Gory pics on tobacco packs from Dec 1

 NEW DELHI: Finally, gory pictorial warnings like that of rotting mouths, hanging gums and infected lungs, will appear on cigarette, bidi, cigar and smokeless or chewing tobacco packets from December 1.

The Union health ministry issued the notification on Saturday after years of buckling to resistance from the all-powerful tobacco lobby. The latest notification contains a set of four pictures each of lung and oral cancer. 
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gory-pics-on-tobacco-packs-from-Dec-1/articleshow/8631187.cms

275m hooked to killer tobacco, survey reveals

NEW DELHI: Around 275 million people in India -- at 15 years and above use tobacco -- which is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the world.

An average Indian has been found to start using tobacco at 17.8 years. Not many could quit this dangerous habit. The quit ratio for smoking is 13% while that of smokeless tobacco users is 5%.

Shockingly, one in every four female tobacco users are initiated into it before reaching their 15th birthday.

Two in every five daily tobacco users - aged 20-34 -- took to it day in and day out before they had turned 18.

According to the nation's maiden Adult Tobacco Survey (ATS), the findings of which were released by the Union health ministry on Tuesday, India is the second largest consumer of tobacco products and third largest producer of tobacco in the world. 
Read more...http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/275m-hooked-to-killer-tobacco-survey-reveals/articleshow/6776085.cms

Survey finds tobacco sold with 100m of schools in 5 states

NEW DELHI: Tobacco is openly available outside schools even though a ban exists on its sale within 100 yards of a school premise.

A study in five states - Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan - has found that more than 48% of educational institutions had tobacco products being sold within 100 yards.

According to the ministry, nearly 37% children in India start smoking before they reach 10 years, and each day about 5, 500 children begin tobacco use.
Read more....http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Survey-finds-tobacco-sold-with-100m-of-schools-in-5-states/articleshow/10734145.cms

Engineer develops new way to fight wife's cancer

 (CBS News) 
In the battle against cancer, there is a promising new treatment -- a high-tech therapy that targets tumors and with fewer painful side effects than chemotherapy. CBS News correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook examines how this treatment was developed.
Mark Davis, a chemical engineer at the California Institute of Technology, was a complete stranger to the world of medicine. His expertise was in the oil industry.
Then in 1995, his wife Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"There were many times during the therapies where I just really wanted to give up," said Mary. "I thought the treatment was going to kill me rather than the disease itself.".
... Read More....
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57322674/engineer-develops-new-way-to-fight-wifes-cancer/

Anti-smoking backers score in ‘tobacco war’

AFTER a string of setbacks, anti-smoking advocates scored a victory, albeit a small one, when a Las Pinas regional trial court denied a petition of the Philippine Tobacco Institute to stop the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration from enforcing any form of regulation or supervision on tobacco products.

“This is indeed victory for the country! It’s high time public welfare is prioritized over the profit of an industry that ultimately kills its consumers,” Metro Manila Development Authority General Manager Cora Jimenez told the Manila Standard Monday.
The MMDA’s smoke-free campaign in public places along Metro Manila’s major and secondary roads was stopped by a Mandaluyong City RTC after granting the petition of two security guards nabbed by MMDA enforcers for smoking in a public place last September.
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http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideMetro.htm?f=2011/november/8/metro1.isx&d=2011/november/8

Clearing the air an arduous task

BEIJING - Many restaurants are seriously polluted by tobacco smoke despite a national smoking ban, according to the results of an investigation by a Beijing-based non-governmental organization (NGO) released on Sunday.
"With no punishment for smokers in public places, many dining places are experiencing serious pollution," said Feng Yongfeng, a senior researcher with the NGO. According to the organization, known as Green Beagle, the concentration of PM2.5 in smoke-free restaurants in the capital, which indicates the density of the tiny airborne pollutants that travel deep into the lungs and damage the respiratory systems, is as high as 61.0 micrograms a cubic meter (ug/m3).
However, the figure for dining places open to smokers soars to 114 ug/m3, while the figure for restaurants with separate smoking sections is 103 ug/m3.
"The figures indicate the smoke-free restaurants are dangerous for sensitive groups and the ones allowing smoking are very unhealthy for all citizens," said Li Qiang, a professor with the Tobacco Control Office of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
..... Read more at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/china/2011-11/07/content_14046703.htm

How smoking affects your health, skin and fitness

According to the third edition of The Tobacco Atlas, published by the World Lung Foundation and the American Cancer Society, almost 6 million people die every year due to tobacco use.

We all know that smoking affects our lungs and may lead to lung or bronchus cancer, but did you know that it affects your skin and stamina as well? From your heart strength to ocular function; smoking can chronically influence your life, making you vulnerable to many hazardous health conditions. Let's find out what these common health and fitness hazards that occur due to smoking are... 
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/How-smoking-affects-your-health-skin-and-fitness/articleshow/10181065.cms

48% cancers due to tobacco chewing

CHANDIGARH: On the occasion of National Cancer Awareness Day on Monday, the department of radiotherapy, in collaboration with department of community medicine, PGIMER organized an awareness and early detection camp at Indira Colony, Manimajra.

Nearly 600 people visited the camp and exhibition & about 300 people were examined by the faculty of the hospital.

PGI receives nearly 6,000 new cancer cases every year and this figure is on a rise. Cancer pattern in India reveals the preponderance of tobacco related cancers because besides smoking, tobacco chewing is also an important risk factor. Almost 48% of cancers are related to tobacco in India. 
......Read more at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/48-cancers-due-to-tobacco-chewing/articleshow/10649252.cms