Smoking linked to earlier menopause

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By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK | Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:38pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who smoke may hit menopause about a year earlier than those who don't light up, according to a new look at past research.

That's important because the age at which women stop getting their periods may influence their risk of bone and heart diseases as well as breast cancer.

Study author Volodymyr Dvornyk, from the University of Hong Kong, said that women "should be aware of this effect and possible health consequences" of smoking, in addition to its other known risks.

He and his colleagues scanned the literature and found that women who were current smokers hit menopause a year earlier, on average, than non-smokers.

That data came from six studies including about 6,000 women in the U.S., Poland, Turkey and Iran. Non-smokers hit menopause between age 46 and 51, on average, depending on the study population. In all but two of the studies, smokers were younger -- between 43 and 50, overall.

Dvornyk and his colleagues also analyzed five other studies that used a cut-off age of 50 or 51 to group women into "early" and "late" menopause. Out of more than 43,000 women in that analysis, women who smoked were 43 percent more likely than nonsmokers to have early menopause.

"Our results give further evidence that smoking is significantly associated with earlier (age at menopause) and provide yet another justification for women to avoid this habit," the researchers wrote in the journal Menopause.

Both early and late menopause have been linked to health risks. Women who hit menopause late, for instance, are thought to be at higher risk of breast cancer because one risk factor for the disease is more time exposed to estrogen.

However, the "general consensus is that earlier menopause is likely to be associated with the larger number and higher risk of postmenopausal health problems, such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, Alzheimer's disease, and the others," Dvornyk told Reuters Health in an email.

Overall, he added, early menopause is also thought to slightly raise a woman's risk of death in the years following.

Jennie Kline, an epidemiologist from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York, said there are two theories for why smoking might mean earlier menopause.

Smoking may have an effect on how women's bodies make, or get rid of, estrogen, she said. Alternatively, some researchers believe certain components of cigarette smoke might kill eggs.

Dvornyk's team didn't have information on how long women had been smoking or how many cigarettes they smoked each day, so the researchers couldn't determine how either of those factors may have affected age at menopause.

For that reason, and a lack of data on other health and lifestyle factors linked to menopause, this analysis may not be enough to resolve lingering questions on the link between smoking and menopause, they added.

Alcohol, weight and whether or not women have given birth may each also play a role in when they hit menopause -- but the evidence for everything other than smoking has been mixed, Kline, who was not involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.

She said it's possible the same factors that influence age at menopause may determine whether or not women are still able to get pregnant when they hit their late thirties, or whether they have trouble with infertility.

Still, Kline said, "There are way better reasons to stop smoking than worrying about menopause," such as reducing the risk of heart disease and lung cancer.

SOURCE: bit.ly/nM27LT Menopause, online September 19, 2011.

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TB smoking toll 'could reach 40m'

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4 October 2011 Last updated at 23:00 GMT By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website Smoking is a risk factor for TB Forty million smokers could die from TB by 2050, research suggests.

Smokers are about twice as likely to get the lung infection and die from it, compared with non-smokers.

Many of the new TB cases will be in Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asian regions, according to projections published in the BMJ.

A lung charity said global efforts to fight TB are being undermined by the tobacco industry's "aggressive promotion" of smoking in some places.

Dr John Moore-Gillon is a TB specialist and honorary medical advisor for the British Lung Foundation.

He said: "It is nearly 20 years since the World Health Organization declared tuberculosis to be a 'global health emergency'.

"Since that time rates have risen rather than fallen, and smoking increases the risk of getting - and dying from - TB.

"Concerted international efforts are now under way to try and turn the tide of TB, but this important research shows that all these efforts may be undermined by the tobacco industry's continuing aggressive promotion of smoking in many parts of the world."

Mathematical model

Nearly a fifth of people in the world are smokers; many in countries with high rates of TB where multi-national tobacco companies have expanded their markets.

Smoking is a known risk factor for TB, and may reduce the ability of the lungs to fight off infection.

X-ray of the chest of a patient with TB

Dr Sanjay Basu and colleagues from the University of California set out to predict the impact of smoking on future TB rates.

According to their mathematical model, worldwide smoking could lead to 40 million extra deaths from TB from 2010 to 2050.

