Everyone sees you as a risk, expense, or questionably productive.

It's no secret that insurance rates are lower for non-smokers. In 1983 health-care coverage was modestly estimated at $300 less per year less for those who opted for the hale and hearty route not to light up. Some insurance companies even offer up to a 45% discount on term-life coverage premiums too. Many American citizens receive insurance coverage from their employers and these companies have begun to notice this and several other ways that smokers are costing them big bucks each year.

The health-care cost is an obvious elevated expense but who would have thought that smokers could have a negative impact on workplace morale also? On average, smokers miss about 50% more work than nonsmokers, leaving the healthy workers to pick up their slack. The Dow Chemical Company found that, in 1974, smokers were absent 5.5 days more per year. Not only did this mean that temporary replacements were needed on these days but productivity shows a decline as well. Continue Reading

Dutch scientists evaluated more than 250 children for signs of arterial damage by means of thickness and flexibility to assess damage caused by smoke exposure while in womb.

In the study, children were evaluated at various points of time. At the initial visit when the child was 4-weeks of age, body dimensions and lung function were measured while parents filled out a survey that included questions regarding smoking before, during pregnancy, and after. At five years of age; the children returned and researchers utilized an ultrasound to measure the thickness and flexibility of the carotid artery, the vessels in the neck that deliver blood to the brain. During this visit updated information about smoking habits was collected from parents.

From the data collected, researchers shared: Continue Reading

A recent study conducted and released Thursday by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index reported that just under 26 percent of Ohioans are smokers; matching the smoking rates of Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Only one state topped the 26 percent mark - Kentucky reflects that 29 percent of the state's population lights up.

What makes Ohio notable is that it is the only state with a comprehensive smoking ban, yet according to those surveyed reflects more than one-in-four adults lighting up. Officials at the Ohio Department of Health said the report's findings were no consistent with their own survey conducted and released in 2010 that noted 22.5 percent of the state's population Continue Reading

According to a study released by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), cigarette smoking has declined just over 42 percent since 1965, but the number of smokers still remains above the targeted Healthy People 2010 (HP2010) goal of 12 percent.

The JAMA reviews a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes National Health Interview Survey data including:

• Smoking prevalence among working adults is 19.6 percent
• The smoking rate of those with less than a high school education is 28.4 percent
• The smoking rate of those who have no medical insurance is 28.6 percent
• For smokers living below the poverty level, the rate is 27.7 percent
• For the youngest group, aged 18 to 24 years, smoking prevalence is 23.8 percent

The report also looks at the various industries and occupations to determine which areas still remained high in terms of percentage of smokers. Education services represented the lowest number of smokers while the mining industry was the highest; 9.7 percent and 30 percent respectively. The report states that further cessation program availability is needed in some industries to assist in reducing the high-percentage of smokers. Continue Reading

Do you know an author or have a favorite book? Many writers are smokers, though the correlation between the two seems to accompany a time-old impression that writers must all be depressed and drink, too. There are many authors and writers who do not smoke and have never smoked in their life, but today, I want to share a list of authors (some quite famous) who died due to smoking related illnesses.

James Baldwin died at 63 due to esophageal cancer. Baldwin wrote Go Tell It On The Mountain and The Fire Next Time.

Erskine Caldwell died at 83 to lung cancer. Caldwell produced the author of Tobacco Road andGod's Little Acre. Continue Reading

New study finds that African-American, low-income children at highest risk.

A study published by UCLA Center for Health Policy Research states, "Despite having the second-lowest smoking rate in the nation, California is still home to nearly 2.5 million children under the age of 12 who are exposed to secondhand smoke." The study estimates that over 500,000 children are directly exposed to secondhand smoke in the home with another 1.9 million are at-risk due to living in a home where another family member is a smoker, though smoking may not be allowed inside the home.

Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at greater risk of developing asthma, respiratory infections, or death (via SIDS in infants). It is also important to note that children raised by smokers have a greater probability of becoming smokers themselves.

Some of the findings from the study include: Continue Reading

We had a comment left on the blog last week that I want to share with you. Sandy Lavender quit smoking using nicotine replacement therapy. She gives a very shocking dollar figure spent on cigarettes in the course of her 41-years of smoking.

I quit smoking after 41 years on September 12, 2011. It has been difficult at times especially the first 2 weeks but I did not want to smoke anymore so I stuck with it. I used the patches for 3 weeks but I still use the gum. Continue Reading