Smoking during pregnancy putting 50,000 babies at risk

Mothers-to-be who continue to smoke during pregnancy are severely increasing the chance of their baby being born with facial deformities, new research has revealed.

A report from the Office of the General Surgeon in the US suggests smoking during pregnancy gives women a one in two chance of having a baby with a failure of the upper lip or the palate that did not properly develop during the foetus’ development. 

Latest statistics from Health & Social Care Information Centre reveal more than one in ten (12.7 per cent) pregnant women are smokers at delivery. Given there were 694,241 births in England in the last year, more than 54,500 babies could be at risk from a facial deformity. Pall Mall Nanokings Blue Slims

Smoking during pregnancy has previously been linked to a number of health conditions, including heart defects, weight and size issues as well as lung conditions while tobacco use is also the leading cause of mouth cancer. Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, believes the research only adds to the calls for people to quit smoking.

Dr Carter said: “There is a wealth of evidence to suggest smoking during pregnancy achieves nothing but putting your baby in harm’s way. When you consider there are thousands of hazardous chemicals in a single cigarette, regularly smoking poses all sorts of risks.

“Any amount of cigarette smoking during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of having a child with health problems. Cigarettes aren’t an easy thing to give up. Research has shown this. However, if cigarettes expose unborn babies to harmful chemicals caused by smoking, it is something pregnant women must ditch immediately.
“Smoking cessation services needed to be targeted at women from poorer backgrounds who are more likely to smoke. Young boys as well as girls also need to be told about the risks of smoking, particularly during pregnancy, considering the UK still has a very high teenage pregnancy rate.

“If we are educating people on the risks posed by smoking, this could help to reduce the growing number of mouth cancer cases too. Tobacco use is the leading cause of the disease, and education remains the key. Latest figures show that it claims more lives than road traffic accidents do, so pregnant women are not only placing their baby’s health at risk – they are endangering their own.”

Interesting ad reminds you not to smoke

Yes, it is showing a very special smoking room where on ceiling, smokers will see themselves inside cemetery.

On the ceiling, one can see pastor and people with flowers like they are attending a funeral.

Mumbai based ad agency Everest Brand Solutions has designed this a couple of years back. Camel Filters

Here’s What it Looks Like When a Tobacco Company Says 'I’m Sorry'

After 15 years of fighting the federal government over lies to the public about the health risks of smoking, the nation's biggest tobacco companies are ready to apologize.

Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, and Altria are preparing full-page ads to run in the Sunday editions of the country's top 35 newspapers, as well as online ads for those papers' websites and prime-time television spots to run for a full year on CBS, ABC, and NBC. The corporations are also required to run corrective statements on their websites and cigarette packages.

The self-flagellation stems from a 2006 federal court decision ordering the tobacco companies to correct the record on statements they made about the health effects of smoking. On Friday, the companies' lawyers and the Justice Department struck a deal on how they will issue the apology.

A mock-up of an advertisement that could publish as a full-page ad in The New York Times reads, "A Federal Court has ruled that Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard, and Altria deliberately deceived the American public about designing cigarettes to enhance the delivery of nicotine and has ordered those companies to make this statement." Parliament Aqua Blue

 

It goes on to say that the industry "intentionally designed cigarettes to make them more addictive," and that nicotine "changes the brain," making it harder to quit.

The tobacco companies could appeal the language of the ads. But first, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler is scheduled to review the agreement about how to issue the corrective statements on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 10 a.m. in Courtroom 26A of the U.S. District Court of D.C.

The Justice Department first brought the case against the tobacco industry in 1999, arguing that they knowingly and intentionally misinformed the public about the negative health consequences of smoking.

Kessler ordered the industry in 2006 to issue the statements after she found them guilty of violating civil racketeering laws and lying to the public about the dangers of smoking.

The judge required the statements to appear on television and in newspapers, as well as on the companies' websites and cigarette packages, and to contain language that the court had ruled that the companies "deliberately deceived the American public."

In finding the industry guilty, Kessler wrote, "[This case] is about an industry, and in particular these Defendants, that survives, and profits, from selling a highly addictive product which causes diseases that lead to a staggering number of deaths per year, an immeasurable amount of human suffering and economic loss, and a profound burden on our national health care system. Defendants have known many of these facts for at least 50 years or more. Despite that knowledge, they have consistently, repeatedly and with enormous skill and sophistication, denied these facts to the public, the Government, and to the public health community."

