Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration say they want to
hear from people if they think a tobacco product is defective or causes a
health issue.
The Department of Health and Human Services' Safety Reporting Portal was
revised to add a new category for tobacco products. It provides a
standardized way for consumers and healthcare professionals to let the
FDA know when they suspect that there is an unexpected health or safety
issue with a specific tobacco product, officials said.Classic Silver
Dr. Ii-Lun Chen, medical branch chief in the Office of Science at FDA's
Center for Tobacco Products, said a new online tool can help report a
problem.
Until now, consumers reported problems with tobacco products to FDA via
MedWatch, the FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting
Program, a system that does not ask questions specific to tobacco
products.
"There is no known safe tobacco product, but FDA can play a role in
helping prevent certain unexpected health consequences from tobacco
products, such as those that occur from defective tobacco products, or
health or safety problems beyond those normally associated with tobacco
product use," Chen said in a statement.
The FDA is interested in reports from consumers about tobacco products
that are damaged, defective or contaminated, such as cigarettes
containing mold. It could also be that a tobacco product just smells or
tastes wrong Chen said.
FDA also wants to know if tobacco product users have experienced an
unexpected health or other safety problem that they believe has been
caused by use of a particular tobacco product. These could include
reports of fire caused by tobacco product use, burns or other injuries,
accidental or unintended exposure of children, allergic reactions,
poisonings and other toxicities, or an unusual reaction in a longtime
user.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Tobacco turning point
To quote an old cigarette-marketing slogan, you’ve come a long way, baby. It took health
advocates decades to overcome tobacco-industry resistance to establishing a link to cancer and many
more years to shift public opinion and behavior, but today marks a milestone: the 50th anniversary
of the U.S. Surgeon General’s report that first authoritatively asserted a link between cigarette
smoking and lung cancer.
It’s hard for many Americans to remember a time when smoking wasn’t linked to cancer, but smoking was pervasive in 1964 when Surgeon General Luther Terry issued his report. As the Associated Press recently recalled, “Smoke hung in the air in restaurants, offices and airplane cabins. More than 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked, and there was a good chance your doctor was among them.”
Evidence already had been building in the two decades before that smoking was leading to lung cancer, a type of cancer considered very rare until the end of the 19th century. With a growing number of studies showing a link, more than 40 percent of Americans surveyed by Gallup in 1954 — a full 10 years before the surgeon general’s report — said they thought that cigarette smoking was a cause of lung cancer. Still, Stanford University history professor Robert N. Proctor says cigarette makers disputed this evidence “as part of an orchestrated conspiracy to salvage cigarette sales,” putting out all kinds of propaganda to counter the scientific evidence.Monte Carlo Red
Before Terry’s report, the American Cancer Society announced in 1954 that smokers were at a higher risk of getting cancer. Terry’s predecessor as surgeon general, Leroy Burney, issued statements in 1957 and 1959 that heavy smoking caused lung cancer, but the warnings were little heeded and were countered by the tobacco industry. It wasn’t until Terry, pressured by anti-smoking advocates, convened a panel of experts and released his 1964 report that the tide began to turn in a major way. The surgeon general himself, the Associated Press recalls, got serious and quit smoking a few months before the report was issued.
There was swift reaction, but then human nature took over. U.S. cigarette consumption dropped by 15 percent in the three months following the blockbuster report — then crept back up over time. Nicotine is a powerful drug, and is especially hard to kick when everyone else is lighting up.
It took decades of small steps, from warning labels to laws banning smoking in most shared spaces, but the public-health situation today is greatly improved. The smoking rate in America has fallen by more than half, to 18 percent. Just last week, Ohio State University adopted a campus-wide smoking ban, joining at least 14 other colleges in Ohio and more than 1,000 across the country that have adopted such bans.
Still, there is more to be done. That 18 percent of the population still translates to more than 43 million U.S. smokers. And many teens still are lighting up despite all the warnings and irrefutable evidence of the risks of cigarette smoking. Those seeking more information and resources on health risks and tips for quitting smoking can visit the American Cancer Society website, www.cancer.org. It’s never too late to quit, nor to educate young people about the danger of starting
It’s hard for many Americans to remember a time when smoking wasn’t linked to cancer, but smoking was pervasive in 1964 when Surgeon General Luther Terry issued his report. As the Associated Press recently recalled, “Smoke hung in the air in restaurants, offices and airplane cabins. More than 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked, and there was a good chance your doctor was among them.”
