Dad's in-home smoking may harm family's health

Fathers-to-be who smoke and want to protect the health of their families should take it outside, suggests new research from Korea.

Newborns whose fathers had smoked in the home had higher levels of nicotine in their hair than babies born to non-smoking dads, Dr. Moon-Woo Seong of the National Center in Goyang and colleagues found. But infants whose fathers smoked, but only did so outdoors, had no more nicotine in their hair than babies whose fathers did not smoke at all.

"Outside smoking substantially reduces maternal and fetal exposure," they conclude.

The study, reported in the latest issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, included 63 mother-father-newborn trios. None of the mothers in the study were smokers, or were regularly exposed to second-hand smoke outside the home. In 27 families neither parent smoked, fathers only smoked outdoors in 27 of the families, and in 9 families the father smoked indoors.

Mothers living with smokers had significantly more nicotine and its byproduct cotinine in their hair, Seong and colleagues found, but there were no significant difference between nicotine and cotinine levels in the hair of babies with non-smoking fathers and those with smoking fathers.

However, when the researchers looked separately at indoor and outdoor smoking, they did find higher nicotine levels in the children of indoor smokers compared to outdoor smokers.

Based on average nicotine levels, note the researchers, the wife of an indoor smoker is exposed to 7.4 percent of all of the smoke her husband consumes, while 16.7 percent of the smoke a mother inhales is passed to her fetus.

"Our findings," the team concludes, "indicate that paternal smoking inside the home leads to significant fetal and maternal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. We also found that paternal smoking outside the home helpfully reduces levels of environmental tobacco smoke to which the smoker's wife and her fetus are exposed."

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, November 15, 2008.

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What is nicotine addiction?

What is nicotine addiction?

Nicotine is the tobacco plant's natural protection from being eaten by insects. It is a super toxin that, drop for drop, is more lethal than strychnine or diamondback rattlesnake venom, and three times deadlier than arsenic. Yet, amazingly, by chance, this natural insecticide's chemical structure is so similar to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine that once inside the brain it fits a host of chemical locks permitting it direct and indirect control over the flow of more than 200 neurochemicals.

Within eight seconds of that first-ever inhaled puff, through dizzy, coughing and six shades of green, nicotine arrived at the brain's reward pathways where it generated an unearned flood of dopamine, resulting in an immediate yet possibly unrecognized "aaahhh" reward sensation. Sensing it would cause most first-time inhalers to soon return to steal more. Nicotine also fit the adrenaline locks releasing a host of fight or flight neurochemicals and select serotonin locks impacting mood.

Brain Defenses Create Dependency

A toxic poison, the brain's defenses fought back but in doing so they had no choice but to also turn down the mind’s sensitivity to acetylcholine, the body's conductor of an entire orchestra of neurochemicals.

In some neuro-circuits the brain diminished the number of receptors available to receive nicotine, in others it diminished the number of available transporters and in still other regions it grew millions and millions of extra acetylcholine receptors (up-regulation), almost as if trying to protect itself by more widely disbursing the arriving pesticide.

There was only one problem. All the physical changes engineered a new tailored neurochemical sense of normal built entirely upon the presence of nicotine. Now, any attempt to stop using it would come with a risk of intermittent temporary hurtful anxieties and powerful mood shifts. A true chemical addiction was born. Returning home to the “real you” now had a price. Gradually the calmness and comfort associated with being the “real you” faded into distant or even forgotten memory.

The brain's protective adjustments insured that any attempt to stop would leave you temporarily desensitized. Your dopamine reward system would briefly offer-up few rewards, your nervous system would see altering the status quo as danger and sound an emotional anxiety alarm throughout your body, and mood circuitry might briefly find it difficult to climb beyond depression.

The Recovery Process

Successful nicotine dependency recovery is in maintaining the motivations, dreams and patience needed to allow: (1) the physical mind time to re-sensitize itself and re-adjust to functioning normally again; (2) the subconscious mind time to encounter and re-condition the bulk of its nicotine feeding cues that triggered brief anxiety episodes in an attempt to gain compliance; and (3) the conscious mind time to either allow years of defensive dependency rationalizations to fade into distant memory, or the intelligent quitter time to more rapidly destroy their impact through honest reflection.

The ex-smoker will find themselves enjoying a deep and rich sense of inner quiet, calmness, and tranquility once their temporary journey of re-adjustment is substantially complete.

The body's nicotine reserves decline by about half every two hours. It's not only the basic chemical half-life clock which determines mandatory nicotine feeding times, when quitting it's also the clock that determines how long it takes before the brain begins bathing in nicotine free blood-serum, the moment that real healing begins.