Philip Morris declined to offer a comment for the story.

The statements would correct misinformation about "the health effects of smoking, the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine, the false advertising of low-tar and light cigarettes as less harmful than regular cigarettes, the designing of cigarettes to enhance the delivery of nicotine and the health effects of secondhand smoke," according to a press release from the American Cancer Society Action Network, one of the public intervenors that joined the case in 2005. The other national medical and advocacy organizations that joined the case are the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network and the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund.

ACSCAN's associate director of federal relations, Gregg Haifley, called the case "a long legal battle" that has been "dragged out" by the industry.

"Millions of people who otherwise might have quit continued smoking because of blatant misrepresentations of the harm to their health," Haifley said. "The tobacco industry is an industry that never gives up. But we're one step closer to a final conclusion."

The agreement falls on the 50th anniversary of the surgeon general's first report detailing the public-health consequences of smoking. The landmark study prompted antismoking groups to pursue more-stringent public policy measures regulating the use of tobacco, which resulted in 8 million lives saved since 1964, according to a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Roughly 44 million adults and 3.6 million children in the United States smoke, according to numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking costs the U.S. roughly $193 billion annually in health care expenditures and lost productivity, the CDC reports. Each year, an estimated 443,000 people die prematurely from a smoking-related disease.

“Precious Voice”

Beginning in the late ’20s, American Tobacco began a campaign to link smoking with sophistication, slimness, and “sonorous voices.”  Part of this campaign in 1927 was dubbed the “Precious Voice” campaign, which dovetailed nicely with the arrival of the both the talking motion picture and the rise of radio and its commercialization.  American Tobacco, in fact, spent tens of millions of dollars on radio programs that ran between 1928 and the mid-1950s; shows which also used the company’s celebrity tobacco ads.  But in the late 1920s, following the release of The Jazz Singer, as “talking pictures” became all the rage, American Tobacco sought actor endorsements for its cigarettes. Davidoff iD Blue
It also began actor and singer cigarette advertising that claimed Lucky Strike spared their throats and protected their voices.  And American Tobacco ads also used another tack in 1928 – this time featuring Lucky Strike cigarettes as an alternative to fattening sweets.  “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet” was the slogan that ran with this campaign in 1928-1929.  Al Jolson appeared in at least one of these ads  — as shown in the December 1928 ad at the top of this story.  That ad ran in popular magazines of the day.  Jolson is quoted in the ad’s headline saying: “I light up a Lucky and go light on the sweets.  That’s how I keep in good shape and always feel peppy.”  Part of the arrangement in such ads was also to have a tie-in with the film studio – in this case, for Jolson’s latest new film.  Near the Lucky Strike pack in the above ad, the text reads: “Al Jolson, as he appears in Warner Bros Vitaphone success, The Singing Fool.”

Health continues to go up in smoke

Smoking related hospital admissions have increased despite a fall in the number of smokers, new research reveals.

More than 1.6 million people were admitted to hospital due to smoking, with cancer accounting for more than one in ten (11 per cent) of these.

The statistics, released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)1, also reveal the number of young adults smoking (23 per cent) is higher than the number of adults who smoke (20 per cent).

Smoking can cause a variety of oral health problems including tooth staining, dental plaque, bad breath, tooth loss and gum disease. Of more concern is the significant risk of developing life-threatening diseases such as lung disease and mouth cancer.

Mouth cancer now affects more than 6,500 people in the UK2 – that’s 18 people diagnosed with the disease every day. With five year survival rates reliant upon early detection, Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, voiced his concerns over the increase in smoking-related hospital admissions. Classic cigarettes.

Dr Carter said: “We have seen mouth cancer rates soar over the past 10 years by almost 50 per cent, and an increase in hospital admissions due to smoking shows this upward trend may continue for some time.

“Smoking and tobacco use is the leading cause of mouth cancer. Even though it is encouraging the see the number of smokers falling, one in five people is still a high percentage. To curb rising mouth cancer figures, this needs to improve. Mouth Cancer Action Month, which takes place throughout November, is a good time for people to get on the road to kicking the habit. We know around two in three smokers actually want to quit, and the campaign offers a perfect opportunity to do this.

