Tobacco smoke exposure can impact adolescents’ health, make them ill

Exposure to tobacco smoke can drastically impact teenagers’ health. A University of Cincinnati study found that teens exposed to tobacco smoke were at higher risk of having respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath and a dry cough at night. It also found that smoke-exposed teens were more likely to seek treatment at an urgent care or hospital emergency department. “There is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure,” said Ashley Merianos, the lead author of the study. “Even a small amount of exposure can lead to more emergency department visits and…

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LICs investment in ITC makes govt party to tobacco promotion PIL

The Bombay High Court on Thursday heard a petition alleging that PSU insurers such as LIC are going against the government’s anti-tobacco stand by investing in cigarette manufacturing company ITC. The World Health Organization tobacco treaty bars the government from investing in tobacco companies, they said. The petitioners also said that the investments make the government party to tobacco’s promotion. The six petitioners include the Managing Trustee of the Tata Trusts, Lakshman Sethuraman, Ashish Deshmukh, Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Sumitra Hooda Pednekar, widow of a Maharashtra Minister who died of throat cancer, Pankaj Chaturvedi, a Surgeon…

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Tobacco Exposure Ups Behavioural Issues, Dropout Rates in Children

Children exposed to tobacco smoke in early childhood adopt anti-social behaviour, engage in proactive and reactive aggression, and face conduct problems at school, even drop out at age 12, a research has showed. Exposure to tobacco smoke is toxic to the developing brain at a time when it is most vulnerable to environment input, the researchers said. “Young children have little control over their exposure to household tobacco smoke, which is considered toxic to the brain at a time when its development is exponential,” said lead author and Professor Linda…

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70 mn Indian women consume smokeless tobacco, many to kill hunger

70 mn Indian women consume smokeless tobacco, many to kill hunger A whopping 70 million Indian women above age 15 use smokeless tobacco (SLT), which alone constitutes 63 per cent of the world’s SLT consumption, according to a Union Health Ministry report on SLT. The first-ever comprehensive report by the ministry, launched at the ongoing World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) here, also stated that one factor influencing SLT use among disadvantaged women is the desire to suppress hunger while performing difficult and laborious tasks. “Easy…

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Yoga Helps Considerably in Quitting Tobacco: Study

Nearly eighty-five per cent of tobacco addicts can quit the habit of consuming nicotine products just by meditation, a study said. The study that commenced in early 2014, conducting tests on 1,021 tobacco addicts of various forms, also found that the person did not relapse into addiction once he had quit the habit through meditation. The study showed 62 per cent of tobacco addicts of various forms who attended regular Yoga classes quit nicotine use within one month, while the non-regulars took a little more time to do so. “Apart…

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