Weight gain after quitting smoking higher than previously thought

ScienceDaily (July 10, 2012) — Giving up smoking is associated with an average weight gain of 4-5 kg after 12 months, most of which occurs within the first three months of quitting, finds a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossFitnessObesitySmokingMen's HealthDiseases and ConditionsReferenceLiposuctionGeneral fitness trainingStretch marksOverweight

Although this figure is higher than previously thought, an accompanying editorial argues that the health benefits of quitting far outweigh this modest gain in body weight and should not deter people from quitting.

It is well known that giving up smoking is often followed by an increase in body weight, but estimates vary. Concern about weight gain is also widespread among smokers and it may deter some -- particularly women -- from trying to quit.

So a team of researchers based in France and the UK analysed the results of 62 studies to assess weight change among successful quitters -- with and without the help of nicotine replacement therapy -- after 12 months.

In untreated quitters, the average weight gain was 1.1 kg at one month, 2.3 kg at two months, 2.9 kg at three months, 4.2 kg at six months, and 4.7 kg at 12 months.

This is higher than the typical 2.9 kg often quoted in smoking cessation advice leaflets and more than the 2.3 kg many female smokers report being willing to tolerate, on average, before attempting to quit, say the authors.

However, the changes in body weight varied widely, with around 16% of quitters losing weight and 13% gaining more than 10 kg after 12 months. This, say the authors, indicates that the average value does not reflect the actual weight change of many people who give up smoking.

Estimates of weight gain for people using nicotine replacement therapy were similar, as were estimates from people especially concerned about weight gain.

Previous reports have underestimated the average amount of weight gained when people stop smoking, they conclude. "These data suggest that doctors might usefully give patients a range of expected weight gain."

They suggest that further research is needed to identify the people most at risk of gaining weight and to clarify the best way to prevent continued weight gain after quitting.

In an accompanying editorial, experts from the Catalan Institute of Oncology/University of Barcelona and University of Sydney say that more data is needed to settle this question, and they point out that previous studies have shown that many smokers gain more weight than never smokers for a few years, but then the rate of weight gain falls to that seen in people who have never smoked.

"Although obesity is positively associated with an increased risk of all cause mortality, cohort studies indicate that modest weight gain does not increase the risk of death; smoking does," they conclude.

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Smoking in movies may turn teens to cigarettes: study

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Smoking Might Raise Your Odds for Skin Cancer

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking has long been tied to a number of cancers, and now another tumor type, skin cancer, may join that list.

A new review of data finds that lighting up may boost the risk of a common type of nonmelanoma skin cancer.

Researchers sifted through the results of 25 studies conducted in 11 countries worldwide. Most of the studies included middle-aged to elderly people.

This "meta-analysis" revealed that smoking was associated with a 52 percent increased risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma skin cancer, according to Jo Leonardi-Bee, of the U.K. Center for Tobacco Control Studies at the University of Nottingham in England, and colleagues.

Squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas -- collectively known as nonmelanoma skin cancer -- account for about 97 percent of all skin cancers. The incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer is rising worldwide, with about two million to three million new cases each year.

The authors said they found no clear association between smoking and basal cell carcinomas. The findings were published online June 18 in the journal Archives of Dermatology,

"This study highlights the importance for clinicians to actively survey high-risk patients, including current smokers, to identify early skin cancers, since early diagnosis can improve prognosis because early lesions are simpler to treat compared with larger or neglected lesions," the researchers concluded.

This isn't the first time smoking has been link to skin cancer. In December, researchers reporting in the journal Cancer Causes Control said that women diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma were twice as likely to have been smokers than those who were free of the disease.

The study, led by Dana Rollison, an associate member in the Moffitt Cancer Center department of cancer epidemiology, in Tampa, Fla., also found that men who were long-term smokers were at slightly higher risk for basal cell carcinomas.

Speaking at the time, Dr. Jeffrey Dover, associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University Medical School, said the findings weren't surprising because "we know cigarette smoke contains carcinogens" and smokers are "blowing the smoke and ash around their faces all day."

