Local hospitals are offering low-dose CT scans to smokers to screen for lung cancer.

Medical Imaging of Fredericksburg, a partnership of Mary Washington Healthcare and Radiologic Associates of Fredericksburg, began a screening program earlier this month. Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center also offers the service.

The low-dose CT scans are aimed at current and former smokers in an attempt to identify cancerous tumors early, when treatment for lung cancer can make a difference. Unfortunately, most cases of lung cancer are not diagnosed until treatment will only extend the number of weeks a person lives instead of eliminating the disease.

The program is available for persons aged 55-75 who have the equivalent of a pack-a-day cigarette habit for 30 years. The imaging costs $325 at Medical Imaging of Fredricksburg and $375 at Spotsylvania; typically not covered by insurance and payable by the patient. Continue Reading

Contrary to Popular Belief, Cigarettes Damage the Body in Minutes, Not Years.

Tobacco grown and harvested is dried and cut, then processed into various products including dip, snuff, and cigarettes. Cigarettes are paper-rolled and available in filtered and non-filtered versions. The greatest toxicity of cigarettes stems from the smoke inhaled after lighting the non-filter end of the product. The chemicals contained in the smoke have been counted for years as technology has advanced and have recently been quoted as stretching above 5,000 with over 40 of those chemicals known to be cancer-causing. Previously noted, it would take years before damage to the body would occur by smoking. However, a recent study published in Cancer Research in Toxicology shows that chemicals which cause cancer form rapidly after smoking.

The long term effect of smoking including heart disease, lung disease, stroke, and a long list of cancers, among others, is well Continue Reading

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 43% of people over age 20 who suffer with depression are also smokers.

The smoking rates of those with depression are similar to the population as a whole, as reported in 1964 when the United States Surgeon General first reported on the dangers of smoking. Moreover, depressed smokers are less likely to quit smoking than those without depression.

Cigarettes provide a temporary mood boost to those with depression. The effect is similar as an anti-depressant. When the mood boost subsides, a depressed smoker will reach for another cigarette to again boost their mood. The more a person smokes, the more reliant upon the chemical reaction the body becomes. This makes eliminating nicotine (along side the thousands of other chemicals including radiation and cancer causing agents) from the body a more grueling process.

Additionally, smokers often lack confidence in their daily lives without factoring in the continuous adding of bans and snide Continue Reading

Chantix lawsuits are rising around the country due to heart attack and stroke!

Pfizer's Chantix has spent much time in the news and in court. The black-box warning advises,

The drug side effects state that all patients must be monitored for neuropsychiatric symptoms including changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicide ideations and behaviors, and attempts at suicide. Those behaviors occurred in people with and without psychiatric conditions.

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Approximately 90 per cent of lung cancer cases are attributed to smoking. Cigarettes contain over 4,000 toxic chemicals and more than 40 known carcinogens. It stands to reason that most lung cancer cases are caused by smoking tobacco cigarettes given their toxicity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday, September 15, 2011, that during the years 2006-2008, the lung cancer rates amongst women dropped 2 per cent nationally. Interestingly, however, the number of new cancer cases reported in the western states including California and Nevada fell as much as 4 per cent during the same time period.

For men, the West provided the same average decrease in new lung cancer cases of 4 per cent. Maybe the West has something going with their heavy regulations and bans that stretch beyond public space into vehicles and multifamily housing units. Continue Reading

Virtually everywhere you look, there is a non-smoking sign or a new ban passed that prohibits cigarettes from burning. In spite of all the regulations on smoking, many people continue to light up. The following list of states; based off government data, bans and restrictions, taxes and sales, and smoking attributed deaths compiled by Health.com, represents the greatest percentage of population that continues to defy legislature and smoke.

Missouri: This state is all for smoking when it comes to taxes. A whopping 17 cent tax is imposed above the government's $1.00 per pack. Perhaps the low cost of tobacco is an encouragement to keep on puffing?

Louisiana: In a state known for wild parties in the streets, it should come as no surprise that more than one in five people smoke. State Senator Rob Marionneaux has tried, without success, to gain support of a ban aimed at stubbing out Continue Reading

According to a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health (July 2011), teenagers with high positive well-being had a reduced risk of engaging in unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, binge drinking, using drugs, and eating unhealthy foods while transitioning into adulthood.

The study is one of the first focused on the effect of psychological characteristics in teens.

In order to measure positive well-being in adolescence, Hoyt and her team went back to the 1994 data from that specific sample of young people and examined their answers to a series of "well-being" questions. These questions focused on topics that gauged the teens' sense of happiness, enjoyment of life, hopefulness for the future, self-esteem and social acceptance. They used these measures of positive well-being during adolescence (measured in 1994) to predict perceived general health and risky health behaviors in young adulthood (measured in 2001). The researchers controlled the study for health conditions in adolescence, socioeconomic status, symptoms of depression and other known predictors of long-term health.

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Grandparents have a unique relationship with grandchildren that is founded on love, support, and respect. Seldom are grandparents in a disciplinary roll, which makes communication more fluid and focused, especially important when it comes to discussing poor choices and health effects of any given activity.

Grandparents are key influencers on a child's sense of identity. The intergenerational connection between grandparent and grandchild could provide the support and encouragement for one child to decline the offer to try tobacco products down the road. Celebrate Grandparent's Day by discussing the ill effects of smoking. Continue Reading

According to a news release August 29, 2011 by the European Society of Cardiology, Women who smoke suffer increased damage to arteries over their male counterparts.

Researchers utilized ultrasound to assess the carotid arteries of men and women in Finland, Sweden, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. The study was comprised of 1,893 women and 1,694 men.

As presented, the study concluded that atherosclerosis, a thickening of the arterial walls, was present in both genders of smokers. However, for women, the thickening of the arteries in the neck that carry oxygenated blood to the brain was more than five times greater than in men.

The association of atherosclerosis and smoking was independent of other risk factors including:

• cholesterol
• obesity
• age
• blood pressure
• social class Continue Reading
  
  

Many Middle Eastern countries utilize hookas and shisha pipes and tobacco as part of their cultural celebrations. Those events are sacred and can't be easily changed due to the health risks associated with smoking this form of tobacco.

Hookahs, traditional in Indian and Middle Eastern cultures, come in various sizes and with a varying number of hoses, but they work the same: a piece of burning charcoal is placed over top of a small bowl containing flavoured herbs or a tobacco mixture. Continue Reading