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Quitting smoking before pregnancy could save babies’ lives
If more women quit smoking before they became pregnant, it would save infant lives, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concludes.
Despite a decline over the past decade in the number of women who smoke during pregnancy, smoking is still a major cause of newborn deaths, early births and babies born with low birth weight.
"We know about half of women quit when they find out that they are pregnant, but a lot of women are still smoking during pregnancy," said Patricia Dietz, DrPh, lead study investigator.
The study appears online and in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Dietz and co-investigators examined data from the US Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set, which included all 3.3 million births of single babies that occurred in the United States (with the exception of California) during 2002. About 11.5 percent of babies, or 386,000, had mothers who smoked during pregnancy.
Researchers determined that prenatal smoking caused 5 percent to 8 percent of premature births and 13 percent to 19 percent of cases of low birth weight in babies carried to full term. Of infants who died, 5 percent to 7 percent of preterm-related deaths and 23 percent to 34 percent of deaths caused by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) might have been preventable if the mother had not smoked before pregnancy.
In addition, the researchers wrote that if all women quit smoking during pregnancy, it could cut health care costs by about $232 million every year -- and improve overall health for both mothers and children.
"The percentage of SIDS deaths that might be avoided with smoking cessation is a significant number," said Diane Ashton, M.D., deputy medical director of the March of Dimes. "For women who smoke and are considering pregnancy, we strongly recommend that they get preconception counseling for smoking cessation."
Given these sobering statistics, why do some women continue to smoke during pregnancy?
"Studies have shown that these women may be dealing with a lot of stress, such as economic hardship, or they might be dealing with depression or other mental health issues," Dietz said. "Most of them are living with other smokers that make it difficult to quit. They may be living in communities where it's acceptable to smoke -- where everyone is smoking. So it's really complex."
"This is an addiction," Ashton said. "If pregnancy could cure addiction then none of these issues would be a problem. During pregnancy, women tend to be a little more highly motivated to address their addictions, but a lot of it depends on the level of readiness of the individual."
Source: Newswise, 08 June 2010
Update on the smoking baby
We've all been shocked by the photos of Ardi Rizal, the smoking 2-year-old from Indonesia.
His 30-year-old father started his son on cigarette smoking at just 18 months old because the baby had a hernia. The 2-year-old now smokes 40 cigarettes a day!
Ardi's mother who is 26-years-old told CNN that she was smoking when she was pregnant, but after she gave birth she quit. She said her baby would just smell smoke and be happy.
According to an article by by Krisa Van Meurs, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics Stanford University School of Medicine, cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including truly nasty things like cyanide, lead, and at least 60 cancer-causing compounds. When you smoke during pregnancy, that toxic brew gets into your bloodstream, your baby's only source of oxygen and nutrients.
Smoking during pregnancy can have lifelong effects on your baby's brain. Children of pregnant smokers are especially likely to have learning disorders behavioral problems, and relatively low IQs.
It's a known fact that second-hand smokers are likely to become smokers. Ardi became addicted in the womb and is now a true nicotine addict.
When his parents say he throws a tantrum when refused cigarettes, that makes sense with an addition.
There is also the issue of Ardi weighing 44 pounds at the age of two.
And the Indonesian government adds to this by having weak tobacco control regulations. They receive billions of dollars in annual revenue from tobacco sales. Their ad campaigns encourage even the youngest to smoke.
According to Indonesian Child Protection Commission chairman Hadi Supeno, "There are many children under five years of age who have started smoking. A decade ago, the average age of beginner smokers was 19, but a recent study found that the average is seven."
Data from the Central Statistics Agency showed 25 percent of Indonesian children aged 3 to 15 have tried cigarettes, with 3.2 percent of those active smokers.
The percentage of 5- to 9-year-olds lighting up increased from 0.4 percent in 2001 to 2.8 percent in 2004, the agency reported.
According to the American Lung Association web site "Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,400 deaths from lung cancer and 22,700 to 69,600 deaths from heart disease each year."
Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia's child protection commission, blames the increase on aggressive advertising and parents who are smokers. "A law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country," he said.
A health law passed in 2009 formally recognizes that smoking is addictive, and an anti-smoking coalition is pushing for tighter restrictions on smoking in public places, advertising bans and bigger health warnings on cigarette packages.
But a bill on tobacco control has been stalled because of opposition from the tobacco industry. The bill would ban cigarette advertising and sponsorship, prohibit smoking in public, and add graphic images to packaging.
Health Minister Endang Sedyaningsih conceded turning young people off smoking will be difficult in a country where it is perceived as positive because cigarette companies sponsor everything from scholarships to sporting events.
Ardi's mother told CNN that both she and her husband have quit smoking. She hopes Ardi will quit soon. She added that she learned that she can't use force to stop him, but she needs to be gentle and try to distract him.
Distraction does not sooth an addict. And no one has even addressed the child's obesity. This child needs medical attention.
Clearly this is a case of child neglect and abuse by Ardi's parents, his government and the cigarette companies.
