You are currently browsing the daily archive for November 9th, 2007.
New report spotlights how nicotine affects adolescent brains
WASHINGTON - Teenagers who smoke are five times more likely to drink and 13 times more likely to use marijuana than those who are not smokers, according to a report issued on Tuesday.
The report by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse presented further evidence linking youth smoking to other substance abuse and spotlighted research on how nicotine affects the adolescent brain.
“Teenage smoking can signal the fire of alcohol and drug abuse or mental illness like depression and anxiety,” Joseph Califano, who heads the center and is a former U.S. health secretary, said in a telephone interview.
The report analyzed surveys conducted by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and other data on youth smokers. Most smokers begin smoking before age 18.
Smokers ages 12 to 17 are more likely drink alcohol than nonsmokers — 59 percent compared to 11 percent, the report found. Those who become regular smokers by age 12 are more than three times more likely to report binge drinking than those who never smoked — 31 percent compared to 9 percent.
Binge drinking was defined as having five drinks or more in a row. Asked whether smoking is causing these other behaviors or is just another risky behavior occurring alongside the others, Califano said, “There’s no question that early teenage smoking is linked to these other things. Now whether it’s causing it or not, I think the jury is probably still out on that.”
Smokers ages 12 to 17 are more apt to meet the diagnostic definition for drug abuse or dependence in the previous year — 26 percent compared to 2 percent, the researchers said.
The report noted that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug among teenagers, with government data from 2005 showing 7 percent of those ages 12 to 17 used marijuana.
Of these, current cigarette smokers are 13 times more likely to use marijuana than those who do not smoke. The younger a child is when he or she starts smoking, the greater the risk, the Columbia team said.
Children who start smoking by age 12 are more than three times more likely to binge on alcohol, nearly 15 times more likely to smoke marijuana and almost seven times more likely to use other drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Teenagers who smoke also have a higher risk of depression and anxiety disorders, the study found.
The report cited scientific studies showing the nicotine in tobacco products can produce structural and chemical changes in the developing brain that make young people vulnerable to alcohol and other drug addiction and mental illness.
This includes effects on the brain chemicals dopamine and serotonin and changes to brain receptors associated with an increased desire for other addictive drugs.
I’m not sure if this is good news or not since people still smoke but…
Researchers call for more government efforts to help people kick habit-WASHINGTON - Nearly 21 percent of Americans smoke, a number that has been stalled since 2004, federal researchers reported on Thursday in a study they said means the government must spend more to persuade people to kick the habit.
More than 45 million Americans smoked in 2006, or 20.8 percent of the population, 80 percent of them daily smokers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
The CDC said the numbers have not changed since 2004, which suggests that smoking prevention efforts have “stalled.”
“It is completely commensurate with the stall in resources that been going into tobacco control,” Dr. Matt McKenna, who directs CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a telephone interview.
Preventable cause of death
William Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, agreed.
“It is troubling news for America’s health that progress has stalled in reducing tobacco use, the nation’s number one preventable cause of death,” Corr said in a statement.
“It is also inexcusable that elected leaders have not done more given the overwhelming scientific evidence of what works to reduce tobacco use among both children and adults.”
The CDC researchers used the National Health Interview Survey of more than 24,000 U.S. adults to find out how many people smoke.
Nearly 24 percent of men and 18 percent of women smoked. Numbers ranged from more than 50 percent of men with a high school equivalency diploma, to 4.6 percent of Asian women. More educated people were less likely to smoke, with 6.6 percent of those with graduate degrees being smokers.
“Among current cigarette smokers, an estimated 44.2 percent (19.9 million) had stopped smoking for more than one day during the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit,” the CDC researchers wrote.
Half of the 91 million people who ever smoked had quit.
“Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, resulting in approximately 438,000 deaths annually,” the CDC said.
McKenna said state and federal officials are not doing everything they can to help counter the efforts of tobacco companies.
