Smoking & You

Article Navigation

Click Here for more articles

Study Links Tobacco Smoke With Belly Fat

by: pharmacy

Exposure to cigarette smoke raises the risk among teens of metabolic syndrome, a disorder associated with excess belly fat that increases the chances of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, metabolic syndrome, according to a study.

Researchers said it is the first study to establish such a link in teenagers.

"The bottom line to me is: As we gear up to take on this epidemic of obesity, we cannot abandon protecting our children from secondhand smoke and smoking," said lead author Dr. Michael Weitzman, executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics Center for Child Health Research in Rochester, N.Y.

For the study, metabolic syndrome was defined as having at least three of five characteristics: a big waist, high blood pressure, high levels of blood fats called triglycerides, low levels of good cholesterol, and evidence of insulin resistance, in which the body cannot efficiently use insulin.

In the study, published Monday in the American Heart Association online journal Circulation, researchers found that 6 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds had metabolic syndrome and that the prevalence increased with exposure to tobacco smoke.

The study found that 1 percent of those unexposed to smoke developed the syndrome, 5 percent of those exposed to secondhand smoke had the disorder and 9 percent of active smokers had it.

Looking at teens who were overweight or at risk for being overweight, the effect of smoke was even more marked, with 6 percent of those not exposed to smoke developing syndrome, 20 percent of those exposed to secondhand smoke getting it and 24 percent of smokers suffering from the disorder.

"What this shows is that the percentages of kids who are at risk is vastly higher if they're overweight and they're exposed to secondhand smoke, down to very low levels," Weitzman said.

Weitzman said it is not clear what it is about smoking that appears to make teenagers more susceptible to metabolic syndrome.

However, in adults smoking has been linked to insulin resistance, a risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Doctors also point out that smoking can lower levels of good cholesterol and raise blood pressure, two more markers for the disorder.

The researchers looked at 2,273 adolescents, using information from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey. The youngsters reported their own use of tobacco. Also, the study looked at measurements of cotinine, a product of nicotine after it enters the body. Two-thirds of teens who did not smoke had cotinine levels that indicated secondhand smoke exposure.

"It's sobering," said Dr. Michael Lim, assistant professor of internal medicine in the division of cardiology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. "What it points out is a very high-risk group of people - young adults 12 to 19 - who are exposed to tobacco products and sedentary."

The number of overweight teens in the United States has tripled in the past two decades.

About the author:
Content By pharmacies drugs
and cancer health

Circulated by Article Emporium

Read Articles:

Healthy Living - 5 Steps to Get There

Tobacco - A Crime Against Humanity!

How To Increase Your Energy

Low Price Health Care - Everday Preventative Ac...

How To Have A Healthy Heart

Stop Smoking

Coping With Stress- 3 Simple Steps

The Reasons Behind Smoking

The Fuel Of Stress, Anxiety and Depression

All about smoking and how to quit

Exercise And Quitting Smoking

Hypnosis: Benefits You Can�t Live Without

Asbestos: Cause Of Deadly Mesothelioma

Reasons Why You Should Quit Smoking

Positive And Negative Effects To Expect When Yo...

Get the Background Information on Osteopenia an...

If I Suffer from Heart Disease

Can�t Lose Weight? Syndrome X May Be the Culprit

How 40,000 People Reversed Heart Disease

Impotence

10 Powerful Hints to Stop Smoking

10 Powerful Tips to Stop Smoking

How Do I Stop Smoking?

How 40,000 People Reverse Heart Disease

The Elimination of Heart Attack -- Is it Possible?

Smokers Put Pets at Risk

Cigars as a business

Kicking Butts: Forget For A Moment All That Stu...

How does inhaled insulin work

Zeroing in on the Prevention of Heart Disease

Should We Treat Cancer or Prevent Cancer?

5 Simple Steps To Lower Cholesterol

Alert: Beware of Dangerous Free Radicals

Headaches

15 Hair Care Myths

GETTING SOFT IN BED? ...KNOW THE FACTS ON IMPOT...

Do you really need health supplements?

Andropause and Hair Loss

How Can A Person Becomes A Smoker?

Exercise & Erectile Dysfunction

How to get a lower blood pressure using medical...

Popular Snoring Remedies -

The Psychology Of Quitting Smoking

To quit smoking is not easy but worth it

Dangers Of Smoking

TREATING HYPERTENSION

Who else wants to quit smoking once and for all?

How Much Importance Do You Place on Your Skin a...

What You Need To Know About Pregnancy And Tanni...

Prevent Diabetes Problems: Keep Your Diabetes U...

Grains that cause celiac disease

How To Quit Smoking

The Benefits of Stopping Smoking (Part One)

Alzheimer's Toxin May Be Key To Slowing Disease

Cigar Smoking

Tips to Improve Your Asthma

Popular Varieties of Cigar Boxes -

An Understanding Of Mesothelioma Cause

7 Proven Ways to Resist the Urge to Smoke

How will Obesity Affect You and What Can You Do?

More Article Pages 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

How To Quit Smoking
by: Rob Mellor

One of the most vicious diseases in today�s times is smoking. It makes a person baffle for air 3 times more than a non-smoker. It has very many repercussions on the life of the smoker and those around him. It leads to lung cancer and various heart diseases like asthma and emphysema. We should thus abhor this deadly disease and quit smoking.

Quitting is not easy

But to actually quit smoking is not easy, because it is an addiction. However there are very many ways and methods that help us to quit smoking for instance we can opt for acupuncture therapy or aromatherapy. We can also opt for non-nicotine cigarettes or go for precise prescription by a doctor.

But first and foremost we need to decide in our heart to stop smoking and should also fix a day for the same. Inform your family about your decision and seek for their help and assistance. Throw away all the cigarette packets, ashtrays and lighters. Stop buying any more cigarettes. Rather think of the more useful and better things that you can buy with the money thus saved. Ask the other family members also, who smoke, to stop smoking. Keep yourself busy. Exercise regularly and meditate occasionally. Eat healthy food.

After doing all this you may still feel severe urges to smoke. You may also actually retort back to it, but that�s no problem, just be persistent and bring back your decision on to the right track after this break, because most of the people are successful only after 2-3 attempts.

Be prepared for withdrawal symptoms

About 80% people retort back to smoking after once leaving it and only 20% successfully accomplish the task. People retort back due to many reasons. Some say they feel agitated. Others say that the aroma when someone lights up is irresistible. But most of them do so due to the fear of symptoms that appears after that last puff viz. weight gain, aggressive thinking, dry throat, fatigue, muscle cramps, constipation, dizziness, hypersensitivity to stimuli, etc. but these are all just temporary symptoms and disappear in a few days. In fact after the initial bout is over the blood pressure, heart rate, pulse arte all get back to normal. You thus need to keep your will power strong and stick to your decision for a few more days.

Some people are not able to continue with the smoke cessation programs because they say that they are costly. But this is a wrong perception because they are not costlier than the price spent for buying cigarettes. And then isn�t it more logical to spend on your health rather on a disease.

This Static Spot is open for sponsor

This Static Spot is open for sponsor