Evidence already had been building in the two decades before that smoking was leading to lung cancer, a type of cancer considered very rare until the end of the 19th century. With a growing number of studies showing a link, more than 40 percent of Americans surveyed by Gallup in 1954 — a full 10 years before the surgeon general’s report — said they thought that cigarette smoking was a cause of lung cancer. Still, Stanford University history professor Robert N. Proctor says cigarette makers disputed this evidence “as part of an orchestrated conspiracy to salvage cigarette sales,” putting out all kinds of propaganda to counter the scientific evidence.Monte Carlo Red
Before Terry’s report, the American Cancer Society announced in 1954 that smokers were at a higher risk of getting cancer. Terry’s predecessor as surgeon general, Leroy Burney, issued statements in 1957 and 1959 that heavy smoking caused lung cancer, but the warnings were little heeded and were countered by the tobacco industry. It wasn’t until Terry, pressured by anti-smoking advocates, convened a panel of experts and released his 1964 report that the tide began to turn in a major way. The surgeon general himself, the Associated Press recalls, got serious and quit smoking a few months before the report was issued.
There was swift reaction, but then human nature took over. U.S. cigarette consumption dropped by 15 percent in the three months following the blockbuster report — then crept back up over time. Nicotine is a powerful drug, and is especially hard to kick when everyone else is lighting up.
It took decades of small steps, from warning labels to laws banning smoking in most shared spaces, but the public-health situation today is greatly improved. The smoking rate in America has fallen by more than half, to 18 percent. Just last week, Ohio State University adopted a campus-wide smoking ban, joining at least 14 other colleges in Ohio and more than 1,000 across the country that have adopted such bans.
Still, there is more to be done. That 18 percent of the population still translates to more than 43 million U.S. smokers. And many teens still are lighting up despite all the warnings and irrefutable evidence of the risks of cigarette smoking. Those seeking more information and resources on health risks and tips for quitting smoking can visit the American Cancer Society website, www.cancer.org. It’s never too late to quit, nor to educate young people about the danger of starting
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Unhealthy big business spreading great harm
Two-thirds of Indonesian men smoke and more than half of Chinese men
smoke. Even more disturbing is that 40 per cent of 13-15-year-old
Indonesian boys smoke. How have these levels been reached while the
world has known for more than 50 years that tobacco is such a deadly
habit?
In China, it is now estimated that 114 million people have diabetes. South Africa has one of the highest per capita alcohol consumption rates in the world, with more than 30 per cent of the population struggling with an alcohol problem or on the verge of having one. Cafe Creme
Tobacco, alcohol, and diabetes related to overweight and obesity all have one feature in common. They are each largely driven, and in the case of tobacco completely caused, by powerful commercial interests in the form of transnational corporations. It has been said that China's booming economy has brought with it a medical problem that could bankrupt the health system.
We now face a major dilemma: unrestrained commercial development is pitted against the health and wellbeing of populations. This dilemma is not new - opponents of the abolition of slavery complained it would ruin the economy - but it is manifesting in more obvious ways in the 21st century.
The tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed (''junk'') food and drink industries have been rapidly expanding in low and middle-income countries. In the past decade, tobacco retail sales growth in these countries was 20 times that of the developed world. For alcohol consumption it was three times; sugar-sweetened beverages it was twice. But it isn't only Indonesia, China and South Africa where we find this dilemma; it is alive and well in Australia.
For years we have known that the tobacco industry promotes and funds biased research findings, co-opts policy makers and health professionals, lobbies politicians and officials to oppose public regulation, and influences voters to oppose public health measures through expensive public relations campaigns. This success has been noticed and over the past decade alcohol and ultra-processed food and drink companies have been emulating these very same tactics.
This is of little surprise given the flow of people, funds and activities across the industries. For example Philip Morris owned both Kraft and Miller Brewing; the board of SAB Miller (the second largest alcohol manufacturer) includes at least five past or present tobacco company executives and board members; and the Diageo executive director responsible for public affairs spent 17 years in a similar role at Philip Morris.
