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Women Smokers Lose 14.5 Years Off Life Span

December 1, 2008

THURSDAY, Nov. 27 (HealthDay News) — During Lung Cancer Awareness Month in November, female smokers should take advantage of available resources, pick a quit day, and start taking steps toward kicking the habit, urges The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

Even though smoking takes an average of 14.5 years off women’s lives, almost one in five American women age 18 and older smokes.

“The damaging effects of smoking on women are extensive, well-documented, and can be observed from the cradle to the premature grave,” Dr. Sharon Phelan said in an organization news release. She helped develop ACOG’s smoking cessation materials for health care providers. Read More

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Steroid Inhalers Raise Pneumonia Risk for Lung Disease Patients

November 26, 2008

TUESDAY, Nov. 25 (HealthDay News) — A new review of existing data confirms that some common inhalers don’t boost the life spans of people with the lung disease known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In fact, these medicines may even raise the risk of pneumonia in patients with COPD, the fourth biggest killer in the United States.

But patients shouldn’t stop using the inhalers without consulting their doctors first, because the devices still provide benefit in some cases, said review lead author Dr. M. Bradley Drummond. Read More

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Molecular Switch in Brain May End Smokers’ Cravings

November 25, 2008

MONDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) — Blocking a neuropeptide receptor in the brain may be one way to quickly lessen the desire for a cigarette, a new study suggests.

Hypocretin-1, or Orexin A, a short chain of amino acids found in nerve tissue, appears to initiate a series of closely linked biochemical reactions that makes lab rats crave nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco, according to researchers at the Scripps Florida research institute in Jupiter.

If duplicated in humans, the finding could be lead to new smoking-cessation treatments, the researchers said. Read More

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Fewer than 1 in 10 Nurses Now Smoke

November 24, 2008

MONDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) — Like Americans in general, fewer U.S. nurses are smoking than ever, but the habit’s effects on those who do are still devastating, according to a new study.

The UCLA School of Nursing study found that the rate of smoking among nurses has fallen from 33.2 percent in 1976 to 8.4 percent in 2003. However, the death rate of those who do or did smoke is still double that of nonsmokers, according to the findings, published in the November/December edition of Nursing Research. Read More

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Iressa as Good as Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer

November 24, 2008

FRIDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) — The cancer-fighting pill Iressa works as well as chemotherapy as a second-line treatment for lung cancer, researchers report.

Although neither therapy prolongs survival beyond eight months, Iressa (gefitinib) causes fewer serious side effects and may be a better choice for patients who did not do well on their first round of chemotherapy. Read More

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Parent Smoking During Pregnancy Raises Kids’ Heart Risks

November 24, 2008

THURSDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDay News) — Damage to the arteries of children of smokers can be detected in the early decades of their lives, a new Dutch study finds.

“Smoking in families is harmful for children, including their cardiovascular system, as was found in many other studies,” said research leader Dr. Cuno S.P.M. Uiterwaal, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the University Medical Center in Utrecht. “This study adds that tobacco smoke exposure may have such effects already in very early life.” Read More

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Smokeout ‘08: The Perfect Time to Quit

November 20, 2008

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) — Everyone knows smoking is bad for you. Really bad.

But just last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the United States won’t meet the Healthy People 2010 objective of reducing the adult smoking rate to 12 percent or less. Read More

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Genetic Trait Could Predict Lung Cancer

November 19, 2008

TUESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) — Canadian scientists may have discovered a genetic trait that could provide an early indication of which former smokers will develop lung cancer.

The research, reported Tuesday at the American Association for Cancer Research conference in Washington, D.C., is still in the preliminary stages.

Still, “the benefit would hopefully be more targeted treatment,” said study author Emily A. Vucic, a graduate student at British Columbia Cancer Research Centre in Vancouver. Read More

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Smoking May Harm the Egg, Embryo

November 18, 2008

MONDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) — In research that might have implications for human reproduction, U.S. and Chinese scientists have found that cigarette smoke damages mouse eggs and embryos.

The study was designed to examine whether cigarette smoke causes oxidative stress, cell death and dysfunction, and the shortening of telomeres (DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect them from degradation). Two groups of female mice were exposed to cigarette smoke or cigarette smoke condensate for four weeks and compared to a control group of mice. Read More

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Lung Cancer Genetics Different in Black Patients: Study

November 17, 2008

FRIDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) — Non-small cell lung tumors tend to have a different genetic makeup in blacks than in whites, a finding that may explain why treatment and outcomes are different among races, a new study says.

In blacks, the tumors are more likely to carry more copies of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene and fewer mutations of EGFR itself, according to researchers who presented their findings Nov. 13 at the 2008 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. Previous studies have shown that more copies, regardless of mutation, predict patient responses to EGFR inhibitor drugs, such as erlotinib and gefitinib, the researchers said. Read More

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