Vapes, e-cigarettes, other artificial nicotine products to be banned soon

The step comes after the Delhi High Court slammed the Health Ministry for not taking regulatory measures on the manufacture, import, sale and trading of e-cigarettes in the country

In order to crack down on the artificial nicotine products, the government on Tuesday issued an advisory against the sale of vapes, e-cigarettes, e-nicotine flavoured hookah, heat-not-burn devices, e-sheesha and other similar devices in the country.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare advisory issued to all the states and Union Territories, manufacturing, distributing, trading, importing and advertising of any artificially produced nicotine products — Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) — will be brought to an end soon.

The step comes after the Delhi High Court slammed the Health Ministry for not taking regulatory measures on the manufacture, import, sale and trading of e-cigarettes in the country.

The Ministry stated that in 2014, a roundtable discussion on ENDS was held where health experts and officers of the health and drug departments concluded that such devices are hazardous.

It further said that such electronic devices that enable nicotine delivery or its use, are a great health risk to the public at large, especially to children, adolescents, pregnant women and women of reproductive age.

The advisory also explained that in addition to creating dependence, nicotine can have adverse effects on the development of the foetus during pregnancy. It may lead to cardiovascular diseases and can also function as a “tumour promoter”.

Article Source : BS

E-cigarette users at higher risk of heart attack

A new study has found that smoking an e-cigarette on a regular basis could double the risk of a heart attack.

According to a new analysis of a survey of nearly 70,000 people, led by researchers at UC San Francisco, the dual use of e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes appears to be more dangerous than using either product alone.

The study also found that the risks compound, so that daily use of both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes raises the heart attack risk five-fold in comparison to the people who don’t use either product.

Senior author Stanton Glantz said, “Most adults who use e-cigarettes continue to smoke cigarettes. While people may think they are reducing their health risks, we found that the heart attack risk of e-cigarettes adds to the risk of smoking cigarettes.”

However, the researchers also reported some good news if smokers quit. “The risk of heart attack starts to drop immediately after you stop smoking. Our results suggest the same is true when they stop using e-cigarettes,” said Glantz.

Electronic cigarettes typically deliver an aerosol of nicotine and other flavours by heating a liquid and are promoted as a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes, which generate the nicotine aerosol by burning tobacco.

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Know how smoking harms your unborn baby

The dangers of smoking are many, but the problem gets exponential when pregnant women opt for it as their unborn babies are also at risk.

In spite of being aware of the ill effects associated with smoking, including several forms of cancer, the habit is still prevalent among many, including pregnant women. Smoking during pregnancy accounts for an estimated 20 to 30 percent of low-birth weight babies.

So, all the pregnant women should keep the following in mind before lighting a cigarette.

— According to Dr. Shobha Gupta, Medical Director & Infertility Specialist from Mother’s Lap IVF Centre, smoking among pregnant women may lead to birth of premature babies. “Baby’s who are born too early are always at risk of high infections and their organs are not developed properly. In extreme cases babies may even die because of low birth weight,” she added.

— Most importantly, the placenta is at risk. It is the organ which helps to develop the uterus during pregnancy and later provides nutrition to your baby. Dr. Gupta said that if one tends to smoke during pregnancy, it may “prevent the placenta from giving proper nutrients and oxygen to the baby that is needed”. “Smoking might also cause the placenta to get separated from the womb too early which is extremely dangerous for the baby and mother too,” she added.

Article  Source : BS

Hookah or cigarette, what’s more harmful?

The debate on whether smoking a cigarette or Hookah is more harmful has been an endless one. However, researchers may have finally found an answer to the same.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have found that smoking Hookah for 30 minutes resulted in the development of cardiovascular risk factors similar to that of cigarette smoking, thereby implying that smoking Hookah is more hazardous to one’s health.

They measured measuring heart rate, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, blood nicotine and exhaled carbon monoxide levels in 48 healthy, young Hookah smokers before and after 30 minutes of smoking.

It was found that a single session of Hookah smoking increased heart rate by 16 beats per minute and blood pressure; and significantly increased measures of arterial stiffness, a key risk factor in the development of cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack or stroke.

The increase in arterial stiffness was comparable to data seen from cigarette smokers after smoking a cigarette.

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E-cigarettes, tobacco linked to higher risk of oral cancer

Turns out, Tobacco use remains a leading cause of oral cancer but the tobacco landscape is evolving with increasing use of non-cigarette tobacco products and dual-use of multiple product types.

Benjamin Chaffee and co-author Neal Benowitz, University of California, evaluated exposure to known carcinogens (a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue) according to recent use of different tobacco product types, alone or in combination.

Participants were categorized according to use of combustible, which includes cigarettes, cigars, water pipe, pipes, blunts (marijuana-containing cigars), smokeless, which includes moist snuff, chewing tobacco and snus, e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement products.

For each product, the recent use was defined as within the prior three-days and non-use defined as none within 30-days.

All tobacco use categories demonstrated elevated nicotine and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) concentrations relative to non-users. TSNA exposures were highest among smokeless tobacco users, whether used or together with other product types.

Most e-cigarette users concurrently used combustible tobacco resulting in TSNA exposure similar to exclusive cigarette smokers.

The analysis shows that the vast majority of non-cigarette tobacco users are exposed to carcinogen levels comparable to or exceeding exposure among exclusive cigarette smokers, levels that are likely to place users at substantial risk….READ SOURCE

A Japanese firm is giving non-smoking employees six extra paid leaves

Some non-smoking employees complained that they were working more than the staff who took time off for smoking cigarettes

Are non-smokers more productive as workers? A Japanese firm seems to think so. The company is granting extra paid leaves to employees who do not smoke. The step was taken in September after an employee suggested the measure earlier in the year.

The non-smoking employees of Tokyo-based marketing firm Piala Inc. complained that they were working more than the staff who took time off for smoking cigarettes during office hours, The Telegraph reported. Now, the company is granting non-smoking employees an extra six days of paid holidays a year.

"One of our non-smoking staff put a message in the company suggestion box earlier in the year saying that smoking breaks were causing problems", Hirotaka Matsushima, a spokesman for the company told The Telegraph. The company's CEO Takao Asuka agreed to give the non-smoking employees extra paid leaves to compensate.

Piala Inc's head office is on the 29th floor of a building in Tokyo. For a cigarette break, an employee has to go to the basement level. According to an estimate, each smoking break lasts for around 15 minutes.

Till October 30, 30 out of 120 employees have reportedly availed the free holidays.

"I hope to encourage employees to quit smoking through incentives rather than penalties or coercion", Asuka, the Piala Inc CEO, told Kyodo News. Matsushma informed that the scheme has already encouraged four people to give up smoking.....READ MORE