Economic development plays an important role in the health and wellbeing of populations. Income, employment and education levels are all major determinants of good health. Businesses create wealth, provide jobs and pay taxes (but as we have seen, not all of them). One of the best ways to protect and promote health is to ensure people have safe, meaningful jobs. The more evenly wealth and opportunity are distributed, the better the overall health and wellbeing of a population.
But clearly not all businesses are good or healthy - yet we see some of them expanding their markets and influence across the globe - seemingly with no capacity to diminish or mitigate the harm they do. It is astonishing that an industry such as tobacco, which is so harmful to human health, can wield so much power. In Indonesia, Philip Morris and its affiliate, Sampoerna, will invest $US174 million to improve production capacities so, as Sampoerna's president has said, ''Indonesia would be the centre of the Marlboro brand production to cater [for] demands in the Asia-Pacific region''.
Why do they need to expand their activities? Aren't the existing 700 million smokers in the region enough? Especially when we know that more than half of them will die prematurely, losing about 20 years of life to tobacco.
The major tobacco, food, and alcohol companies have assets that are greater than many countries and can wield this power in parliament, law courts and the media, against the interests of the public's health.
In China, it is now estimated that 114 million people have diabetes. South Africa has one of the highest per capita alcohol consumption rates in the world, with more than 30 per cent of the population struggling with an alcohol problem or on the verge of having one. Cafe Creme
Tobacco, alcohol, and diabetes related to overweight and obesity all have one feature in common. They are each largely driven, and in the case of tobacco completely caused, by powerful commercial interests in the form of transnational corporations. It has been said that China's booming economy has brought with it a medical problem that could bankrupt the health system.
We now face a major dilemma: unrestrained commercial development is pitted against the health and wellbeing of populations. This dilemma is not new - opponents of the abolition of slavery complained it would ruin the economy - but it is manifesting in more obvious ways in the 21st century.
The tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed (''junk'') food and drink industries have been rapidly expanding in low and middle-income countries. In the past decade, tobacco retail sales growth in these countries was 20 times that of the developed world. For alcohol consumption it was three times; sugar-sweetened beverages it was twice. But it isn't only Indonesia, China and South Africa where we find this dilemma; it is alive and well in Australia.
For years we have known that the tobacco industry promotes and funds biased research findings, co-opts policy makers and health professionals, lobbies politicians and officials to oppose public regulation, and influences voters to oppose public health measures through expensive public relations campaigns. This success has been noticed and over the past decade alcohol and ultra-processed food and drink companies have been emulating these very same tactics.
This is of little surprise given the flow of people, funds and activities across the industries. For example Philip Morris owned both Kraft and Miller Brewing; the board of SAB Miller (the second largest alcohol manufacturer) includes at least five past or present tobacco company executives and board members; and the Diageo executive director responsible for public affairs spent 17 years in a similar role at Philip Morris.
Economic development plays an important role in the health and wellbeing of populations. Income, employment and education levels are all major determinants of good health. Businesses create wealth, provide jobs and pay taxes (but as we have seen, not all of them). One of the best ways to protect and promote health is to ensure people have safe, meaningful jobs. The more evenly wealth and opportunity are distributed, the better the overall health and wellbeing of a population.
But clearly not all businesses are good or healthy - yet we see some of them expanding their markets and influence across the globe - seemingly with no capacity to diminish or mitigate the harm they do. It is astonishing that an industry such as tobacco, which is so harmful to human health, can wield so much power. In Indonesia, Philip Morris and its affiliate, Sampoerna, will invest $US174 million to improve production capacities so, as Sampoerna's president has said, ''Indonesia would be the centre of the Marlboro brand production to cater [for] demands in the Asia-Pacific region''.
Why do they need to expand their activities? Aren't the existing 700 million smokers in the region enough? Especially when we know that more than half of them will die prematurely, losing about 20 years of life to tobacco.
The major tobacco, food, and alcohol companies have assets that are greater than many countries and can wield this power in parliament, law courts and the media, against the interests of the public's health.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Council backs hard-hitting anti-smoking campaign
A HARD-HITTING campaign encouraging smokers to quit their habit has been backed by Buckinghamshire County Council.
The new Smokefree national advertising from Public Health England aims to show the damage that toxins from smoking do to the blood, lungs, heart and brain.
"It's never too late to quit smoking," confirms Director of Public Health for Buckinghamshire, Dr. Jane O’Grady. “Quitting smoking at any time is good for your health and wellbeing. As soon as you stop smoking, the health risks associated with the habit begin to reduce.
