This news release points out once again that smoking of any sort is not good for you. Just yesterday I met a young woman who had a four month old baby. She had just quit smoking one week ago. She deserves lots of congratulations as she is going extremely well given many of her challenges. She was rightly worried that her mother continues to smoke, even when caring for the infant. That is rude beyond belief to me.

Second case in point. I saw a woman yesterday who has smoked for many years. Her blood pressure has been creeping up over. When I saw her just weeks before I told her to take her blood pressure and pulse at home BEFORE she had a cigarette, and then again right after. The results were even more dramatic that I suspected they would be. Her blood pressure rose by nearly 40%!!! If you smoke, try this yourself…it will give you that final push to stop smoking for good.
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Any Tobacco Use Raises Heart Attack Risk
08.17.06, 12:00 AM ET

THURSDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) — All types of tobacco use or exposure — smoking, chewing, or secondhand smoke — boost a person’s risk for heart attack, Canadian researchers say.

Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario analyzed data from more than 27,000 people in 52 countries and factored in other lifestyle traits — such as diet and age — that could affect heart attack risk. They found that any form of tobacco use or exposure was harmful.

Publishing in the Aug. 19 issue of The Lancet, they found that moderate and heavy smokers had a three-fold increased risk of a heart attack and light smokers (8-10 cigarettes a day) had a two-fold risk.

The risk decreased with time after a person stopped smoking, the study said. Among light smokers, there was no excess risk 3 to 5 years after they quit smoking. Moderate and heavy smokers still had an excess risk of about 22 percent even 20 years after they kicked the habit.

The researchers also concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke increased the risk of heart attack in both former smokers and nonsmokers. People with the highest levels of secondhand smoke exposure (22 hours or more per week) have about a 45 percent increased risk of heart attack, the study said.

Chewing tobacco doubled the risk of heart attack, the researchers found.

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You’ll find more information about smoking and quiting at the OlderWiserWomen Smoking Cessation page.

You know all the reasons to quit smoking, yet you still do it. That is the power of that Nicotine Demon that lives in your head. I tell my patients that their little demon is akin to a toddle having a major temper tantrum in the middle of the cereal aisle at your favorite upscale grocer.

Becoming a smoke free individual is not easy, but there are lots of resources available to help you quit. In WA State we have Quit Line – a service where you can actually call and talk with a Quit counselor 7 days a week. Your state health department may have a similiar program.

Other online resources to check out include:

Tobacco Free Nurses – the first national program focused on helping nurses and student nurses to stop smoking
www.tobaccofreenurses.org/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Tobacco Information and Prevention Source
www.cdc.gov/tobacco/

Surgeon General – ‘You Can Quit Smoking’ Consumer Guide
www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/default.htm

American Lung Association – Tobacco Control
www.lungusa.org/tobacco/

American Cancer Society – Guide to Quitting Smoking
www.cancer.org

Quitnet.com – Savings Calculator
www.quitnet.com

Smokefree.gov – Dictionary
www.smokefree.gov/dictionary.html

Quitnet.com – ‘Quitticisms’ (Quitting terms & phrases)
www.quitnet.com/library/quitticisms.jtml

Smoking is an issue that seems to penetrate all aspects of an individuals life. It’s not just an individual health issue anymore…it’s a quality of life issue, a societal issue, a financial issue, and a public health issue. It affects you, your children, your grandchildren, your partners, your friends.

It’s time to stop…for good.

It’s the first day of spring and I’m itching to get into the garden (a favorite activity). I am reminded that spring is not always welcome for thos that suffer from allergies (something I don’t experience).

If you have allergies and want to garden, and don’t want to resort to taking medication, what can you do?

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) has posted several tip guides that can help you get through allergy season…even one that is appropriate for gardeners!

The American College of Chest Physicians has released new evidence based guidlines regarding how providers should treat coughs.

Evidence based medicine (EBM) has become the new standard of practice – this means that what we use to treat something with, should actually be proven to work in most cases. Below is the Wikipedia definition…

Evidence-based medicine is a medical movement based upon the application of the scientific method to medical practice, including long-established existing medical traditions not yet subjected to adequate scientific scrutiny. According to the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, “Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_based_medicine

So, just what do these guidelines tell us? Over-the-counter cough suppresants don’t treat cough effectively. Just what I’ve been hearing from my patient’s for years….

Click the link to read the ACCP press release.
January 2006 Press Release

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomenâ„¢

Someone you know, perhaps even you, need to quit smoking. You understand the dangers and realize there is not one cell in your body that is unaffected by cigarettes and/or snuff. You even understand that no one in your immediate vicinity is safe from the fumes of your cigarettes or the fumes you exhale.

Yet…you find it difficult to quit. You are not alone. Statistics from 2004 indicated that 70% of smokers want to quit, and most people have to try more than once before they are finally able to quit.

Getting through the nicotine withdrawal is almost the easy part. At least it was for me so many years ago. What I remember to this day was the voices I started hearing…the ones that told me it was okay to have a smoke…no one was around, therefore no one had to know. My biggest enemy then was myself. I believe if you understand that the addicted part of your brain does not have your best interest in mind…you fill find it easier.

Here is some great information on what happens to your body when you quit smoking.

• Within 20 minutes, your heart rate and blood pressure begin to return to normal. In addition the temperature in your hands and feet increases as the effects of vasoconstriction begin to recede.
• Within 2 weeks to 3 months after you quit, your lung functions increase by up to 30%, continuing to improve each month.
• Your risk of a heart attack or other coronary event is diminished by 50% within one year, and becomes that of a non-smoker by 15 years!
• While quitting will not reduce the number of wrinkles in your face, you can definitely stop collecting wrinkles due to smoking.
• You will smell better, taste better and feel better. You’ll have more money, more time, more friends and more life.

