Nursefriendly.com: smoke

Showing posts with label smoke. Show all posts

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Cigarette Smoke Ups Mucus in Lungs - in Pulmonology, Smoking & Tobacco from MedPage Toda

Cigarette smoke suppresses a protein whose normal function is to prevent an overpopulation of mucus-producing cells in the lungs, researchers reported.

Suppression of the so-called Bik protein leads to hyperplasia of airway epithelial cells and mucous cell metaplasia, according to Yohannes Tesfaigzi, PhD, of the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, N.M., and colleagues.

The finding could lead to treatments for chronic bronchitis, Tesfaigzi and colleagues reported online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Over-secretion of mucus is a characteristic of chronic bronchitis, which affects many cigarette smokers and is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Tesfaigzi and colleagues noted.

Normally, mucus secretion increases in the airway epithelium in response to bacteria or viral infectious agents and environmental pollutants. An inflammatory response kickstarts the proliferation of epithelial cells that produce the protective substance.

via medpagetoday.com

Click on the "via" link to read the rest of the article.

Any questions, please drop me a line.

******************************************************
Follow us on:

What's New:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/new/

Blogger:
http://4nursing.blogspot.com/

Facebook:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/facebook

Linked In:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/nursefriendly

Nursing Entrepreneurs, Nurses In Business
http://nursingentrepreneurs.ning.com/

Twitter!
http://www.nursefriendly.com/twitter

StumbleUpon,
http://www.nursefriendly.com/stumbleupon
******************************************************

Sincerely,

Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
http://www.nursefriendly.com info@nursefriendly.com ICQ #6116137
856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

150,000 + Nurse-Reviewed & Approved Nursing Links

http://www.4nursing.com
http://www.legalnursingconsultant.com
http://www.nursinghumor.com
http://www.nursefriendly.com
http://www.nursingcasestudy.com
http://www.nursingentrepreneurs.com
http://www.nursingexperts.com

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Nurses to Help Thousands of Smokers Butt Out During National Non-Smoking Week - Nursing Link

When nurses intervene, smokers quit. That’s the message the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) wants to spread when National Non-Smoking Week (January 16 – 22, 2011) gets underway next week.

“Smoking is one of the most important public health threats of our time. We know that 37,000 deaths a year in Canada are linked to tobacco use. Research shows that reaching out to people is one of the most important steps in determining a smoker’s willingness to quit,” explains Irmajean Bajnok, an RN and Director of RNAO’s Best Practice Guidelines (BPG) program in Toronto.

“Nurses who spend as little as three minutes having conversations with smokers about quitting can make a difference,” says Bajnok adding arming nurses with the best available evidence from the RNAO’s Smoking Cessation BPG is the key to reducing smoking rates.

via nursinglink.monster.com

Click on the link above to read the full article:

Any questions, please drop me a line.

******************************************************
Follow us on:

What's New:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/new/

Blogger:
http://4nursing.blogspot.com/

Facebook:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/facebook

Linked In:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/nursefriendly

Nursing Entrepreneurs, Nurses In Business
http://nursingentrepreneurs.ning.com/

Twitter!
http://www.nursefriendly.com/twitter

StumbleUpon,
http://www.nursefriendly.com/stumbleupon
******************************************************

Sincerely,

150,000 + Nurse-Reviewed & Approved Nursing Links

Sunday, December 5, 2010

E-cigarettes are not safe, and here's why

E-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, have been largely unregulated, and there have been many doctors questioning its safety.
MedPage Today recently reported on the FDA’s analysis of such products, and now we have some guidance as to how dangerous they can be.
E-cigarettes are battery operated, and contain nicotine and other flavors that the user can inhale. Advertisements claim they are safer since they don’t burn tobacco.
But according to the FDA, they “contain carcinogens such as diethylene glycol — used in antifreeze — and nitrosamines.”
To his credit, internist Matthew Mintz has been sounding the alarm for awhile. Not only does he point out they are largely unregulated, there are real questions as to whether they help with smoking cessation at all. He writes that, “e-cigarettes were designed to be tobacco cigarette replacement products, not smoking cessation aides. It is also possible that smokers will use e-cigarettes in place of SOME of their tobacco cigarettes. Although this does decrease exposure to known dangerous products, e-cigarettes might therefore actually prolong tobacco cigarette smoking.”
It’s encouraging to see the FDA start critically analyzing the claims of these types of alternative products, often advertised on late-night television. Hopefully there will be more to come.
Similar Posts:
Smoking related diseases are the number one cause of death in African-Americans
American cigarettes contain more carcinogens
Should tobacco companies pay for smokers’ CT scans to screen for lung cancer?
Cholesterol medication cost should not be prohibitive
Paying patients to stay healthy, my take in the NY Times

Tagged as: Cancer, Patient

via kevinmd.com

Any questions, please drop me a line.