"After six months the risk of heart attack, cancer and other smoking related diseases begins to fall. After ten years the risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker, with the risk of heart attack around the same as someone who has never smoked at all." Hilton Platinum cigarettes.
Although many smokers have successfully quit in recent years, smoking remains the largest cause of preventable ill health and premature death. Around 600 smokers die each year as a result of their habit in Bucks.
“We know the harm that smoking can cause to individuals and their families," says Patricia Birchley, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing at Buckinghamshire County Council, "but we also know how we can help those who do smoke to make a positive change and quit.
"We have excellent smokefree support services in Buckinghamshire, and if smokers use these, they are four times more likely to quit than trying to do it alone. I'd like to appeal to smokers to get in touch with our local services and make 2014 the year that they act to stop their habit seriously damaging their health.”
The new Smokefree ad campaign seeks to reveal uncomfortable truths that show how smoking increased your chances of a heart attack or stroke, and that the toxins released can also affect the brain, leading to accelerated decline in memory and mental abilities later in life.
The new Smokefree national advertising from Public Health England aims to show the damage that toxins from smoking do to the blood, lungs, heart and brain.
"It's never too late to quit smoking," confirms Director of Public Health for Buckinghamshire, Dr. Jane O’Grady. “Quitting smoking at any time is good for your health and wellbeing. As soon as you stop smoking, the health risks associated with the habit begin to reduce.
"After six months the risk of heart attack, cancer and other smoking related diseases begins to fall. After ten years the risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker, with the risk of heart attack around the same as someone who has never smoked at all." Hilton Platinum cigarettes.
Although many smokers have successfully quit in recent years, smoking remains the largest cause of preventable ill health and premature death. Around 600 smokers die each year as a result of their habit in Bucks.
“We know the harm that smoking can cause to individuals and their families," says Patricia Birchley, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing at Buckinghamshire County Council, "but we also know how we can help those who do smoke to make a positive change and quit.
"We have excellent smokefree support services in Buckinghamshire, and if smokers use these, they are four times more likely to quit than trying to do it alone. I'd like to appeal to smokers to get in touch with our local services and make 2014 the year that they act to stop their habit seriously damaging their health.”
The new Smokefree ad campaign seeks to reveal uncomfortable truths that show how smoking increased your chances of a heart attack or stroke, and that the toxins released can also affect the brain, leading to accelerated decline in memory and mental abilities later in life.
Smoking With Kids in the Car Could Cost You $500
In several states, it’s against the law to smoke in a car if children are present.
An Oregon law that took effect on Jan. 1 penalizes smokers with a $250 fine for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses if they are caught lighting up with someone under the age of 18 in the car, says The Oregonian. It’s a secondary offense, meaning the cops can’t stop you if they see you smoking with kids around but can issue you a ticket after pulling you over for a primary offense.
Six other states – Arkansas, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine and Utah – have similar laws, says the Star-Ledger in New Jersey, where there’s a proposal to impose a $100 fine for smoking in a car with anyone 16 or younger.
Marlboro Gold Fine Touch cigarettes.
In Michigan, a proposed bill would set a $500 fine for smoking in the presence of anyone under 18 in a vehicle, and it would be a primary offense, reports MLive. HealthDay News said a poll shows 82 percent of Americans think smoking should be banned in cars with kids younger than 13. It added: Current smokers are among those who think that children should be protected from secondhand smoke: 60 percent of current smokers would support a ban on smoking in cars carrying children, compared with 84 percent of former smokers and 87 percent of people who never smoked, the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found.
In Michigan, a proposed bill would set a $500 fine for smoking in the presence of anyone under 18 in a vehicle, and it would be a primary offense, reports MLive. HealthDay News said a poll shows 82 percent of Americans think smoking should be banned in cars with kids younger than 13. It added: Current smokers are among those who think that children should be protected from secondhand smoke: 60 percent of current smokers would support a ban on smoking in cars carrying children, compared with 84 percent of former smokers and 87 percent of people who never smoked, the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found.
Stop Smoking to Sleep Better, Scientists Say
If you want to sleep better, scientists say it would be a good idea to stop smoking. A new study published in The FASEB Journal
this month says that smoking throws off the body’s circadian clock in
both the lungs and the brain, creating a whole host of problems,
including poor sleep, cognitive dysfunction, depression and anxiety.
