Adults Suffering From Mental Ailments Have Higher Rates of Smoking Addiction

 A new report released by the CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that adults suffering from mental illness have 70% higher smoking rates. The report states that this is in comparison with adults without any mental illness.

 

The report revealed that around 36% of the 45.7 million US citizens afflicted with a specific type of mental illness are addicted to cigarette smoking in comparison to 21% adults who are not suffering from any mental disease.

 

According to the report, the rate of smoking addicted people suffering from mental illnesses is higher among young adults existing below the poverty line and young people with lower education levels. However, the report highlights that difference in smoking rates is seen across several US states.

 

The report, from the CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), showed that 36% of the 45.7 million Americans with some type of mental illness are cigarette smokers, compared with only 21% of adults who do not have a mental illness.   

Tom Frieden, MD, MPH and the director of CDC, states that likewise other smokers, those smokers suffering from mental illnesses are eager to quit smoking and can definitely achieve that. He adds that quit smoking treatments indeed work and it is essential to make them available to people who are enthusiastic to trigger off smoking cessation.  

The study authors state that the findings of the report have several health-related conclusions. One of these is related to boosting up efforts to decrease the rate of smoking in the inhabitants.  

 

Source: webmd.com, Date: 8^th February 2013

 

Employers In Massachusetts May Exclude Smokers From The List Of Job Seekers

According to a latest story published in the “Business Monday”, employers from Massachusetts are getting increasingly anxious about healthcare expenditure and loss in productivity due to sick employees who are addicted to smoking. This has prompted the employers to consider measures such as ruling out smokers from the list of job applicants.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that addiction to smoking costs the US state of Massachusetts productivity loss worth $1.9 billion and medical expenditure of $3 billion on an annual basis. Hence, an employer may consider a smoking addicted individual to be an additional responsibly and exclude him from the list of job seekers.

 

Thomas Jones, the vice president of the employers resource group for the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, states that the possibility of debarring smokers from the list of job seekers has emerged as a hot topic of discussion in the business-seminar circle.  

So, addiction to cigarette smoking can be a huge disadvantage in the job market of Massachusetts.   

 

Source: masslive.com, Date: 6^th February 2013

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New Zealand Study Reveals Video and Test Messages On Cell Phones Can Help People Cease Smoking

Date: 15^th November 2012 

A study conducted by New Zealand researchers led to the conclusion that text messages and videos on quit smoking appearing on cell phones increase the chances of quit smoking success by two times in comparison to the rate of success attained by people without any such help. However, Robyn Whittaker, the leading author of the study, makes it apparent that it cannot be said whether all text messages are going to help in quit smoking.

During the study, numerous cell phone messages were sent to the smokers on a daily basis for a couple of weeks and all these messages focussed on providing encouragement, tips on how to get rid of nicotine cravings and other quit smoking resources.

As the study came to a close, the researchers found out that in comparison to five percent smokers who got rid of smoking addiction without any assistance from cell phone videos or text messages, an astonishing number of 9 percent quit smoking enthusiasts who received help from cell phone messages, successfully abstained from cigarette smoking for a period of six months.

Robyn Whittaker, the leading author of the study, states that cell phone texts and videos can be considered as good and effective quit smoking services.

The work of the researchers appeared in The Cochrane Library.

Source: http://bit.ly/bYwzJ

50% Increase In Cigarette Price Can Help Avoid 40 Lakh Deaths Caused By Smoking!

A latest report disclosed by Asian Development Bank, a multilateral funding organization, reveals that a 50% increase in cigarette prices would help in preventing 4 million (40 lakh) tobacco related deaths in India. This report also makes it known that increasing cigarette cost by 50% would help in avoiding 20 million tobacco related deaths in China. Altogether, the report discloses that 50% hike in cigarette prices would help avoid a total of 27 million (2.7 crore) tobacco related deaths in several nations, including India and China.

The report discloses that Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, India and China have emerged as the top five nations among the fifteen tobacco using countries that are responsible for two third of world tobacco use. According to the report, in India, 50% cigarette price increase results in 70-122% rise in taxes. Further, the report states that raising tobacco taxes in India and other top four tobacco consuming countries will ultimately result in lesser number of long-standing smokers and a fall in premature deaths caused by tobacco-related ailments. 

The report highlights that bidi is the general form of smoked tobacco in India. However, in the Indian subcontinent, cigarette smoking has gradually started to substitute bidi smoking. With that revelation, the report emphasizes on the need for governments to implement new cigarette tax regulations and at the same time maximize efforts to charge taxes on tobacco products on a broader basis. 

Source: The Times of India, dated 15th November 2012
Original Source: PTI

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Smoking Addiction By Pregnant Women Can Cause Serious Damage To Health

Date: 18^th November 2012 

According to a latest disclosure, pregnant ladies are increasingly getting addicted to cigarettes and this is posing a serious threat to their health and well-being. Scottish government had released statistics showing that in the year 2010; about 23.2 per cent pregnant women were found smoking cigarettes when they had appointment with the doctor for the first time.

John Lamont, the MSP of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Ettrick makes it apparent that increased pressure to quit smoking can make pregnant women lie about their smoking addiction and hence the number of smoking-addicted pregnant ladies can be a comparatively higher figure.

Furthermore, statistics associated with smoking reveal that 23.2 per cent in 2010 is somewhat higher than 2009 when the number of pregnant women addicted to smoking was 22.7 per cent.

According to John Lamont, the statistics available on women getting addicted to cigarette smoking raises a lot of alarm and hence something needs to be done to encourage pregnant ladies to quit smoking at the earliest.

John Lamont reveals that addiction to cigarette smoking can inflict severe health damage and is likely to prove more dangerous for a pregnant lady. He further adds that cigarette smoking by pregnant women can lead to serious problems for the mother as well as the child and hence something is to done urgently to create alertness about this issue.

Source: http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/