Today is a good day to quit. The rest of your life is waiting.

You’ll find further resources for quitting smoking at OlderWiserWomen/SmokingCessation

©2005, Barbara C. Phillips, NP is the founder of OlderWiserWomen(tm) where women are inspired to embrace the freedom, magic and wisdom of Successful Aging. Visit http://www.OlderWiserWomen.com for your copy of “Celebrating You: 50 Tips for Vibrant Living”.
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Permission is granted to reprint this article in print, on your web site or in your ezine so long as the above paragraph with contact information is included. A courtesy email notifying us when you have reprinted this article is greatly appreciated.

Older women who smoke cigarettes or have smoked for long periods of time may be up to 40% more likely to develop breast cancer than women who never smoked, according to a new study.

The results also suggest that use of combination estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy among older women who smoke could as much as double their risk of developing cancer.

Researchers say the results add to growing evidence that breast cancer may be yet another health risk associated with cigarette smoking.

Continue reading….

Will all this information help women quit smoking? I wish it were so easy.

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
www.OlderWiserWomen.com

HOUSTON, Sept. 27-A diet rich in phytoestrogens such as those found in soy as well as spinach, carrots and broccoli appears to reduce the risk of lung cancer, researchers report.

Researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center here say they have found evidence that food-derived compounds called phytoestrogens, nonsteroidal substances that weakly mimic estrogen, have a protective effect.

Phytoestrogens are divided into three main classes — isoflavones, lignans, and coumestans — and are found in a range of fruits, grains, and vegetables, said Margaret Spitz, M.D., senior author of the study in the Sept. 28 Journal of the American Medical Association.

Read More

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomenâ„¢

While this article comes out of the United Kingdom, I can assure you, the story is no different for women in the US.

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen™

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Many women are unaware of the dangers of a chronic lung disease which kills nearly as many British females as breast cancer, campaigners have warned.

The British Lung Foundation says rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are soaring and it may soon be the fourth biggest killer of women.

But only 1% of 1,200 women surveyed said COPD is their main health worry,

Women feared breast cancer most and 27% wrongly thought it – rather than heart disease – killed most women in Britain.

There was little more awareness about COPD among smokers who were questioned as part of the survey by the BLF.

Their habit puts them at 13-times greater risk of the condition – an umbrella term for lung conditions including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which cause severe breathlessness and coughing.

Exposure to second-hand smoke and dust or fumes can also cause the disease. It can also, rarely, be a genetic condition.

Read More: BBC NEWS | Health | Women ‘unaware of lung disease’

Here’s another reason to stop smoking:

“Smoking cessation is the single best method and the most cost-effective way of reducing the risk of developing COPD or stopping its progression,” said Dr. Celli, Professor of Medicine at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Here are some tips to help you quit.

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen(tm)

BBC NEWS | Health | Smoking and obesity ‘age people’

Being overweight and a smoker makes a person biologically older
than slim non-smokers of the same birth age, UK and US researchers
have found.

Smoking accelerated the ageing of key pieces of a person’s DNA by about
4.6 years. For obesity it was nine years. These genetic codes are important for regulating cell division and have been linked to age-related diseases.

The study in the Lancet was based on 1,122 twins from a database held by St Thomas’ Hospital in London. The researchers looked at telomeres – strips of DNA that cap the end of chromosomes and appear to protect and stabilise them. Telomeres shorten each time a cell divides, until there is nothing left, making cell division less reliable and increasing the risk of disorders. This happens naturally with ageing.

Accelerated ageing

Both smoking and obesity are important risk factors for many age-related diseases, therefore Professor Tim Spector and colleagues set out to see whether they might accelerate telomere shortening. Among the study sample, all women aged 18-76, 119 were clinically obese, 203 were current smokers and 369 were ex-smokers.

By analysing blood samples for DNA the researchers found telomere length decreased steadily with age, as expected. However, the telomeres of the obese women and smokers were far shorter than those of lean women and those who had never smoked of the same age. Each pack year – the number of cigarette packs smoked per day multiplied by the number of years smoking – was equivalent to a loss of an additional 18% on top of the average annual shortening of telomeres. A woman who had smoked a pack per day for 40 years accelerated her ageing by 7.4 years, according to telomere length.

Chromosomal clock

Professor Spector, from the twin research unit at St Thomas’ Hospital, said: “What you are seeing here is that the entire body is ageing from smoking, not just your heart or your lungs. So you are accelerating your whole chromosomal clock by this activity which is an important message for younger people to think about. People would probably think twice if they knew that at every age they were five or seven years older than their contemporaries biologically because that has influences on their skin, brain and bones.”

Tobacco smoke contains poisons. The research suggests that these poisons may affect cells at one of the most fundamental levels. Excess fat is believed to disrupt the chemical proposition of the body in a negative way. Such stressors can damage the body. Dr Lorna Layward, research manager at Help the Aged, said the work supported what we already know about smoking and obesity being extremely damaging to health.

“While the research is not conclusive, we should take heed of the alarm bells. Most over 65s are not getting enough exercise which has massive implications aside from obesity, such as declining strength and mobility.

Giving up smoking is the biggest thing you can do reduce your chances of developing coronary heart disease. “In today’s fast-paced life, many of us say we don’t have time to exercise or eat healthily, but unless we change our ways we will soon have to find time to cope with ill health.”

Source: BBC Health