It can take up to 72 hours for the blood-serum to become nicotine-free and 90% of nicotine's metabolites to exit the body via your urine. It's then that the anxieties associated with readjustment normally peak in intensity and begin to gradually decline.

But just one powerful "hit" of nicotine and you’ll again face another 72 hours of detox anxieties. It's why the one puff survival rate is almost zero. None of us are stronger than nicotine but then we don’t need to be as it is simply a chemical with an I.Q. of zero. It does not plot, plan or conspire and is not some demon within us. Our most effective weapon against it is, and always has been, our vastly superior intelligence but only if put to work.

Nicotine Replacement Products

The key to nicotine dependency recovery is not in dragging out the 72 hours of detox by toying for weeks or months with gradual nicotine weaning or other creative means for delivering nicotine. The nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) industry want smokers to believe that a natural poison is medicine, that its use is therapy, and that it is somehow different from the tobacco plant's nicotine molecule. The truth is that the pharmaceutical industry buys its nicotiana from the exact same growers as the tobacco industry. They want you to believe that double-blind placebo controlled studies proved that NRT doubles a cold turkey quitters odds of quitting and that only superheros can quit without it. The truth is that their studies were not blind as claimed, and that all but a tiny sliver of earth's successful quitters are quitting entirely on their own. Here are a few facts that those selling creative nicotine delivery devices would rather you not know:

* Nicotine is a psychoactive drug whose "high" provides a dopamine "aaahhh" sensation and an adrenaline rush. Would you have been able to tell, within 5 minutes, whether the gum or lozenge you'd been given contained the nicotine equilivent of smoking two cigarettes or was instead a nicotine-free placebo? So could they. A 2004 study found that NRT studies suffered from massive wide-spread blinding failures (May 2004)
* A nicotine smoker's natural odds of quitting for six months, entirely on their own, without any products, procedures, education programs, counseling or formal support is roughly 10% (June 2000)
* Those using the over-the-counter (OTC) nicotine patch or gum as a stand-alone quitting tool have only a 7% chance of quitting smoking for six months (March 2003)
* Up to 7% of OTC nicotine gum quitters are still chronic users of nicotine gum at six months (May 2004). Question: isn't 7 minus 7 still zero? (May 2004)
* 36.6% of all current nicotine gum users are chronic long-term users (May 2004)
* You truly would have to be a superhero to quit while using the nicotine patch if you've already attempted using it once and relapsed. The only two patch user "recycling" studies ever conducted have both shown that nearly 100% of second-time nicotine patch users relapse to smoking nicotine within six months (April 1993 and August 1995, see Table 3)
* 91.2% of all successful long-term ex-smokers quit entirely on their own without resort to any product, procedure or program of any kind including hypnosis, Zyban, Wellbutrin, acupuncture, magic herbs, laser therapy, or the nicotine patch, gum, lozenge, spray, or inhaler (ACS 2003)
* Education, understanding, new skills and serious support can more than triple your natural six-month odds of 10% (April 2003)
* Those who refuse to allow any nicotine back into their bloodstream have 100% odds of remaining nicotine free today! (Today, Tomorrow & Always!)


Education Destroys Dependency Ignorance

Is encountering your subconsciously conditioned nicotine feeding cue (times, places, events, emotions) that are in need of reconditioning a bad thing? Are almost all cues reconditioned and broken by a single victory in not providing the demanded substance? Is time distortion a normal recovery symptom? Do all subconscious crave episodes last less than three minutes? Can distortion make the minutes feel like hours? Can looking at a clock bring honest perspective? Does the number of episodes peak at an average of six on day three and decline to just 1.2 crave episodes per day by day 10?

If "average," can you handle up to 18 minutes of serious anxiety (3 minutes x 6 episodes)? If you have established twice as many nicotine feeding cues as he average smoker can you handle up to 36 minutes of challenge on your most challenging day of recovery?

Does nicotine really double the rate at which caffeine is metabolized? Will your caffeine blood-serum level really increase by 203% if you drink the exact same amount of caffeine after ending all nicotine use? If you are a heavy caffeine user can elevated levels of caffeine cause additional anxieties making nicotine dependency recovery harder than need be?

Why could you skip breakfast and even lunch when smoking nicotine and never feel true hunger pains? Can difficulty concentrating during early recovery, and other low blood sugar type symptoms, often be easily corrected by simply learning that nicotine is no longer your spoon feeding you stored fats and sugars, and that you must again learn to properly fuel your body? How can temporarily (72 hours) drinking natural acidic fruit juices like cranberry help to both stabilize blood sugar and accelerate depletion of your body’s reserves of the alkaloid nicotine?

