Actor Frankie Muniz’s stroke at age 26 spotlights an alarming health trend: Clinicians are seeing more young people having strokes without a clear cause. Historically, stroke was considered a problem for the elderly and increased risk was associated with pre-existing hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and heart disease. Young adults who had strokes often had… Read more »
Posts Tagged: smoking
4 Steps to Quit Cigarettes for a Day—Then a Lifetime
Tomorrow, people who want to stop smoking will participate in the American Cancer Society’s 37th Annual Great American Smokeout. Quitting may not be easy, but it’s possible—and worth it. Steep prices aside, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the US. Smoking causes a third of all cancer deaths and… Read more »
Lung Cancer: 4 Areas of Progress and Challenge
Lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer death for adults in the US. But clinicians and researchers are making inroads against the disease. Recent progress and challenges in the field include: 1. Smoking – A dramatic decline in the number of smokers directly relates to clear evidence that smoking causes lung cancer and… Read more »
No Tobacco Day
World No Tobacco Day is celebrated each year on May 31st to increase awareness about health problems caused by tobacco use. This year, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “tobacco industry interference” theme highlights the tobacco industry’s efforts to thwart tobacco control policies around the world and reminds organizations and governments of their responsibility to be… Read more »
Coming to Labels Soon: What Chemicals Are in Cigarettes
Tobacco companies must display the concentration of 20 cancer- causing chemicals in cigarettes on warning labels beginning this June, according to a new requirement enacted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is the agency’s latest step to make the toxicity of cigarettes more transparent. While there are more than 7,000 chemicals in cigarettes,… Read more »
Anti-Tobacco Ads Show Painful Effects of Smoking
The painful reality of illness and damage suffered by real people because of smoking is the focus of a new anti-tobacco ad campaign. Launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the ads show the toll of illnesses caused by smoking and secondhand smoke. The “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign features ex-smokers with tobacco-related… Read more »
Nicotine During Pregnancy Increases the Rick of Colic
Babies are more likely to have colic when their mothers smoked or used nicotine replacement therapy during pregnancy, according to research just published in the journal Pediatrics. A significantly increased risk of infantile colic—ranging from 30 to 60 percent—was associated with prenatal nicotine exposure in the study of more than 63,000 mothers in the Danish… Read more »
Clouded in Smoke: Cigarettes Dull the Male Brain
Everyone knows smoking is dumb. Now it looks like it makes you dumb, too: A recent study in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests that male smokers of a certain age experience faster loss of brain power. Researchers found that, compared to men who never smoked, middle-aged men smokers are likely to experience more rapid… Read more »
Tobacco Worsens Heart Disease
If you are a tobacco user and have heart disease or an irregular heartbeat, high cholesterol or high blood pressure, there are some things you need to know. Smoking causes many health problems for everyone who does it, but some of the most significant damage is to the heart and blood vessels. • Heart disease… Read more »
Nicotine Patch May Help Memory Impairment
Nicotine patches may ease mild cognitive impairment, according to a new study in the journal Neurology. Study participants showed improved attention plus improvements in secondary measures of attention, memory and though-processing speed. But the research did not demonstrate a significant difference between nicotine and placebo on overall improvement. The study was conducted with 74 non-smokers… Read more »