Squamous cell cancer occurs in the epidermis, the top layer of skin, and can spread to other organs. Basal cell skin cancer occurs in the dermis, the skin layer beneath the epidermis. While it does not spread to other organs, it is far more common than squamous cell cancer.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about skin cancer.

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Heavy Drinking, Smoking Won't Harm Men's Sperm: Study

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To quit smoking, try eating more veggies and fruits

ScienceDaily (June 6, 2012) — If you're trying to quit smoking, eating more fruits and vegetables may help you quit and stay tobacco-free for longer, according to a new study published online by University at Buffalo public health researchers.

See Also:Health & MedicineSmokingVegetarianStaying HealthyPlants & AnimalsFoodBotanyOrganicReferenceFood groupsVegetableGreenhouseTobacco smoking

The paper, in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, is the first longitudinal study on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and smoking cessation.

The authors, from UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions, surveyed 1,000 smokers aged 25 and older from around the country, using random-digit dialing telephone interviews. They followed up with the respondents fourteen months later, asking them if they had abstained from tobacco use during the previous month.

"Other studies have taken a snapshot approach, asking smokers and nonsmokers about their diets," says Gary A. Giovino, PhD, chair of the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior at UB. "We knew from our previous work that people who were abstinent from cigarettes for less than six months consumed more fruits and vegetables than those who still smoked. What we didn't know was whether recent quitters increased their fruit and vegetable consumption or if smokers who ate more fruits and vegetables were more likely to quit."

The UB study found that smokers who consumed the most fruit and vegetables were three times more likely to be tobacco-free for at least 30 days at follow-up 14 months later than those consuming the lowest amount of fruits and vegetables. These findings persisted even when adjustments were made to take into account age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income and health orientation.

They also found that smokers with higher fruit and vegetable consumption smoked fewer cigarettes per day, waited longer to smoke their first cigarette of the day and scored lower on a common test of nicotine dependence.

"We may have identified a new tool that can help people quit smoking," says Jeffrey P. Haibach, MPH, first author on the paper and graduate research assistant in the UB Department of Community Health and Health Behavior. "Granted, this is just an observational study, but improving one's diet may facilitate quitting."

Several explanations are possible, such as less nicotine dependence for people who consume a lot of fruits and vegetables or the fact that higher fiber consumption from fruits and vegetables make people feel fuller.

"It is also possible that fruits and vegetables give people more of a feeling of satiety or fullness so that they feel less of a need to smoke, since smokers sometimes confuse hunger with an urge to smoke," explains Haibach.

And unlike some foods which are known to enhance the taste of tobacco, such as meats, caffeinated beverages and alcohol, fruits and vegetables do not enhance the taste of tobacco.

"Foods like fruit and vegetables may actually worsen the taste of cigarettes," says Haibach.

While smoking rates in the U.S. continue to decline, Giovino notes, the rate of that decline has slowed during the past decade or so. "Nineteen percent of Americans still smoke cigarettes, but most of them want to quit," he says.

Haibach adds: "It's possible that an improved diet could be an important item to add to the list of measures to help smokers quit. We certainly need to continue efforts to encourage people to quit and help them succeed, including proven approaches like quitlines, policies such as tobacco tax increases and smoke-free laws, and effective media campaigns."

The UB researchers caution that more research is needed to determine if these findings replicate and if they do, to identify the mechanisms that explain how fruit and vegetable consumption may help smokers quit. They also see a need for research on other dietary components and smoking cessation.

Gregory G. Homish, PhD, assistant professor in the UB Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, also is a co-author.

Funding was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Legacy®.

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Cigarette Tax Hikes Curb Smoking in Pregnancy: Study

HealthDay – 2 hrs 57 mins ago TUESDAY, June 5 (HealthDay News) -- When taxes on cigarettes go up, smoking among pregnant Americans goes down, new research reveals.

Exploring the potential impact of state tobacco control policies on pregnant smokers, the study suggests that bumping cigarette prices by a dollar a pack can translate into a notable increase in the quit rate among pregnant women and new mothers.