These are only a few of the hundreds and hundreds of nicotine dependency recovery issues explored in detail at WhyQuit.com, a free online motivation, education and peer support forum. If you are addicted to nicotine we invite you to sample the juice of understanding and the amazing world of online nicotine dependency recovery. I think you'll be surprised at how much there is to learn about the deadly insecticide that now commands your brain, controls your health and will likely determine your life-expectancy.

The next few minutes are all that matter and each is entirely doable. It may not always be easy but it is simple. There was always only one rule: no nicotine today!

Healthbeat - Nicotine Addiction & Genetics

NIDA for Teens / Nicotine

What Is It?
Nicotine

Nicotine is the drug in tobacco leaves. Whether someone smokes, chews, or sniffs tobacco, he or she is delivering nicotine to the brain. Each cigarette contains about 10 milligrams of nicotine. Nicotine is what keeps people smoking despite its harmful effects. Because the smoker inhales only some of the smoke from a cigarette and not all of each puff is absorbed in the lungs, a smoker gets about 1 to 2 milligrams of the drug from each cigarette. [1] A drop of pure nicotine would kill a person-in fact, nicotine can be used as a pesticide on crops. [2]
What Are the Common Street Names?

You might hear cigarettes referred to as smokes, cigs, or butts. Smokeless tobacco is often called chew, dip, spit tobacco, or snuff.
How Is It Used?

Tobacco can be smoked in cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. It can be chewed or, if powdered, sniffed.

An alternative to cigarettes is "bidis." Originally from India, bidis are hand-rolled. In the U.S., bidis are popular with teens because they come in colorful packages with flavor choices. Some teens think that bidis are less harmful than regular cigarettes. But bidis have even more nicotine, which may make people smoke more, causing them to be more harmful to the lungs than cigarettes. [3]
How Many Teens Use It?

More than 3 and one-half million teens between the ages of 12 and 17 use tobacco-that's about 15 percent of teens that age. Of those, just over 3 million, or 13 percent, smoke cigarettes. In the U.S., 66.5 million people, or about 29 percent of the population, use tobacco. [9]

Nicotine: the silent killer

"Introducing to you....number one killer in the United States"

That's right, I said it...aside from that...this is also the most widely sold drug in the modern world.

While we agree that America is land of opportunity...we disagree with the expense associated for some companies to continue to make hugh profits. Namely cigarette manufactures.

There are no health benefits to these drugs, they do nothing for the enviroonment, they cause life-long damage to ones body...and they are even being sold to children.

Cigarettes...the silent killer.

Nicotine dependence is the physical vulnerability of your body

Nicotine dependence is the physical vulnerability of your body to the chemical nicotine, which is potently addicting when delivered by various tobacco products. Smoke from cigarettes, cigars and pipes contains thousands of chemicals, including nicotine. Nicotine is also found in chewing tobacco.

Nicotine produces physical and mood-altering effects in your brain that are temporarily pleasing; these effects reinforce your continued use of tobacco and nicotine dependence.

Being addicted to tobacco brings you a host of health problems related to the substances in tobacco smoke. These effects include damage to your lungs, heart and blood vessels. Smokers have significantly higher rates of heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Millions of Americans smoke, and smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Men who don't quit smoking lose an average of 13.2 years of life, while smoking women lose even more — an average of 14.5 years.

Overcoming nicotine dependence is difficult and takes commitment, support and time. The sooner you quit smoking, the better. But even if you're a longtime smoker, stopping your nicotine dependence plus taking healthy lifestyle steps can reverse much of the damage smoking has done to your body.

By Introduction from http://www.mayoclinic.com/

Bleeding in the late stages of pregnancy

What causes bleeding in the late stages of pregnancy?
Bleeding is a sign that cannot be ignored. If a woman bleeds at any time during pregnancy she should tell her doctor or midwife straight away.

The bleeding can be caused by quite harmless changes in the cervix (neck of the womb) called an ectropion. This is the commonest cause of vaginal bleeding in the second half of pregnancy.

It can also be the type of bleeding that occurs immediately before labour and looks like bloody mucus (a 'show').

But bleeding in the late stages of pregnancy can also be caused by one of two potentially serious complications.

If the placenta, which nourishes the baby, is coming away from its attachment to the inside of the wall of the womb (a condition called placental abruption), bleeding will occur . Abdominal pains and a tense, sore uterus are other symptoms of this problem.

The bleeding may originate from a low placenta that is actually blocking the opening to the cervix (a condition known as placenta praevia).

What should a woman do if she starts bleeding in the late stages of pregnancy?
If bleeding starts suddenly, the woman should lie down and arrange to be taken to hospital immediately.

What will the doctors do?
The woman will be examined and looked after on the maternity ward. If she is close to the expected date of birth the doctors will decide whether it is best for her and the baby if the baby is delivered immediately.

If the placenta is breaking away, the doctor or midwife, will break the baby's waters and induce the labour.

