Archive for April, 2008

Poster Art and Culture Change

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

1969: This woman graced one of three gritty posters issued to de-glamorize smoking. 1970: President Nixon signed the law banning advertising of tobacco on TV and radio. Circa 1970: Smaller print reads, "Why don't you quit before she starts?" 1973: Artist Seymour Chwast links smokers' health with the1970s concern for environment. 1976: One ...

When Smokers Quit – The Health Benefits Over Time

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops. (Effect of Smoking on Arterial Stiffness and Pulse Pressure Amplification, Mahmud, A, Feely, J. 2003. Hypertension:41:183.) 12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1988, p. 202) 2 weeks to 3 months ...

Tobacco-Related Cancers Fact Sheet

Monday, April 28th, 2008

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States for both men and women. (Source: Cancer Facts and Figures 2008) Lung cancer is the most preventable form of cancer death in our society. (Source: Cancer Facts and Figures 2008) Lung cancer estimates for 2008 (Source: Cancer Facts ...

Child and Teen Tobacco Use

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Introduction The good news: The number of younger Americans who smoke has been going down since the late 1990s. The bad news: The rates of tobacco smoking among teenagers are still higher than those of adults. On top of that, about 1 in 7 high school boys use some form of spit ...

Women and Smoking

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

An Epidemic... In March 2001, the Office of the US Surgeon General released a long-awaited, detailed report entitled "Women and Smoking," along with the following statement: "When calling attention to public health problems, we must not misuse the word 'epidemic.' But there is no better word to describe the 600-percent increase since ...

Questions About Smoking, Tobacco, and Health

Friday, April 25th, 2008

People have many questions about tobacco that can sometimes be hard to answer. They include questions about tobacco, including cigarettes, cigars, spit and other types of smokeless tobacco, and other tobacco products; nicotine; addiction; and quitting. Many of those questions are answered here. Here we also talk about how smoking ...

Smokeless Tobacco and How to Quit

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

Introduction Many terms are used to describe smokeless tobacco products, such as oral, chewing, snuff, spit and spitless tobacco. All forms of oral tobacco contain known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents). They can cause cancer of the mouth and pancreas and many other health problems, such as gum disease, destruction of the bone ...

Secondhand Smoke

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

What Is Secondhand Smoke? Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or passive smoke, is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke from burning tobacco products: Sidestream smoke: smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar Mainstream smoke: smoke that is exhaled by a smoker When non-smokers ...

Cigar Smoking

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Introduction Many people view cigar smoking as more sophisticated and less dangerous than cigarette smoking. Yet a single large cigar can contain as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes. The secondhand smoke it gives off and that others breathe in can fill a room for hours. The purpose of this ...

Cigarette Smoking

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Introduction The 1982 United States Surgeon General's Report stated that "Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality in the United States." This statement is as true today as it was in 1982. Smoking is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the United States. Because cigarette smoking and ...