"Basically, the thing we find most important is that these cigarette taxes can be used effectively to decrease smoking among pregnant women and women who just gave birth," noted study co-author Sara Markowitz, an associate professor in the department of economics at Emory University in Atlanta.

"And it's not at all surprising, because people respond to prices," she added. "When things are expensive, they buy less of them, and when they're cheap, they buy more."

Markowitz's team, alongside colleagues from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discuss their findings in the early online publication of the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The authors point out that nearly one-quarter of all pregnant women in the United States are smokers, with more than half refusing to quit during their pregnancy.

Not smoking improves the health of mother and child in the short and long term, the study authors said. According to the American Lung Association, smoking while pregnant leads to an estimated 20 percent to 30 percent of low-birth weight babies, up to 14 percent of preterm deliveries, and about 10 percent of all infant deaths.

To gauge how state public policy may affect smoking habits among pregnant women, the authors pored through data concerning nearly 225,500 American women who gave birth between 2000 and 2005.

The woman, who were spread across 29 states and New York City, were tracked during pregnancy and through four months post-delivery.

The results: A dollar increase in cigarette taxes/prices appeared to prompt a nearly 5 percent increase in the probability that a pregnant women would kick the habit by her final trimester (up from about 44 percent to nearly 49 percent).

Similarly, a buck bump in pack cost gave rise to a 4 percent-plus bump in the probability that a new mother would continue to forgo a smoke four months after giving birth (up from about 21 percent to nearly 26 percent).

On another policy front, the research team further found that states that implemented complete bans on smoking in private workplaces also bumped up the probability that a pregnant woman would quit smoking by between 4 percent and 5 percent.

"Now, of course, we recognize that a tax imposes costs on all smokers," said Markowitz. "But if reducing smoking is your desired goal, than raising taxes is an effective way -- probably the most effective way -- to achieve that goal."

Stanton Glantz, professor of medicine in the cardiology division at the University of California, San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, concurred.

"I haven't seen other studies that specifically looked at pregnant women and smoking before," he noted. "But this work is very well done by a very well-regarded group of people, and I'm not surprised with their finding, which just shows that pregnant women behave like everybody else. Which is to say that increasing the cigarette tax does lead people to quit smoking."

More information

For more on state cigarette taxes, visit the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

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States Use Only Fraction of Tobacco Revenues to Fight Smoking, Study Finds

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Fewer Young Americans Smoking, Survey Finds

HealthDay – 45 mins ago THURSDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking rates among American teens and young adults fell between 2004 and 2010, but too many of them still light up, a new federal government report reveals.

The rate of current cigarette use among U.S. teens decreased from nearly 12 percent in 2004 to about 8 percent in 2010, and dropped from nearly 40 percent to about 34 percent among young adults, according to the analysis from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Survey on Drug Use and Health released Thursday.

The percentage of daily smokers among teens fell from just over 3 percent to under 2 percent, and decreased from about 20 percent to nearly 16 percent among young adults during the study period, the survey found.

Among young adults who were daily smokers, the percentage who smoked 26 or more cigarettes a day (about 1

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Citywide smoking ban reduced maternal smoking and preterm birth risk

ScienceDaily (May 10, 2012) — A citywide ban on public smoking in Colorado led to significant decreases in maternal smoking and preterm births, providing the first evidence in the U.S. that such interventions can impact maternal and fetal health, according to an article in Journal of Women’s Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

See Also:Health & MedicineSmokingTeen HealthMind & BrainSmoking AddictionBehaviorScience & SocietyPublic HealthSocial IssuesReferencePremature birthBreech birthBirth weightStillbirth

Prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke–whether the mother is a smoker or exposure is from environmental sources– is associated with premature births and low birth weight. The results of a “natural experiment” that compared outcomes in two cities, one with a smoking ban and one without a ban, showed reductions in both maternal smoking and premature births in the city with a smoking ban.