If current smoking trends continue, the number of new cases of TB will rise by 18 million.

Smoking alone could undermine the worldwide goal of reducing TB mortality by half between 1990 and 2015, they say.

Writing in the BMJ, the team concludes: "Tobacco smoking could substantially increase tuberculosis cases and deaths worldwide in coming years, undermining progress towards tuberculosis mortality targets.

"Aggressive tobacco control could avert millions of deaths from tuberculosis."

Contagious

Tuberculosis is a contagious infection that mainly affects the lungs, but can spread to other parts of the body.

If not treated, it can damage the lungs to such an extent that a person cannot breathe properly.

Sometimes, people do not experience any symptoms for many months or even years after being infected.

TB can treated with antibiotics but is sometimes fatal.

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Smoking still high in U.S. mining, food service

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A miner smokes a cigarette during a break at the Gongxigou coal mine on the outskirts of Baokang, Hubei province, December 4, 2007.

Credit: Reuters/Stringer

By David Beasley

ATLANTA | Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:47pm EDT

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Cigarette smoking remains stubbornly high among workers in the mining, food services and construction industries despite dramatic overall declines in the United States in recent decades, a federal study released Thursday showed.

Thirty percent of workers in mining, hotel/motel and food services smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which analyzed data from 2004-2010.

The construction industry had the next highest smoking rate at 29.7 percent.

"Since the first surgeon general's report in 1964, we've almost cut the smoking prevalence in half overall," said Ann Malarcher, senior scientific adviser at the CDC. "But then there are groups that are still at very high rates and are being left behind."

The management and education sectors had among the lowest percentage of smokers. Only 9.7 percent of educators smoke, according to the study.

Low education levels are a factor in high smoking rates, along with poverty and gender, Malarcher said.

"One of the things that has been studied is that persons with lower levels of education tend to have less access to health information," she said. "They tend to be less knowledgeable about the dangers of tobacco use."

The CDC survey found the highest smoking rates among workers ages 18-24, males, those with high school or less education and those without health insurance. Midwestern workers had the overall highest rates.

The CDC recommends that employers increase their anti-smoking efforts, including imposing smoke-free workplace policies and providing health insurance coverage for smoking cessation treatments.

Adult smoking has decreased 42.4 percent since 1965, the CDC said. But the decline has slowed in the past five years, dropping to 19.3 percent of adults in 2010 from 20.9 percent in 2005.

Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing an estimated 443,000 Americans each year. Smoking costs about $193 billion annually in direct health care expenses and lost productivity.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Greg McCune and Bill Trott)

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A Cheaper Way to Quit Smoking?

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A cheap quit-smoking drug sold in Eastern Europe can help smokers kick the habit, but it's not as effective as more expensive medications available in the U.S, a new study finds.

Researchers from University College of London led a study of 740 Polish smokers who were randomly assigned to try the smoking-cessation drug cytisine (Tabex) or placebo for nearly a month. They report in the New England Journal of Medicine that after a year, 8.4% of the cytisine group remained smoke-free, while only 2.4% of the control group were still abstinent.

More than triple the benefit? That may seem impressive, but Tabex's success rate pales in comparison to that of varenicline (Chantix), a popular stop-smoking drug sold in the U.S., which studies show helps about 20% of smokers remain abstinent, compared to about 10% of placebo takers, after 12 months.

So why do the results matter? For one, some would-be quitters may be concerned about side effects associated with varenicline, including thoughts of suicide and heart problems, which we reported on here. About 4.6% of cytisine users reported psychiatric issues, compared with 3.2% of the placebo group, a small increased risk of these adverse effects. (Common side effects included nausea and stomachache.)

MORE: Study: Quitting Smoking With Chantix May Increase Risk of Heart Attack

Cytisine, which is made from Golden Rain acacia seeds, also costs much less than varenicline. It has been sold in Eastern Europe since the 1960s, according to the authors. A four week treatment costs about $15 in Poland and $6 in Russia; compare that with fees of more than $100 for a similar month-long supply of varenicline.

