Health News
A new study of more than a million women found that smokers have more than triple the risk of early death than nonsmokers, and that quitting can virtually eliminate the increased risk. Smoking is still the most preventable cause of death in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The University of Oxford study, published this week in the British medical journal The Lancet, included 1.3 million women between the ages of 50 and 65, making it one of the largest ever conducted on smoking. At the start of the study, in 1996, 20 percent of the women were smokers, 28 percent were former smokers and 52 percent had never smoked. "Each of the women was registered in the U.K.?s national health system, so their deaths and cause of death were recorded," explains Alexandra Sifferlin of Time magazine. "By 2011, 66,000 had passed away." Researchers found that even smokers who smoked as few as nine cigarettes a day had twice the mortality rate of nonsmokers.
"More encouraging, however," writes Sifferlin, "was the positive effect that quitting seemed to have on the women?s life span. Those who quit smoking before they reached 40 avoided more than 90 percent of the increased risk of premature death from cigarettes, while women who stopped even earlier -- before age 30 -- avoided 97 percent of the added risk." (Read more)
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- Replacing Cigarettes With Smokeless Tobacco Reduces Disease Risk, Says U Of L Prof Who's Received Tobacco-industry Funding
Smokers can greatly reduce their risk of disease if they replace their cigarettes with spit-free smokeless tobacco or electronic cigarettes, University of Louisville professor Brad Rodu, right, said in a presentation at the annual meeting of the American...
- Heavy Smoking Less Common Than 40 Years Ago
The percentage of people who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day decreased significantly from 1965 to 2007 in the United States, according to a study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. There was also a decline in...
- The Benefits Of Quitting Smoking
by Jason Bosley-Smith, CSCS, Live Well @ LifeBridge Today is The Great American Smokeout. There are myriad of reasons to kick the habit, but the key is to determine YOUR reason?your ?why? for quitting once and for all. If you are considering quitting...
- The Benefits Of Aspirin After Breast Cancer
By Deb Kirkland, RN, BSN, MPH Nurse Navigator, Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Center at Northwest Hospital A study conducted at Brigham and Women?s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, ?Aspirin Intake and Survival After Breast Cancer,? suggests...
Health News
Women who smoke triple their risk of dying early, but quitting early enough might just wipe out that risk
The University of Oxford study, published this week in the British medical journal The Lancet, included 1.3 million women between the ages of 50 and 65, making it one of the largest ever conducted on smoking. At the start of the study, in 1996, 20 percent of the women were smokers, 28 percent were former smokers and 52 percent had never smoked. "Each of the women was registered in the U.K.?s national health system, so their deaths and cause of death were recorded," explains Alexandra Sifferlin of Time magazine. "By 2011, 66,000 had passed away." Researchers found that even smokers who smoked as few as nine cigarettes a day had twice the mortality rate of nonsmokers.
"More encouraging, however," writes Sifferlin, "was the positive effect that quitting seemed to have on the women?s life span. Those who quit smoking before they reached 40 avoided more than 90 percent of the increased risk of premature death from cigarettes, while women who stopped even earlier -- before age 30 -- avoided 97 percent of the added risk." (Read more)
- Great American Smokeout Is Thursday, Nov. 21, Featuring Supportive Characters To Share On Social Media And A Twitter Chat
The American Cancer Society's annual Great American Smokeout will be held Thursday, Nov. 21. The event encourages smokers to quit smoking, or make a plan to quit smoking, that day. Quitting, even for one day, according to the Cancer Society,...
- Replacing Cigarettes With Smokeless Tobacco Reduces Disease Risk, Says U Of L Prof Who's Received Tobacco-industry Funding
Smokers can greatly reduce their risk of disease if they replace their cigarettes with spit-free smokeless tobacco or electronic cigarettes, University of Louisville professor Brad Rodu, right, said in a presentation at the annual meeting of the American...
- Heavy Smoking Less Common Than 40 Years Ago
The percentage of people who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day decreased significantly from 1965 to 2007 in the United States, according to a study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. There was also a decline in...
- The Benefits Of Quitting Smoking
by Jason Bosley-Smith, CSCS, Live Well @ LifeBridge Today is The Great American Smokeout. There are myriad of reasons to kick the habit, but the key is to determine YOUR reason?your ?why? for quitting once and for all. If you are considering quitting...
- The Benefits Of Aspirin After Breast Cancer
By Deb Kirkland, RN, BSN, MPH Nurse Navigator, Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Center at Northwest Hospital A study conducted at Brigham and Women?s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, ?Aspirin Intake and Survival After Breast Cancer,? suggests...