Dr. Irfan Rahman–a scientist working at the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.–and his team have found that tobacco smoke has an effect on the clock gene expression rhythms in the lung by creating inflammation and a depressed level of brain locomotor activity at the same time. Both short- and long-term smoking can decrease the level of a molecule called sirtuin1 (SIRT1), they say. And reduction in the quantity of this molecule, in turn, can change the level of the clock protein (BMAL1) in both lung and brain tissues in mice. In addition, similar reductions in this molecule have been seen in lung tissue from humans who smoke as well as people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Rahman and his colleagues made this finding by using two groups of mice which were placed into smoking chambers. One of the groups received no smoke exposure at all during their time in the chamber. The other group, however, was exposed to smoke corresponding to various numbers of daily cigarette as well as short-term and long-term exposure. Chesterfield Bronze cigarettes.
Mice are often used in studies like this one because their genetic, biological and behavioral characteristics are similar to those of humans. In addition, they are inexpensive, easy to handle and specially bred to be genetically almost identical, making study results more uniform.
When the scientists monitored the daily activity of the mice, they found that those who were exposed to cigarette smoke were quite a bit less active.
They then used mice who were deficient in SIRT1, finding that tobacco smoke caused a dramatic reduction in activity. This effect, however, was reduced in mice who either overproduced this protein or were treated with a drug which activated it.
Their work also found that the clock protein, called BMAL1, was regulated by SIRT1. And, when SIRT1 was lessened, it damaged BMAL1, causing problems with sleep. Further, the problems could be remedied by administering a SIRT1 activator.
Dr. Gerald Weissmann, who is the Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, notes that if a person only sticks to one New Year’s resolution this year, it should be to stop smoking. In addition to all the other known health benefits, he says, it will help people sleep better as well.
In addition to stopping smoking, other tips that experts often give for improving sleep include sticking to a regular sleep schedule, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, having a bedtime ritual, creating a comfortable sleep environment, limiting naps, getting plenty of exercise and taking steps to reduce stress. Individuals who have chronic sleep problems that aren’t remedied by taking these steps should see their personal physician to be evaluated for a sleep disorder.
Dr. Irfan Rahman–a scientist working at the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.–and his team have found that tobacco smoke has an effect on the clock gene expression rhythms in the lung by creating inflammation and a depressed level of brain locomotor activity at the same time. Both short- and long-term smoking can decrease the level of a molecule called sirtuin1 (SIRT1), they say. And reduction in the quantity of this molecule, in turn, can change the level of the clock protein (BMAL1) in both lung and brain tissues in mice. In addition, similar reductions in this molecule have been seen in lung tissue from humans who smoke as well as people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Rahman and his colleagues made this finding by using two groups of mice which were placed into smoking chambers. One of the groups received no smoke exposure at all during their time in the chamber. The other group, however, was exposed to smoke corresponding to various numbers of daily cigarette as well as short-term and long-term exposure. Chesterfield Bronze cigarettes.
Mice are often used in studies like this one because their genetic, biological and behavioral characteristics are similar to those of humans. In addition, they are inexpensive, easy to handle and specially bred to be genetically almost identical, making study results more uniform.
When the scientists monitored the daily activity of the mice, they found that those who were exposed to cigarette smoke were quite a bit less active.
They then used mice who were deficient in SIRT1, finding that tobacco smoke caused a dramatic reduction in activity. This effect, however, was reduced in mice who either overproduced this protein or were treated with a drug which activated it.
Their work also found that the clock protein, called BMAL1, was regulated by SIRT1. And, when SIRT1 was lessened, it damaged BMAL1, causing problems with sleep. Further, the problems could be remedied by administering a SIRT1 activator.
Dr. Gerald Weissmann, who is the Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, notes that if a person only sticks to one New Year’s resolution this year, it should be to stop smoking. In addition to all the other known health benefits, he says, it will help people sleep better as well.
In addition to stopping smoking, other tips that experts often give for improving sleep include sticking to a regular sleep schedule, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, having a bedtime ritual, creating a comfortable sleep environment, limiting naps, getting plenty of exercise and taking steps to reduce stress. Individuals who have chronic sleep problems that aren’t remedied by taking these steps should see their personal physician to be evaluated for a sleep disorder.
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