If, on the other hand, the placenta is blocking the opening to the vagina, the mother will probably need delivery by Caesarean section.

If the symptoms are less severe or the expected date of birth is a long way off, doing nothing other than monitoring the mother and baby's condition may be more appropriate. This will enable the pregnancy to continue and allow the development of the baby to proceed further.

Bleeding should never be ignored. If in doubt please contact a doctor - or the maternity ward at your local hospital immediately. A woman bleeding in the late stages of pregnancy should never have a vaginal examination outside a hospital as such an examination may cause further brisk bleeding.

What causes nicotine addiction?

Nicotine is an addictive drug. It causes changes in the brain that make people want to use it more and more. In addition, addictive drugs cause unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. The good feelings that result when an addictive drug is present — and the bad feelings when it's absent — make breaking any addiction very difficult. Nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break.

The 1988 Surgeon General's Report, "Nicotine Addiction," concluded that

• Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addicting.
• Nicotine is the drug that causes addiction.
• Pharmacologic and behavioral characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

What else does nicotine do to the body?

When a person smokes a cigarette, the body responds immediately to the chemical nicotine in the smoke. Nicotine causes a short-term increase in blood pressure, heart rate and the flow of blood from the heart. It also causes the arteries to narrow. The smoke includes carbon monoxide, which reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. This, combined with the nicotine effects, creates an imbalance between the demand for oxygen by the cells and the amount of oxygen the blood can supply.

How does nicotine in cigarettes increase the risk of heart attack?

Cigarette smoking may increase the risk of developing hardening of the arteries and heart attacks in several ways. First, carbon monoxide may damage the inner walls of the arteries, encouraging fatty buildups in them. Over time, this causes the vessels to narrow and harden. Nicotine may also contribute to this process. Smoking also causes several changes in the blood that make clots — and heart attack — more likely.

What are the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal?

• irritability
• impatience
• hostility
• anxiety
• depressed mood
• difficulty concentrating
• restlessness
• decreased heart rate
• increased appetite or weight gain

How long does nicotine stay in the body?

From 85– 90 percent of nicotine in the blood is metabolized by the liver and excreted from the kidney rapidly. The estimated half-life for nicotine in the blood is two hours. However, smoking represents a multiple dosing situation with considerable accumulation during smoking. Therefore, it can be expected that blood nicotine would persist at significant levels for six to eight hours after smoking stopped.

Related AHA publications:

• The Effects of Smoking (also in Spanish)
• A Message to Parents ... safeguard your children from smoking (also in Spanish)
• Quit Smoking for Good
• How To Avoid Weight Gain When Quitting Smoking
• Smoking and Your Risk of Stroke

What causes nicotine addiction?

Nicotine is an addictive drug. It causes changes in the brain that make people want to use it more and more. In addition, addictive drugs cause unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. The good feelings that result when an addictive drug is present — and the bad feelings when it's absent — make breaking any addiction very difficult. Nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break.

The 1988 Surgeon General's Report, "Nicotine Addiction," concluded that

• Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addicting.
• Nicotine is the drug that causes addiction.
• Pharmacologic and behavioral characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

What else does nicotine do to the body?

When a person smokes a cigarette, the body responds immediately to the chemical nicotine in the smoke. Nicotine causes a short-term increase in blood pressure, heart rate and the flow of blood from the heart. It also causes the arteries to narrow. The smoke includes carbon monoxide, which reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. This, combined with the nicotine effects, creates an imbalance between the demand for oxygen by the cells and the amount of oxygen the blood can supply.

How does nicotine in cigarettes increase the risk of heart attack?

Cigarette smoking may increase the risk of developing hardening of the arteries and heart attacks in several ways. First, carbon monoxide may damage the inner walls of the arteries, encouraging fatty buildups in them. Over time, this causes the vessels to narrow and harden. Nicotine may also contribute to this process. Smoking also causes several changes in the blood that make clots — and heart attack — more likely.

What are the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal?

• irritability
• impatience
• hostility
• anxiety
• depressed mood
• difficulty concentrating
• restlessness
• decreased heart rate
• increased appetite or weight gain

How long does nicotine stay in the body?

From 85– 90 percent of nicotine in the blood is metabolized by the liver and excreted from the kidney rapidly. The estimated half-life for nicotine in the blood is two hours. However, smoking represents a multiple dosing situation with considerable accumulation during smoking. Therefore, it can be expected that blood nicotine would persist at significant levels for six to eight hours after smoking stopped.

Related AHA publications:

• The Effects of Smoking (also in Spanish)
• A Message to Parents ... safeguard your children from smoking (also in Spanish)
• Quit Smoking for Good
• How To Avoid Weight Gain When Quitting Smoking
• Smoking and Your Risk of Stroke