makes us men - testosterone - also causes our hair to vanish. Yes, the balding process begins when the scalp begins to convert testosterone into a new substance called dihydrotestosterone.

And whilst it's true that there aren't many treatments out there that really work, there are some - like Propecia - which do give your bonce a fighting chance, So far it's the only medically proven treatment available from UK pharmacists.

A couple of other steps you can take are stocking up on soya (some research shows that a molecule produced in the intestine when soya is digested could halt the balding process) and Quitting smoking.

According to a Harvard School of Public Health study, smoking not only increases levels of the hormones that trigger hair loss, it also constricts the tiny blood vessels that supply the scalp, quite literally starving your hair of nutrients.

Exposure to passive smoking falls

Children's exposure to passive smoking has declined by nearly 60% in 10 years, a study revealed.

Levels of the tell-tale tobacco by-product cotinine in children's saliva fell by 59% between 1996 and 2006, researchers found.

The study, lead by Dr Anna Gilmore of the University of Bath, revealed a "marked decline" in exposure to second-hand smoke among children aged four to 15.

The team analysed eight surveys conducted between 1996 and 2006 including saliva samples taken from over 19,000 children aged between four and 15.

The samples were analyzed for a substance called cotinine, an indicator of tobacco smoke exposure.

The largest decline was between 2005 and 2006, and coincided with increased public debate and information campaigns in the run up to the 2007 anti-smoking legislation.

Second-hand smoke exposure in non-smoking children was highest when one or both parents smoke, when the children are looked after by carers that smoke, and when smoking is allowed in the home.

Dr Michelle Sims, writing in the paper published today in Addiction, explained: "The importance of carer and parental smoking and household exposure tells us that reducing exposure in the home is the key to reducing the health risks associated with second-hand smoke exposure in children."

Dr Anna Gilmore, who led the project, said: "This study shows that the factors which most strongly influence children's exposure are modifiable.

"Parents and carers can reduce their children's exposure to smoke by giving up smoking, or failing this, only smoking outside the house."