In the article “A Citywide Smoking Ban Reduced Maternal Smoking and Risk for Preterm, Not Low Birth Weight, Births: A Colorado Natural Experiment,” Robert Lee Page II, PharmD, MSPH, Julia Slejko, BA, and Anne Libby, PhD, University of Colorado, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, concluded that a population-level intervention using a smoking ban improved maternal and fetal outcomes.

“Exposure to tobacco smoke is associated with not only death from lung cancer and heart disease but also risks to developing fetuses,” says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women’s Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women’s Health. “The promising results of this study suggest that pregnant women and their fetuses represent an important population for further study of health and cost effects of smoke-free ordinances.”

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Increased bodyweight after stopping smoking may be due to changes in insulin secretion

ScienceDaily (May 7, 2012) — Fear of putting on weight is one of the major reasons why smokers do not give up their habit. The reasons for this weight gain are believed to be in part due to metabolic changes in the body, but until now precise details of these changes were not known. On May 8, 2012, however, a researcher from Austria told delegates at the International Congress of Endocrinology/European Congress of Endocrinology that her work had shown that changes in insulin secretion could be related to weight gain after smoking cessation.

See Also:Health & MedicineSmokingDiet and Weight LossDiabetesObesityFitnessHormone DisordersReferenceBlood sugarDiabetes mellitus type 2HyperglycemiaGlycemic index

Dr. Marietta Stadler, from the Hietzing Hospital in Vienna, Austria, enrolled healthy smokers on a smoking cessation programme into a study in which they underwent three-hour oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) while still smoking and after a minimum of three and six months after giving up. Their body composition was also measured at the same time. The researchers measured beta cell

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Friends' Parents Can Sway Teens' Odds for Drinking, Smoking

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Prenatal Smoking Linked to High-Functioning Autism in Kids

HealthDay – Fri, May 4, 2012 FRIDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- If a woman smokes during pregnancy, it may increase her child's risk of high-functioning autism, a new study suggests.

But the raised risk was slight, experts said. And researchers found no association between maternal smoking and more severe forms of autism.

What the findings suggest is that although autism spectrum disorders share many of the same symptoms, subtypes of the disorder likely have many different genetic and environmental causes that vary from person to person and by type of autism, explained study author Amy Kalkbrenner, an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Zilber School of Public Health.

"We know 'autism spectrum disorders' is an umbrella term. What we're showing is the response to a environmental toxin may differ by the subtype of autism a child has," Kalkbrenner said.

The study was published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Kalkbrenner and her colleagues examined data on maternal smoking from birth certificates of nearly 634,000 U.S. children born in 11 states in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998. That data was compared with information on 3,315 children aged 8 and under diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network.

About 13 percent of the mothers smoked during pregnancy, and 11 percent of the mothers of kids with an autism spectrum disorder smoked during pregnancy, the investigators found.

According to the study, kids born to moms who smoked during pregnancy had about a 25 percent increased risk of having high-functioning autism, such as Asperger's syndrome. However, the results did not reach statistical significance.

Nor was smoking a clear risk factor for autistic disorder (a more severe form of autism).

The researchers noted that the data used in the study may underestimate the true prevalence of autism spectrum disorders among mothers who smoke because lower-income kids are less likely to be identified as having autism, and lower-income mothers are also more likely to smoke during pregnancy.

When researchers did another statistical analysis that took into account a suspected undercounting of kids with autism, the analysis did suggest a statistically significant association between smoking and high-functioning autism in offspring.

Alycia Halladay, director for environmental research for Autism Speaks, said the research is consistent with prior studies that have found either no association or only a mild association between smoking during pregnancy and autism in children. What's interesting about this paper is that it included data on large numbers of kids, she added, and it hinted at differences in the contributing factors for various types of autism spectrum disorders.

"It really supports the idea that there are multiple causes of autism, both genetic and environmental. When we talk about autism being one group or disorder, we really need to ensure we have these groups as well-defined as possible," Halladay said. "This is a very heterogeneous disorder."

