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• Stress levels and smoking: Why your dad's bad habits may have wrecked your genes 

But medicine is increasingly pointing the finger specifically at fathers, with studies showing how male genes and even men's diets and stress levels can create serious health problems for their offspring, including diabetes, depression and obesity.

This latest finding is part of a larger picture where scientists are starting to discover diseases passed from man to boy through the Y chromosome

It seems that the Bible warning holds true for health: the sins of the fathers really do plague their children -- and this effect may pass on to their grandchildren, too.

The latest evidence in this newly emerging jigsaw comes from research that shows a common genetic flaw may increase a son's risk of heart disease by 50 per cent. . . .

'You can reduce your risk if you mitigate the effects of other dangers, such as your weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels,' says Ms Bloomer.

This latest finding is part of a larger picture where scientists are starting to discover diseases passed from man to boy through the Y chromosome. . . .

Scientists are also learning how the bad effects of men's lifestyle habits, such as their diet, stress levels, weight and smoking, can be transmitted through the genes in their sperm.

Just as disturbingly, it seems that men can pass on addictive behaviours and stress-related depression.

Here, it is not only sons who are affected but daughters, too, because these problems are passed on through genes that are not on the Y sex chromosome. . . .

Even smoking when very young can affect men's sperm -- and surprisingly, this may make their sons prone to becoming overweight.

The discovery was made using survey results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children -- an investigation into the health of 14,000 mothers and their children in the Bristol area.

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Call for sight warnings on tobacco  

Plain packets 'could pay off'  

SELLING tobacco in plain packaging could help cut the numbers of young people taking up smoking believes a Devon MP who has welcomed a public consultation on the issue.

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• Row flares over charity's fag funding  

Controversy has been kindled over a leading disability charity’s choice of funding partner, with disabled people raising concerns at Leonard Cheshire Disability’s (LCD’s) decision to accept money from a tobacco company to fund an IT programme.

The charity said that the money from Japan Tobacco International (JTI), which owns brands including Camel, Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut, would enable it to continue to deliver its Discover IT programme in sites throughout the UK.

The programme provides mentoring and training opportunities, as well as opportunities for disabled adults to learn and gain new skills.

But one former LCD disabled employee said that she was “disgusted” and “horrified” at LCD’s partnership with JTI.

She said: “Tobacco companies do so much harm to people’s health and well-being that it’s hypocritical for an organisation that supports disabled people, some of whom are disabled by being smokers, to do this.”

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Call for cigarette warning over blindness 

Non-smoking grandad fined £50 for cig butt stuck to shoe 

Bursting hookah smokers’ bubbles  

Vicky Crichton: Plain packaging will help make smoking less cool 

Cancer Research UK statistics released last week showed more than 4,000 people died of lung cancer in Scotland in 2010. . . .

A report, which is being released by Cancer Research UK today, refers to documents from the tobacco industry that show that packaging has indeed been developed to appeal to new smokers, through size, colour and design. This is significant when you consider that eight out of ten smokers start before the age of 19.

Plain packaging would strip all branding from cigarette packs, leaving all tobacco packs looking the same. Unbranding cigarette packets won’t stop everyone from smoking but it will give millions of children one less reason to start.

To support our campaign to end the packet racket and sign our petition, visit www.theanswerisplain.org.

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Nottingham tobacco workers in protest over parking levy 

Kyle’s puffed his way through three marathons  

RUNNER Kyle Stephens rewarded himself with a cigarette at the end of each of the three marathons he has completed.

The exhausted 28-year-old ran in the London, Brighton and Milton Keynes marathons over a 15 day stretch.

He was raising money for Epilepsy Action because his niece, 17-year-old Siobhan, has been affected by the condition.

Kyle gave up smoking two months ago and plans to stay away from the cigarettes but could not resist a quick puff after each of the gruelling runs.

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ONE THIRD of people living in apartment must regularly smell second-hand smoke 

• Early diagnosis of lung cancer: evaluation of a community-based social marketing intervention [FREE FULL TEXT] 

Methods

A public awareness campaign in conjunction with brief intervention training in general practices was piloted in six localities with a high lung cancer incidence. End points were self-reported awareness of lung cancer symptoms; intention to seek healthcare; chest x-ray referral rates in primary care; secular trends in the incidence of lung cancer and stage at diagnosis, compared before and after the intervention.

Results

21% (128/600) (95% CI 18% to 25%) of the targeted population recalled something about the campaign. Compared with a responder in the control area, the odds of a responder in the intervention area saying that they would visit their general practitioner and request a chest x-ray for a cough was 1.97 times (95% CI 1.18 to 3.31, p=0.01). Primary care chest x-ray referral rates increased by 20% in the targeted practices in the year following the intervention compared with a 2% fall in the control practices. The difference was highly significant, with an incidence rate ratio of 1.22 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.33, p=0.001). There was a 27% increase in lung cancer diagnoses in the intervention area compared with a fall in the control area. The incidence rate ratio was 1.42 (95% CI 0.83 to 2.44 p=0.199).

Conclusion

This is encouraging early evidence that an awareness and early recognition initiative may facilitate lung cancer diagnosis.

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