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Homepage | Smoking
Britain Adds Graphic Labels to Cigarette Packs
 The image on the right is one of the new graphic images the UK is going to require on cigarette packs to deter people from smoking. You can see another image here which shows a man with what appears to be a horrible throat tumor.
The pictures, which show cancerous lungs and throats as well as rotting teeth, replace written warnings such as "Smoking clogs the arteries and causes heart attacks and strokes" or "Smoking can cause a slow and painful death" which currently greet going to light up.
The picture warnings will start appearing on cigarette packs from October 1 and will be compulsory from October next year. They will be printed on all tobacco products from October 2010.
One in six people in Britain smoke out of population of more than 60 million and the government has been stepping up measures to reduce that figure.
It's not something anyone wants to look at or see on a product they are using. It does make the message that smoking is unhealthy very clear. More discussion of the new labels can be found here, here, here and here.
Posted on October 2, 2008
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15 Ways to Live Longer
Forbes.com has an interesting article (on MSNBC.com) that offers advice for living a longer and healthier life.
"There's a saying that genetics load the gun, but it's the environment that pulls the trigger," says Dr. David Fein, medical director at the Princeton Longevity Center, a clinic in Princeton, N.J., which focuses on quality of life and prolonging it. "You can have the gene for a certain disease, but it doesn't mean you're going to get it."
Take heed: Your lifestyle choices are very significant. While there is no way to ultimately defy death, that isn't an excuse to start indulging in vices and neglecting your health. There are plenty of ways to keep the grim reaper at bay -- and many of these "secrets" result in an improved quality of life.
If you really want to live longer, then start with your attitude. Your way of thinking not only improves your outlook on life, but also how long you actually live. In 2002, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that optimistic people decreased their risk of early death by 50 percent compared with those who leaned more toward pessimism.
The article includes these 15 tips for living longer.
Don't oversleep
Be optimistic
Have more sex
Get a pet
Get a VAP
Be rich
Stop smoking
Chill out
Eat your antioxidants
Marry well
Exercise
Laugh a little
Lose weight
Manage stress
Meditate
The Forbes article has an explanation for each of the tips that is worth reading. The article says people can expect to live to about 78 today. Just last month we posted about Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist from Cambridge University, who believes the first person to live to 1,000 has already been born. If that's true it will require something more than just following these 15 steps to get there.
Posted on May 19, 2006
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Smoking Deaths to Double by 2020
Smoking continues to kill and the numbers are expected to double to 10 million deaths by 2020 according to a new study cited in a MSNBC.com article.
Global annual deaths from smoking are expected to double to 10 million by 2020 but researchers said on Friday the real figure could be much higher.
The projection may be too low because an international survey of 13-15 year-olds has uncovered an unexpected rise in young female smokers, widespread exposure to second-hand smoke and the use of other tobacco products.
"The effect of tobacco use on worldwide deaths could be even greater than expected," said Dr Charles Warren, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia.
Smoking causes so much damage to the body -- in additon to the lung cancer risk. It is awful news to hear more young girls are picking up the deadly habit. The article also mentions a possible rise in tobacco use by kids in India.
Posted on February 21, 2006
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Many Heart Patients Don't Quit Smoking
A study has found that many heart patients that are smokers do not quit smoking after their illness. The BBC says the study was conducted on 5,500 patients in 15 countries. Of these heart patients 2,244 were smokers and 48% did not quit smoking when advised to. The BBC article says some experts wonder if the patients are really aware of the risk from smoking.
Dr Wilma Scholte op Reimer, of the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, who led the study, said it was "unbelievable" so many carried on smoking after a life-threatening event for which the habit is a major risk factor.
"It makes me wonder if they are truly aware of the risk that they are taking," she said.
Dr Scholte op Reimer said there may be a difference between patients having the general knowledge that smoking is a bad habit, and understanding the risk they themselves faced.
She said it was important smokers had access to support from stopping-smoking programmes, and access to nicotine replacement therapies, if necessary.
Some of it could but unawareness on the patient's part but it also likely that the doctors are underestimating just how difficult it is for people to quit smoking. And those who have seen movies like The Insider know why smoking is so difficult to quit.
Posted on October 5, 2005
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