While the CDC recommends spending $1.80 per person a year in Oregon, for instance, to encourage quitting, the tobacco industry spends $3.50 per person on marketing, he said.
“The overall CDC recommendations nationally for state programs to fund tobacco control is about $3.7 billion. Currently about half a billion dollars is being spent,” he said.
Most of the $22 billion a year states get from a $246 billion 1998 “master settlement agreement” reached with tobacco companies goes not to tobacco prevention efforts, but to general spending such as road building, McKenna said.
“We know what to do,” McKenna added. Media campaigns, tobacco taxes and subsidizing treatment all work, he said.
“Utah has a (smoking) prevalence rate of 9 percent. New Zealand has gotten it under 10 percent. So the idea that there is an irreducible number of people who will smoke is probably true but it is much less than one in five people,” he said.
Every smoker knows they face an increased risk for serious health problems from cigarettes and cigars. We at Smoke Away, as well as you know smoking causes heart disease, lung cancer and emphysema. None of this is earth-shattering news. If you do not know this, then you have been living under a rock.
As smokers, though, you have learned to effectively ignore the particulars about smoking-related disease.You gloss over, tune out and otherwise distract yourselves whenever possible. Looking too closely can cause a head-on collision with realities of the damage we’re inflicting on our bodies and turns smoking ‘enjoyment’ into a guilty, fearful experience. But the good news though is that you are here. But let’s look a little more into the reasons why you should quit smoking.
Smoker’s Denial
All smokers harbor the secret hope that they will be spared the disease and death that follows nicotine addiction. You tell yourselves you’ll quit in time and somehow dodge the bullet that smoking is. But with four million people dying every year due to tobacco use around the world, the odds aren’t in your favor. Put another way, a smoking-related death occurs somewhere in the world every eight seconds, 365 days a year.
The sooner you remove the blinders and look carefully at nicotine addiction and the damage it causes, the sooner you can begin pulling away from the lies. For a more one on one look at what others have gone through, try going to our Smoke Away Support Group. With over 3000 registered members, it’s a group that is uniquely qualified to talk with you about the challenges ahead.
5 Reasons to Quit Smoking
1) Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., and the leading cause of death caused by smoking. The toxins in cigarette smoke cause plaques to form in the arteries, which leads to atherosclerosis, otherwise known as hardening of the arteries. Smoking is hard on the heart.
2) Stroke
According to the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, killing upwards of 150,000 people each year. For smokers, the risk of stroke is nearly 2-1/2 times that of nonsmokers.
- How a Stroke Changed My Life - Paul’s Story
3) Lung Cancer
According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 213,380 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed - and 160,390 deaths will occur - in 2007 from lung cancer in the United States alone.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women, and with 87 percent of all lung cancer cases involving tobacco, it is one form of cancer that is preventable.
- Diagnosed with Lung Cancer - Cheryl’s Story
4) Emphysema/COPD
Tobacco use is the number one cause of COPD, and quitting smoking is the best way to halt further damage. It’s estimated that as many as 10 million Americans suffer from COPD, with upwards of 14 million others who may have it but are undiagnosed. In the United States, it was the fourth leading cause of death in 2000 and projections place it as the third leading cause by the year 2020.
- Why You Don’t Want Emphysema - Christine’s Story
5) Oral Cancer
Oral cancer (mouth cancer) is included in a specific group of cancers called oral and head and neck cancer. It’s estimated that 70 to 80 percent of all cases of OHNC are due to tobacco use and heavy alcohol consumption.
- Losing My Voice to Oral Cancer - Marlene’s Story
There’s No Time Like The Present…
If you’re thinking about quitting, a good place to start is exactly where you avoided going in the past. Delve into the facts and figures about how destructive tobacco is. Learn exactly what you risk when you light up, day after day, year after year. Whether you use Smoke Away or not, you need to quit.
Don’t be afraid to look at nicotine addiction head-on! It will help you shift your attitude away from thinking of smoking as a friend and allow you to see it for death trap it truly is.
