Addiction Solution Source

There is a greater risk of teenagers developing psychotic symptoms if their mothers smoked during the pregnancy. There is a direct link between tobacco use by mothers and psychotic symptoms which is being shown by new researched published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Researchers from several universities in Britain (Cardiff, Bristol, Warwick, Nottingham) studied 6300 12-year olds for psychotic-like symptoms (i.e., delusions, hallucinations). Just over 11% (or 734 children), showed definite or suspected symptoms of psychosis.

There is no doubt that smoking during pregnancy marks an increased risk of psychotic symptoms in children as found by the researchers.

There is a rising cause of chronic liver injury in which fat accumulates in the liver of people who have no history of drinking or very little. At the University of California, Riverside, a team of scientists found that even secondhand tobacco smoke exposure can result in a (NAFLD) nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Manuela Martins-Green, a professor of cell biology at Riverside was quoted as saying, “our study provides compelling experimental evidence in support of tobacco smoke exposure playing a major role in NAFLD development.”

By now, the world has read the sad news about Patrick Swayze’s death as a result of pancreatic cancer. Perhaps what people didn’t know about him is that he had struggled over the years with addiction to alcohol and cigarettes.

Over the course of the years, Patrick had a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit in addition to his alcohol addiction that grew worse after his adored father died in 1982 from a heart attack.

During his illness, he even said in his own words that he is a ‘miracle man’ who is fighting a winning battle against pancreatic cancer. But that still didn’t stop him from puffing on cigarettes between breaks from shooting his latest TV show.

In one interview I saw with Barbara Walters, he was sounding like a “tough guy” and that he was going to beat this cancer disease. But then he admitted that he was still smoking!

In another interview he actually admitted that smoking had something to do with his pancreatic cancer.

First off, think about this message from Yul Brynner (famous actor) recorded in January 1985, after he was diagnosed with lung cancer: “Now that I’m gone, I tell you: Don’t smoke, whatever you do, just don’t smoke. If I could take back that smoking we wouldn’t be talking about any cancer. I’m convinced of that.”

Now, here is five other reasons to think about:

1. Money – The cost of smoking adds up. Not only does smoking take money out of your pocket, but it contributes to higher health cost. It is well known that smoking and secondhand smoke lead to heart disease, strokes, cancer, lung disease and vascular disease. On the average, smokers spend approximately $1600/year on cigarettes. Consider the savings you will be making by quitting.

2. Life Expectancy – Smoking can take years off of one’s life literally. Also, smoking causes deep wrinkles that make you look older. By quitting smoking, your skin will be smoother and less chance of wrinkling.

3. Clean Air – smoking makes your clothes and hair reek of tobacco. Nonsmokers who are in the company of smokers are not safe either, since they are being subjected to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is associated with lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. It also can increase the risk of dementia by as much as 44 percent. Parents who smoke should seriously consider the risks of secondhand smoke exposure they are subjecting their children to in the home, car or other surrounding environments. Consider how much fresher your home will smell, your clothes, hair and even the car.

The photo shown is a disassembled cigarette-shaped electronic cigarette.
A. LED light cover
B. battery (also houses circuitry)
C. atomizer (heating element)
D. cartridge (mouthpiece)

The mouthpiece is a small disposable plastic cup affixed to the end of the tube. Inside, the piece contains an absorbent material that is moistened with a flavored propylene glycol/nicotine liquid solution. The mouthpiece is referred to in the industry as a “cartridge”. When the liquid in the cartridge has been depleted, it can either be refilled by the user, or replaced with another pre-filled cartridge.

Federal health officials stated this week they have found cancer-causing ingredients in electronic cigarettes, despite manufacturers’ claims the products are safer than tobacco cigarettes.

FDA scientists said they tested 19 varieties of cigarettes, half of which contained forms of nitrosamine, a carcinogen known to cause cancer in humans. Many products which claimed to contain no nicotine actually had low levels of the stimulant.

According to research reported in the Journal of Headache and Pain, smokers that smoke more than five cigarettes a day trigger more migraine headache attacks than those who smoke less than five.

Nicotine addiction is one of the most difficult addictions to overcome. Watch the video as I interview Dr. Charles Gant about Integrative Medicine methods to overcome nicotine addiction.

Nicotine isn’t just addictive. It probably interferes with dozens of bodily functions according to an article published April 3 in the Journal of Proteome Research.

“It opens several new lines of investigation,” said lead author Edward Hawrot, professor of molecular science, molecular pharmacology, physiology and biotechnology at Brown University.

Hawrot’s research set out to provide a more basic understanding of how nicotine affects the process of cell communication through the nervous system.

The Brown University researchers looked specifically at the alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

Their discovery: 55 proteins were found to interact with the alpha-7 nicotinic receptor. Scientists had not previously known of those connections.

This molecular model shows nicotine (in center) binding to a brain receptor via a cation-À interaction. (Image Credit: Caltech/Dennis Dougherty) According to California Institute of Technology (Caltech) researchers, lead by Dennis Dougherty, Professor of Chemistry, there is a very small genetic difference between brain cells and muscle cells that alter the way that nicotine affects us.

The receptor nicotine binds to in the brain’s neurons–a type of acetylcholine receptor, which also binds the neurotransmitter acetylcholine–is found in large numbers in muscle cells. Were nicotine to bind with those cells, it would cause muscles to contract with such force that the response would likely prove lethal.

The cause of this difference in binding potency, says Dougherty, is a single point mutation that occurs in the receptor near the key tryptophan amino acid that makes the cation-A interaction. “This one mutation means that, in the brain, nicotine can cozy up to this one particular tryptophan much more closely than it can in muscle cells,” he explains. “And that is what allows the nicotine to make the strong cation-À interaction.”

For more than 100 years, the American Lung Association has been the lead organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health, including fighting illness and death caused by tobacco use.

The American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control 2008 report assigns letter grades to each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the federal government for specific tobacco control policies.

Not one state earned all “A”s in the report.

California earned an A grade for its smoke-free air laws; a D for its cigarette tax rate; an F for tobacco prevention and control program funding; and a D for coverage of cessation treatments and services. Grades are calculated by comparing policies against standards that are based on the most current, recognized scientific criteria for effective tobacco control measures.

The American Lung Association of California also released local grades for 297 cities and 30 of the 58 counties in California. The local grades cover three key policy areas including: smoke-free outdoor air, smoke-free housing, and reducing sales of tobacco products. An overall tobacco control grade was awarded to each of these municipalities. While there are some excellent local grades, a majority of the grades reflect the need to do more to protect against secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing and outdoor environments. To see results for the 10 largest cities as well as a complete report of local grades, go to http://californialung.org/sotc-ca-local.