******************************************************
Follow us:

What's New:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/new/

Blogger:
http://4nursing.blogspot.com/

Facebook:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/facebook

Linked In:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/nursefriendly

Nursing Entrepreneurs, Nurses In Business
http://nursingentrepreneurs.ning.com/

Twitter!
http://www.nursefriendly.com/twitter

StumbleUpon,
http://www.nursefriendly.com/stumbleupon
******************************************************

Sincerely,

150,000 + Nurse-Reviewed & Approved Nursing Links

http://www.4nursing.com
http://www.howtostartanursingagency.com
http://www.jocularity.com
http://www.nursinghumor.com
http://www.nursefriendly.com
http://www.nursingentrepreneurs.com
http://www.nursingexperts.com

Thursday, November 11, 2010

FDA Proposes Graphic Warnings For Cigarette Packs, Ads : Shots - Health News Blog : NPR

Shots - NPR's Health Blog

< previous post next post >

FDA Proposes Graphic Warnings For Cigarette Packs, Ads

Categories: Your Health, FDA, Public Health & Prevention

11:32 am

November 10, 2010

Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
Share

Stumble Upon
Reddit
Yahoo! Buzz
Digg

What is this?

Share

Print
Comments (157)
Recommend (19)

by Scott Hensley and Richard Knox

November 10, 2010

Listen to the Story

All Things Considered

[3 min 17 sec]

Add to Playlist
Transcript

FDA
Coming soon: Bold health warnings for cigarette packages and advertisements.

Now that the Food and Drug Administration has broad powers to regulate tobacco, it's starting to flex its muscles.

Today, the agency unveiled a proposal that would add large, dramatic warnings to cigarette packages and advertisements in a move to discourage people from smoking.

The Tobacco Control Act requires the FDA to come up with regulations for tougher labeling of cigarettes. Now you can see the agencies' ideas and comment on them through early January. Final regulations are due next June. Tobacco companies will have until September, 2012, to make the changes.

Under the law, these warnings will have to appear on both the front and back of cigarette packs, taking up half the real estate on each side of the label.

In big ads, they're supposed to occupy at least 20 percent of the space. For smaller ads, there will be alternative anti-smoking messages with bright logos.

Will they work? Some research shows that bold graphic warnings do a better job than text alone in communicating risks and affecting behavior. Other countries, such as Canada, have blazed this trail already.

As NPR's Richard Knox reports on All Things Considered, David Sweanor, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, says Canada's decade-old warnings do work — up to a point.

"What we see with these sorts of warnings is that it does increase motivation," Sweanor says. "People are more aware of the risks. They are wanting to quit. But that has to be combined with services that make it more likely."

Sweanor says smoking hasn't gone down as much as Canada as they'd hoped because the government hasn't provided enough access to smoking cessation programs.

The U.S. government's new campaign, powered by a new 2009 tobacco control law, does include more coverage of quit-smoking programs through Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance. But some wonder if the funding will materialize.

Others say the scare tactics can sometimes backfire. One study that tested warnings on a bunch of smokers, who happened to be psychology students, found that when smoking was a big part of someone's self-esteem, they weren't deterred by warnings that cigarettes could kill them. In fact, paradoxically, the death warnings might make them want to smoke more.

For those people, the researchers say, it might be more effective to dent that self-esteem with messages that say things like "Smoking makes you unattractive."

Almost two decades ago, comedian (and smoker) Denis Leary poked fun at smokers' ability to ignore warnings in a scathing, very unscientific and yet on-the-mark bit:

It doesn't matter how big the warnings are. You could have cigarettes that were called the warnings. You could have cigarettes that come in a black pack, with a skull and crossbone on the front, called "Tumors," and smokers would line up around the block saying, "I can't wait to get my hands on these [bleeping] things."

But the FDA is betting big that scare tactics will work on some of the 47 million Americans who still smoke – and deter more teenagers from starting. Smoking prevalence has stalled at 20 percent of adults – and, ominously, about the same proportion of high school seniors.