Cytisine works by mimicking nicotine and binding to acetylcholine receptors in the brain, which can fool the body into thinking it's being exposed to nicotine. While even the authors caution that it may not be the most powerful anti-smoking agent available, they note it may be of help to a certain portion of smokers, especially in the developing world.

"The lower cost of cytisine as compared with that of other pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation may make it an attractive treatment option for smokers in low-income and middle-income countries," the researchers write. And anything that curbs the desire for cigarettes is a good thing for public health.

Alice Park is a writer at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @aliceparkny. You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

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Not Cool Anymore: Smoking Drops to All-Time Low in New York City

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Percent of adults in New York City who said they were smokers in 2010, an all-time low. Smoking rates have decreased 35% since 2002, when 22% of New Yorkers smoked; the drop translates to approximately 450,000 fewer smokers and some 50,000 fewer premature deaths by 2052, city officials said. Declines were particularly steep in young adults and teens, which suggests that younger generations aren't taking up the habit. The rate of smoking among public school students dropped from 18% in 2001 to just 7% in 2010 — less than half the national youth smoking rate. [via NYC.gov]

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Not Cool Anymore: Smoking Drops to All-Time Low in New York City

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Percent of adults in New York City who said they were smokers in 2010, an all-time low. Smoking rates have decreased 35% since 2002, when 22% of New Yorkers smoked; the drop translates to approximately 450,000 fewer smokers and some 50,000 fewer premature deaths by 2052, city officials said. Declines were particularly steep in young adults and teens, which suggests that younger generations aren't taking up the habit. The rate of smoking among public school students dropped from 18% in 2001 to just 7% in 2010 — less than half the national youth smoking rate. [via NYC.gov]

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HEALTH MANAGEMENT. Guys, Quitting Smoking Makes It Bigger. Really.

Forget Viagra. A new study suggests that for firmer, faster erections, men should quit smoking. The researchers found that men who successfully kicked cigarettes had thicker, more rigid erections and reached maximal arousal five times faster than smokers who relapsed.
The study involved 65 sexually active male smokers who wanted to quit and were willing to have their erections measured in the lab. The participants were enrolled in an eight-week quit program, which involved using nicotine patches (and no other drugs) and counseling, and were brought in for erectile testing three times: before the quit date, halfway through the program, then again one month after the program's conclusion. To test men's erections, the researchers used a device called a penile plethysmograph, which measures changes in circumference and hardness, while the men watched porn.
Thirty-one percent of the men had successfully stopped smoking by the end of the study. Compared with men who relapsed, those who remained nicotine-free had wider, firmer erections and reached maximum sexual arousal (but, importantly, not climax!) much more quickly. These improvements were not seen, however, until after the men had stopped using the nicotine patches.
MORE: Study: A Mysterious Gene Variant That Makes Quitting Smoking Easier
Twenty percent of the participants reported having erectile dysfunction (ED) at the start of the study. By the end, 75% of these men who had quit smoking, no longer suffered erectile problems. But 61% of men with ED who had not stopped smoking also saw improvement in their condition. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant, however, researchers said.
Despite the fact that the researchers' objective measurements showed improvements in sexual health among the quitters, there was no change in men's own ratings of their sexual functioning, including perceptions of arousal, orgasmic function and strength of erection.
"It might take longer for men to actually notice their level of difference subjectively outside of the lab, which is also dependent on their relationship with their sexual partner," study co-author Christopher Harte, of the VA Boston Healthcare System, told Reuters.
The current study isn't the first to connect smoking with sexual health. Smoking is known to damage blood vessels and hinder proper blood flow, which can also affect erectile function. Just this week, researchers from the Mayo Clinic found that men who made lifestyle changes to improve their cardiovascular health — by lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, losing weight and exercising — also improved their symptoms of ED.
The new findings, published in the British Journal of Urology International, suggest it's not just smoking, but nicotine itself that causes erectile problems, since improvements in men's erections weren't seen until after use of the patch was stopped.
The good news is that doctors may now have a new strategy to help people quit smoking. For many people, the long-term fear of cancer or heart disease isn't enough to motivate them to quit — or, worse, it can backfire by increasing stress and, in turn, the urge to smoke — but the promise of immediate and measurable improvements where it counts might be just the incentive male smokers need.
So, guys, the next time you have the urge to light up a post-coital Lucky, you might stop to think about whether it'll keep you from your next chance to crave one.