“We must not forget if you smoke and drink alcohol to excess you are up to 30 times more likely to develop the disease, so it is crucial we continue to educate the public about all of the risks. A poor diet and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are also risk factors for mouth cancer.

“As a result it is really important that everyone knows the warning signs for mouth cancer. They include ulcers which do not heal within three weeks, red and white patches in the mouth and unusual lumps or swellings in the mouth. Our message to everyone is simple – ‘If in doubt, get checked out’.”

Drug addicts 'can quit smoking' with additional therapy

New research from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, a part of the National Institutes of Health, suggests that people who are addicted to cocaine or methamphetamine are able to quit cigarette smoking while being treated for their substance addictions, and that quitting will not hinder their treatment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking causes 1 in 5 deaths in the US every year. But the researchers say the highest death rate from smoking tobacco occurs in patients receiving treatment for substance abuse.
Figures from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reveal that in 2008, 63% of people who had a substance abuse disorder in the past year reported current tobacco use, while tobacco use in the general population stood at 28%.
But the researchers note that the majority of programs treating substance abuse do not look at helping patients quit smoking as part of their treatment.Davidoff cigarettes.

Introduction of smoking cessation therapy

With this in mind, the researchers conducted a study in which patients being treated for cocaine and methamphetamine addiction were randomly assigned to treatment aimed at helping them stop smoking (smoking cessation therapy).
Their treatment involved weekly counseling sessions for a period of 10 weeks, during which time the patients received bupropion extended-release medication - a form of antidepressant.
From weeks 4 to 10, participants received nicotine inhalers alongside contingency management - a strategy that awarded prizes to subjects with the aim of encouraging them to stop smoking.
All participants underwent drug and carbon monoxide testing to measure the levels of these substances in their bodies during the 10-week study, and at a 3- and 6-month follow-up. They were also required to self-report their outcomes.

'Beneficial' for substance abuse patients

Results of the study, published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, revealed that patients who underwent smoking cessation therapy showed high smoking quit rates during substance abuse therapy and during the 3- and 6-month follow-up.
Furthermore, the researchers report that smoking cessation therapy did not interfere with patients' participation in substance abuse treatment.
Commenting on the findings, Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), says:

 

FDA analysis of cigarette warnings 'inadequate'

Canadian researchers claim that graphic images and warning labels on cigarette packaging do reduce smoking, suggesting the FDA has underestimated their significance.
The saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words" may sound like an advertising executive's mantra, but we often fall for the dream when sleek and glossy images allow us a glimpse of the "perfect world." But does the theory work in reverse?
A report, published in Tobacco Control, shows that when graphic warning labels were printed on cigarette packaging in Canada, smoking rates decreased between 12% and 20%.
The study authors say this challenges the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) June 2011 findings, claiming the analysis was "flawed."Continent cigarettes.
In August 2012, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit found that the FDA analysis "essentially concedes the agency lacks any evidence that the graphic warnings are likely to reduce smoking rates."
The researchers claim that the FDA significantly underestimated the impact of the warning labels and suggest that their use in the US could potentially lead to a decrease of between 5.3 and 8.6 million smokers. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Waterloo and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Canada used statistical methods to compare smoking rates in Canada 9 years before and 9 years after the introduction of graphic warning labels.
Canada was the first country in the world to introduce these labels and therefore has more statistical data for measuring their impact than any other country.
In addition, Canada's labeling policy is closer to that of the FDA, meaning it is easier to extrapolate the findings from Canada to the US, especially when coupled with the facts that Canada is culturally and geographically similar.
The researchers claim that smoking rates in Canada fell sharply after graphic warnings were introduced, and they say this was greater than the difference in smoking rates in the US, where there was no change in printed warnings for same time period.
The potential reduction in smoking rates in the US is between 33 and 53 times greater than the FDA's estimate, they say.
Dr. Jidong Huang, lead author of the paper, comments:
"These findings are important for the ongoing initiative to introduce graphic warnings in the US. The original proposal by the FDA was successfully challenged by the tobacco industry, and the court cited the very low estimated impact on smoking rates as a factor in its judgment."