Tobacco.org

• Menopause: Smokers Have More Hot Flashes 

As expected, smokers in the study reported more hot flashes than women who did not smoke.

But smokers who also carried specific gene variations linked to estrogen metabolism and susceptibility to environmental toxins had the most hot flashes of all, says researcher and ob-gyn Samantha Butts, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

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Dating: Is Smoking a Deal-breaker for You? 

Body Mass Index, Exercise, and Other Lifestyle Factors in Relation to Age at Natural Menopause: Analyses From the Breakthrough Generations Study 

Lifestyle as Young Adult May Affect Age of Menopause  

• Menopause: Lifestyle affects when women go through the change as smokers have it two years earlier 

Drinking, smoking and carrying extra weight can all influence when a woman goes through the menopause, suggests a new study.

The lifestyle factors were all linked to when women stopped having periods, according to research from the Institute of Cancer Research in the UK.

Smoking made the largest impact with smokers experiencing the change an average two years earlier that those who didn't have the harmful habit.

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Smoking brings on earlier menopause 

• Scientists at Fox Chase discover link between estrogen and tobacco smoke 

The hormone estrogen may help promote lung cancer-- including compounding the effects of tobacco smoke on the disease--pointing towards potential new therapies that target the hormone metabolism, according to new research presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Tuesday, April 3 by scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

"This research provides the link between estrogen and tobacco smoke," says study author Jing Peng, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate in the lab of Margie L. Clapper, Ph.D., also a co-author on the paper.

The researchers found that estrogen is metabolized into toxic derivatives in the mouse lung. The level of these toxic metabolites increased when mice were exposed to tobacco smoke. The results suggest that new therapies which prevent estrogen from being converted into toxins could one day help treat--or even prevent--lung cancer, says Peng. "In the future, we would like to target estrogen-metabolizing pathways as a form of treatment or prevention of lung cancer."

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FEENEY: Smoking: sexy or sickly? 

• French in uproar over oral sex anti-smoking posters  

Now, for the first time, a controversy has erupted in France over the use of sexually suggestive posters as a deterrent.

A campaign to discourage young people from smoking shows male and female teenagers kneeling in front of a man, as if being forced to have oral sex. A cigarette takes the place of the man's sexual organ. The caption reads: "Smoking is to be a slave to tobacco."

The campaign, which was devised for a pressure group supporting the rights of non-smokers, has been attacked as "scandalous" and "potentially counter-productive" by feminist and pro-family campaigners.

The advertising agency behind the posters says only a shock campaign can halt the rise in smoking amongst 13 to 15-year-olds in France.

Marco de la Fuente, the leader of the project for the BDDP et Fils ad agency, said: "The old arguments - tobacco is bad for you - don't work any more. The message here is that tobacco is a form of submission. In the popular imagination, oral sex is the perfect symbol of submission."

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Excessive smoker is worst remarriage partner chosen by divorced women 

Staten Island sex shop is latest front in city's battle against roll-your-own cigarettes 

• Sexual Smoking Images in Jordan to Stop Smokers  

I’m not “blowing smoke” when I rave about Amman. No need, because Amman generates enough smoke on its own. This city rivals onions in making eyes water. Blame diesel fuel. Trucks, cars, buses blast chewy plumes of black exhaust. Heavy equipment on uncontrolled worksites add to the smog. Now introduce the smokers of cigarettes, cigars and arghileh.

Smoking’s entrenched in Arab culture. (My doctor lit up during our consult.) Cabbies puff with abandon, businessmen chainsmoke through meetings. Tobacco’s cheap in Jordan, a virtual give-away. A pack of smokes costs under 3 bucks (compared to $8 in NYC, $12 in Dublin). Hookah – or hubbly-bubbly – is an essential part of Ammanian café culture; patrons flock to restaurants offering unique settings for enjoying the pipe. Arghileh is on most menus.

In 2005, Jordan and Egypt ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a treaty aimed at nipping tobacco use . Follow-on action has been at a slow drag. Jordan’s Public Health Law incorporated anti-smoking controls in 2008, but enforcement didn’t start until 2009. Smoking was banned in fast-food restaurants in 2010, but other businesses in the public realm were given a grace period to adapt. Smoking is now taboo in all public areas. Airport terminals in Cairo and Amman are no-smo-zones: but smoke rings their entry points (drivers, passengers, meeters and greeters cluster outside to light up).

Non-compliance can result in fines, but enforcement is problematic.

In August, to comply with WHO treaty obligations, packaging on cigarettes sold in Jordan and Egypt will feature vivid photos of smoking health risks. It’s a big step for countries where public discussion on the evils of tobacco is nearly nonexistent.

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Exposure to cigarette smoke affects female fertility  

The latest Newcastle University research has found exposure to cigarette smoke in utero or as a baby can reduce a woman's fertility.

The three-year study has investigated the effects of three chemicals found in cigarettes on ovarian development and egg fertilisation in mice.

Professor Eileen McLaughlin says exposure to cigarette toxins dramatically reduces egg quality and quantity.

"We were very surprised to find that even small doses of chemicals, given to baby mice, cause quite profound changes in their ovaries and the quality of the eggs that they produce," she said.

"About a third of the eggs just disappear, they just die, and of the remaining eggs a large number of them are abnormal, they don't fertilise properly and they look like they have DNA damage."

Professor McLaughlin says she has applied for extra funding to investigate what effect the reduced fertility may have on future generations.

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• Smoking linked to generations of infertility  

Being exposed to cigarette smoke as a baby or foetus could reduce a female's fertility, new Australian research has found.

The three-year study examined the effect that three chemicals found in cigarettes had on ovarian development and egg fertilisation.

It found females who were exposed to the toxins through cigarette smoke during the early stages of life could experience a reduction in the quality and number of their eggs, Professor Eileen McLaughlin from the University of Newcastle said.

"We believe that exposure to these toxins as a foetus dramatically reduces egg quality and quantity before birth and that this reduced fertility may be passed on to the next generation," Professor McLaughlin said.

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Say No To Smoke And Bag Yourself A Date This Valentine’s Day 

Today (14 February 2012) is the most romantic day of the year and it looks like the recipe to finding a smokin’ hot date is simple - quit smoking.

New research from the Department of Health shows that if you are looking for a date this Valentine’s Day then be sure to keep away from cigarettes if you want to increase your chances of success.

Among people polled, it was the 18-24 year olds who were most put off by the smell of cigarettes.

* Seventy four per cent claimed they would not kiss someone who had just smoked;

* Seventy six per cent agreed that smoking makes people less attractive; and

* Sixty four per cent of 35-44 year olds said they would refuse a kiss from a smoker.

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