Source: The Examiner - 06 June 2010
Children effectively protected from secondhand smoke by smoke-free air laws
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that children and adolescents living in non-smoking homes in counties with laws promoting smoke-free public places have significantly lower levels of a common biomarker of secondhand smoke exposure than those living in counties with no smoke-free laws.
The children living in non-smoking homes in U.S. counties with smoke-free laws had 39% lower prevalence of cotinine in their blood, an indicator of tobacco smoke exposure, compared to those living in counties with no smoke-free laws. Children living in homes with smokers exhibited little or no benefit from the smoke-free laws.
The study appears in the June 7, 2010 advance online edition of the journal Pediatrics.
"The findings suggest that smoke-free laws are an effective strategy to protect both children and adults from exposure to secondhand smoke. In addition, interventions designed to reduce or prevent adults from smoking around children are needed," said Melanie Dove, who received her doctorate in environmental health at HSPH in 2010 and led the study.
The HSPH researchers examined data from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a cross-sectional survey designed to monitor the health and nutritional status of the U.S. population. They analyzed the cotinine levels in 11,486 nonsmoking youngsters, aged 3-19 years, from 117 counties, both with and without exposure to secondhand smoke in the home.
In addition to a 39% lower prevalence of detectable cotinine, the researchers also found that children in non-smoking homes had 43% lower mean cotinine levels.
Over the past decade the number of state and local smoke-free laws in the nation has grown significantly. For example, the number of smoke-free laws in workplaces, restaurants and bars in the U.S. has increased from 0 in 1988 to 175 in 2006.
"These laws have been shown to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke among adults. Our results show a similar association in children and adolescents not living with a smoker in the home," said Gregory Connolly, senior author of the paper and director of the Tobacco Control Research Program at HSPH. Douglas Dockery, professor of environmental epidemiology and chair of the Department of Environmental Health, also was a study author.
According to the 2006 Surgeon General's Report, there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Children are particularly vulnerable to the toxic compounds in secondhand smoke because they have higher breathing rates and their lungs are still developing, the authors write. Exposure to secondhand smoke in children can irritate the lungs, resulting in coughing or wheezing, and can trigger an asthma attack in children with asthma. Secondhand smoke also has been associated with sudden infant death syndrome, respiratory illnesses and middle ear disease.
For children, the home is the primary source of secondhand smoke exposure and most of the smoking is done by the parents. Potential exposure sources for children outside the home include cars, private child care centers, restaurants, shopping malls and parks.
Approximately 20 percent of the youth in the HSPH study lived with a smoker in the home. These children had the highest cotinine levels and could benefit the most from an intervention to reduce exposure, regardless of smoke-free laws that might be in place, say the researchers.
"One way to reduce or prevent adults from smoking around children is for physicians to counsel parents to stop smoking," said Connolly.
This research was funded by the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute Clinical Innovator Award. Dove's research was supported in part by a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Training Program in Environmental Epidemiology.
"Smoke-free Air Laws and Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Nonsmoking Youth, NHANES 1999-2006," Melanie S. Dove, Douglas W. Dockery, and Gregory N. Connolly. Pediatrics, Vol. 126, No. 1, July 2010, online June 7, 2010.
Source: Medical News Today - 08 June 2010
USA: Public smoking bans effective for youth
Children and teens who live in counties banning smoking in public places have much lower levels of a secondhand smoke biomarker, U.S. researchers found.
Study leader Melanie Dove, who received her doctorate in environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health this year, said the team examined data from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition.
Examination Survey, a cross-sectional survey designed to monitor the health of the U.S. population.
The researchers analyzed the cotinine levels in 11,486 non-smoking children and teens ages 3-19 from 117 counties, both with and without exposure to secondhand smoke in the home.
The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found children living where smoking is banned at workplaces, colleges and stores had 39 percent lower prevalence of cotinine in their blood -- an indicator of tobacco smoke exposure -- compared to children exposed to secondhand smoke.
"The laws have been shown to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke among adults. Our results show a similar association in children and adolescents not living with a smoker in the home," senior author Gregory Connolly said in a statement.
Children who lived in homes with smokers exhibited little or no benefit from the public smoking bans, the study found.
Source: UPI.com, 07 June 2010
Guernsey: Playgrounds could soon become smoke-free
If GASP get their way, Guernsey playgrounds could soon become smoke free.
The Guernsey Adolescent Smokefree Project has put signs up at Saumarez Park asking people not to smoke near children.
It's not a legally enforceable ban but they're hoping parents will take heed. They say smoking where children congregate sets a very bad example. Alun Williams from the Guernsey Adolescent Smokefree Project said:
"We know that young people are very much encouraged to smoke because they see adults or peers doing so. And so if we can look at restricting it here not through legislation but purely through parents being responsible and not smoking then that's going to help our aim which is to reduce the numbers of young people who do smoke."
What do you think? Is the idea of making outdoor play areas smoke free zones a good one? Is it practical? Can it be enforced? Or is it a step too far? Perhaps you'd even like to see a wider smoking ban? Let us know what you think by posting your comments below.
[a video is available by clicking on the link below]
Source: Channel Online - 03 June 2010
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