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HEALTH MANAGEMENT. Smoking marijuana not relating to obesity: study

NEW YORK | Sun Sep 11, 2011 10: 22 pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - who marijuana smoked has "the munchies," knows, that want to eat anything within reach. But a study from France has found that, surprisingly, actually less often than non-smoking, weight to put pot smokers.
Researchers led by Yann Le STRAT, a psychiatrist in the Louis Mourier hospital in Colombes, France, were found that approximately 14 to 17 percent of people reported that they smoked pot at least three days a week obese with data for more than 50,000 adults in the United States.
That compared with 22 to 25 percent obesity among people who said they had used not pot in the past 12 months.
"Initially, we thought we made a mistake," Le STRAT, adding that he said and co-author Bernard Le foll the results checked several times to ensure that they were correct.
"This is only a preliminary earnings." "It does not mean that marijuana really help to lose weight, but maybe there's a component that does."
The study, published in the American Journal of epidemiology, contain two surveys of adults in the USA-one about 43,000 people, the other about 9,300 respondents. Both had of branches of the US national institutes of health between 2001 and 2009 performed.
The larger the surveys found that 14 percent of the pot were obese smokers compared to 22 percent, the pot smoking not. Also the smaller survey found 17 percent of the pot-smoking obese be compared to 25 percent of the non-smoking.
All respondents two surveys smoked pot between four and seven percent, she said at least three times a week.
Whether she had smoked cigarettes also does not affect the results of obesity, although researchers not look at whether nutrition and lack of exercise in pot smokers and non-smokers were different.
According to an another recent survey from the substance abuse and mental health services administration is pot use on the rise in the United States. Almost 16 million US citizens, marijuana used an increase of around 15 million in 2007 in 2010.
Scientists have the role to block various molecules within marijuana smoke, high feeling, pain, and may be subject to the hunger for food in the rule provoked, explored by using pot.
Cannabinoids, molecules natural signaling chemicals in the body, similar to be believed, too stimulated to key Appetit--so much so that in 2006, a drug called rimonabant, designed to combat cannabinoids, work has been developed.
Rimonabant has been in more than 30 countries, but not in the United States, for the treatment of obesity. But the drug was pulled from shelves two years later by an increased risk of suicide among its users.
Whether cannabinoids are the only appetite stimulants in pot smoke, or other chemicals could take account of the impact, remains to be seen, the researchers say.
Other experts said that the results, which does not surprise her.
"There is no evidence of that repeatedly, body weight, can increase use of marijuana," said Vincenzo Di Marzo, Professor at the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry in Pozzuoli, Italy, which was not part of the study.
He warned that the study does not appear that smoking pot helps you lose weight, but that it could be a starting point for future research.
Le STRAT echoed this view and warned before experiment with pot as a diet aid.
"I see people with marijuana addiction." "I hope that people will not interpret the results mean that if they use marijuana, they are to lose weight", he added. Source: bit.ly/mQOCXt

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HEALTH MANAGEMENT. Enzyme could be target for the treatment of smoking, alcoholism at the same time