There are multiple reasons why tobacco might raise the risk of autism, Kalkbrenner noted. Tobacco can restrict oxygen flow to the baby, while the nicotine is known to interact with the nervous system and cross the placenta into the developing fetus. "There are many potential biological pathways for which tobacco can harm the developing baby," she said.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that's characterized by problems with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and restricted interests and behaviors. An estimated one in 88 U.S. children has the disorder, according to the CDC.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more on autism.

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UK mulls plain cigarette packs to cut smoking

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Mindworks Hypnosis Sponsors World Hypnotism Day Event: Dump the weight, quit smoking, and more

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20128th Annual World Hypnotism Day events in Bellevue, WA. 1/28/12. FREE lectures, and hypnotic experiences. Co-Sponsored by Mindworks Hypnosis and the NGHWA--the National Guild of Hypnotists, Washington State Chapter, a Professional Nonprofit Organization.

Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA (1888PressRelease) January 15, 2012 - Mindworks Hypnosis of Bellevue, Washington, is co-sponsoring a free public event: "World Hypnotism Day" to be held at the Bellevue Coast Hotel on Saturday, January 28th, 2012 from 8 am - 5 pm. In partnership with the NGHWA (National Guild of Hypnotists, Washington State Chapter), Connie and Michael Brannan of Mindworks Hypnosis and other highly respected local hypnotherapists will be presenting free lectures and experiential classes to the public on a variety of topics as part of the 8th Annual World Hypnotism Day. World Hypnotism Day is an international event promoting the truths and benefits of hypnotism. Learn more here: http://www.nghwa.org.

Among the highlights: Michael Brannan, Licensed Trainer of NLP

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CDC: Ads spark huge increase to quit smoking line

More than twice as many people called a toll-free number to help them quit smoking a week after the launch of a $54 million ad campaign that shows graphic images of diseased smokers, federal health officials said Friday.

Calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW totaled more than 33,000 last week

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Bed-Sharing, Smoking Play Role in Sudden Infant Death

HealthDay – 1 hr 45 mins ago MONDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) -- Although the rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) dropped by more than 50 percent following the start of a U.S. campaign encouraging parents to put babies to sleep on their backs, new research suggests that risk factors other than "tummy sleeping" may explain why SIDS rates have not declined further.

Chief among those other risk factors are bed-sharing (where the baby shares a sleeping surface with a parent or parents), smoking exposure before and after birth, and having objects in the crib, the study revealed.

"It's not that there are new risk factors; it's that now not all babies are sleeping on their tummies, so other things can be uncovered," explained study co-author Felicia Trachtenberg, a senior research scientist at New England Research Institutes, in Watertown, Mass.

The findings, culled from an analysis of 568 SIDS deaths that occurred in San Diego between 1991 and 2008, appear online March 26 and in the April print issue of Pediatrics.

Tummy sleeping is still the leading risk factor for SIDS, according to study co-author Dr. Henry Krous, director of the San Diego SIDS/Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood Research Project at Rady Children's Hospital.

Nevertheless, the Back-to-Sleep program, started in 1994, has made a huge difference.

"It has been the most successful program that one could imagine," Krous said. "The incidence rates from SIDS have dropped dramatically in the United States, and similar public educational campaigns in Western Europe and Australia and New Zealand have had similar dramatic declines."

The study found that the percentage of infants who died of SIDS who were found on their stomachs decreased from about 84 percent to 30 percent.

Certain environmental or genetic factors -- including being black, male, premature or exposed to alcohol or smoking in the uterus -- also made a baby more susceptible.

"Exposure to cigarette smoke, either when the baby is in utero or after the baby has been born, is a very important risk factor for SIDS," Krous said.

Physical risks around the time of death included having the head covered; sleeping on an adult mattress, couch or playpen; soft bedding; bed sharing, and having cold symptoms.

Bed-sharing increased from 19 percent to almost 38 percent during the study period.

Dr. Carl Hunt, a research professor of pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., commented on the findings.

"The most striking thing is that SIDS mortality rates have fallen considerably over this period of time, and the prevalence of prone sleeping has decreased significantly," Hunt said.

He noted that bed-sharing increased the most with infants younger than 2 months of age. The issue of bed-sharing has been very controversial, because of "concern that

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