Tobacco companies didn't have much to say about the new warning labels – although a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds notes that the company has already filed a suit challenging the constitionality of the warning label requirements, on First Amendment grounds.

Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
Share

Stumble Upon
Reddit
Yahoo! Buzz
Digg

What is this?

Share

Print
Comments (157)
Recommend (19)

Comments

Please note that all comments must adhere to the NPR.org discussion rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Login / Register

More information is required for you to participate in the NPR online community. Add this information

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

abbey baskan (thinkstraight) wrote:

@whoam(Inow): Of course smoke from cars bother me, too. But not only is that NOT the topic here, the analogy actually makes my point. We have limits on what can come out of the back of a car. That has allowed us to come a long way in cleaning up the air in many parts of the world. At least we did "regulate" that and it worked, albeit to varying degrees. Here, doing nothing is the worst alternative.

Thursday, November 11, 2010 2:27:37 PM

Recommend (0)

Report abuse

Rita Serrano (senorita) wrote:

People will carry the cig pack in a holder of some type where the pictures will not be visible. This type of packaging will stop people from smoking.

Thursday, November 11, 2010 1:35:35 PM

Recommend (0)

Report abuse

Don Smith (veggiebreeze) wrote:

Once the smoker is hooked there is little need to warn of the health risks. Anyone who awakens and hacks for 15 minutes, or who gets short of breath walking down the driveway to the mailbox, knows that cigarettes are slowly killing him. But it is up and coming smokers who might be disuaded by graphic warnings. I was once leaving a party and a young woman lit up. Her friend was dismayed and said, "Don't you know those things give you cancer?" The woman replied, "Yeah, but that stuff comes on slowly."
Parents (smokers or not) do whatever it takes to keep your kids from becoming fodder for tobacco profits.

Thursday, November 11, 2010 1:34:25 PM

Recommend (0)

Report abuse

Art Aficionado (Art_Aficionado) wrote:

An NPR moderator has removed this comment because it does not adhere to the discussion guidelines

Thursday, November 11, 2010 1:01:22 PM

Recommend (1)

Report abuse

m e (jmar19) wrote:

@Amphitere of course there are some who don't know smoking is bad for their health, but the vast majority in the US do know and assume they will quit before it gets the better of them. For that matter, most people many not be aware that it isn't just lung cancer that afflicts smokers but also esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer and not to mention 100s of other diseases more prevalent amongst smokers, or the fiscal impact it imparts on our healthcare system, but sadly even that knowledge and understanding won't speak as loudly as tobacco addiction. Quitting is hard, most people DON'T appreciate that. These labels aren't going to make a big impact, no more than the current written warnings or advertisement warnings or campaigns that flood the TVs and schools about the health impact of smoking. Public policy that gets at the heart of smoking convenience DOES make a difference, increasing the tax on tobacco products, making it illegal to smoke indoors, on patios and on the beach or near schools, for example, that makes a difference, albeit most smokers hate it and say they have the right to do whatever they want to their bodies, which is true to some extent, unless they ave kids or harm others with their second hand smoke.

Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:53:48 PM

Recommend (0)

Report abuse

Tell Me (WhatToThink) wrote:

Hard to imagine, but as a former smoker I can tell you that one does not need the FDA or anyone to tell you that smoking is bad for you, and no smoker would have believed that it wasn't harmful despite the industry's claims (as if stanley tools could tell me hitting myself on the head with a hammer was harmless and they'd somehow be culpable for me splitting my skull). Graphic pictures on packs is going to do nothing whatsoever.

Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:41:05 PM

Recommend (0)

Report abuse

James Broderick II (Amphitere) wrote:

jmar19: Sadly, what you say is not the case. There are still PLENTY of people who don't believe smoking is bad for you, and plenty MORE who don't believe smoking is /that/ bad for you. Sad, no?

Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:20:39 PM

Recommend (1)

Report abuse

who am (Inow) wrote:

PS as a smoker I am fine about the warnings. the stuff is way addictive. more so than opium according to the docs.

Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:19:37 PM

Recommend (0)

Report abuse

who am (Inow) wrote:

"Just today as I was walking down the street the man in front of me a couple of paces was smoking and I couldn't get out of the way without breathing in what came out of his lungs!"

lol but the cars didn't bother you?

Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:18:24 PM

Recommend (0)

Report abuse

who am (Inow) wrote:

and the tabacco industry is going to use "freedom of speech' to say "NO"

Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:16:04 PM

Recommend (0)

Report abuse

View all comments (157)»

< previous post next post >