An enzyme that is displayed, a role in controlling the brain response to nicotine and alcohol in mice may be a promising a drug, which would at the same time deal with smoking, and alcohol abuse in humans, according to a study by researchers of the Ernest Gallo clinic and Research Center, San Francisco joined with the University of California,.
In the course of four weeks mice genetically so is missing the gene for protein kinase C (PKC)-Epsilon consumes less a nicotine-containing water solution than normal mice and were less likely to a Chamber back, in which she had given nicotine.
On the other hand, normal mice steadily grew their consumption of nicotine solution, while the mice PKC Epsilon is not missing.
The study was conducted by Gallo, senior associate director and investigator Robert O. brass, MD, UCSF Professor of Neurology and Gallo researchers Dr. Anna M. Lee.
Binds nicotine to a certain class of Nicotinic Receptors in normal mice, as in humans is neurons released by dopamine in the brain causes on dopamine. Dopamine creates a feeling of joy and so calls for a sense of reward. Lee and brass found that mice without PKC Epsilon has a lack of these Nicotinic Receptors.
The study is in the online early Edition of the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for the week of 12 September 2011.
The finding complements earlier research in brass found that mice genetically PKC-Epsilon enzyme deficiency to less alcohol than normal mice potion and were averse to a Chamber, where she had been alcohol again.
"This could mean that these mice of nicotine or alcohol, not the same feeling of reward get," brass said. "The enzyme looks like it the part of regulating the reward system, which includes these Nicotinic Receptors." The reward system is a complex of areas in the brain, which call for nicotine, to influence alcohol and other addictive substances.
The next step in the research, brass, said would be to develop compounds that inhibit PKC Epsilon. The ultimate goal, he said, would be drugs, which could be used "through its contribution to the edge of searches for people on some of which will demand their reward."
The research was U.S. through grants from the public health service and the Canadian Institutes of health research, and funded, supported by California for medical research on alcohol and drug abuse by UCSF.
The UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo clinic and Research Center is one of the world's preeminent academic centres for the study of the biological basis of alcohol and substance use. Gallo center discoveries possible molecular targets for the development of therapeutic medicines through preclinical and proof-of-concept studies extended.
UCSF is a leading University, promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate training in life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

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HEALTH MANAGEMENT. Smoking marijuana not relating to obesity: study

By Linda Thrasybule
NEW YORK | September 9, 2011 5: 16 pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - can people, vulnerable to "the munchies" smoke the marijuana, but surprisingly, they are less likely than proposes non-smoking to pack the pounds, a new study from France.
Analyzing data, for more than 50,000 American adults, the researchers found that approximately 14 to 17 percent of people were reported that they smoked pot at least three days a week obese. That compared with 22 to 25 percent obesity among people who said they had used not pot in the past 12 months.
"Initially, we thought that we have a mistake", Dr. Yann Le STRAT is a psychiatrist in the Louis Mourier hospital in Colombes, France said. He and co-author Dr. Bernard Le foll had several times to check the results, to ensure that they were incorrect, said Le STRAT.
Le STRAT "This is only a preliminary earnings," said Reuters Health. "It does not mean that marijuana really help to lose weight, but maybe there's a component that does."
The study, published in the American Journal of epidemiology, contain two surveys of adults in the United States - one about 43,000 people, over 9,300 other respondents. Both had of branches of the US national institutes of health between 2001 and 2003 performed.
The larger the polls not found 14 percent of the pot smokers obese compared to 22 percent, the pot smoking. Also the smaller survey found 17 percent of the pot-smoking obese be compared to 25 percent of the non-smoking.
All respondents two surveys smoked pot between four and seven percent, she said at least three times a week.
Whether she had smoked cigarettes also does not affect the results of obesity.
The researchers consider not whether diet and lack of exercise were different in pot smokers and non-smoking.
According to an another recent poll, from the substance abuse and mental health services administration is pot use on the rise in the United States marijuana 2010 a nearly 18 million Americans a year increase of around 15 million in 2007.
Scientists have the role to block various molecules within marijuana smoke, high feeling, pain, and may be subject to the hunger for food in the rule provoked, explored by using pot.
Cannabinoids, molecules natural signaling chemicals in the body, similar to be believed, key to stimulates appetite. Was so much so that in 2006 a drug rimonabant, called, which is designed to combat cannabinoids, developed.
Rimonabant has been in more than 30 countries-but not in the USA-for the treatment of obesity. But the drug was pulled from shelves two years later by an increased risk of suicide among users.
Whether cannabinoids pot are the only appetite stimulants in smoke, or whether other chemicals for the effect could take into account, remains to be seen, the researchers say.
Dr. Vincenzo Di Marzo, Professor at the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry in Pozzuoli, Italy, who was not part of the study, was not in the meantime their results at all surprised. "There is no evidence, that repeatedly body weight can increase use of marijuana."
Di Marzo precautions, which don't, see the study that smoking pot helps you lose weight, but he believes that it is a starting point for future research.
Le STRAT warned against feeling and also experiment with pot as a diet aid.
"I see people with marijuana dependence," explained Le STRAT. "I hope that people do not interpret the results mean that if they use marijuana, they are to lose weight."

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