Science Daily is NOT a true trade journal for biomedical and biotech sciences. It is interesting factoids relatively based in science. I typically have to read, Science, Nature and all the compendium journals, JAMA and NEJM; then cross reference them grants submitted to NIH to get full facts.

Now if the top US scientists at Harvard, Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, UMDNY, Cornell, NYU, MIT, Duke Southwestern, UCB, UCSF, UCLA, UW, UColorado, Northwestern, Chicago, and may others etc. are lying about their research, then all have completely had the wool pulled over our eyes.

I just go by what my physician friends in the ER have to see on a daily basis. And since the Baby Boomers are aging, they will be the ones that are coming in with these combined complications--diabetes + cancer, heart attack + cancer, stroke + cancer. That chit is not funny when you have it... Till you are walking through wards or deal with a loved one who suffering these problems or yourself hooked up to 0.5% Saline + morphine drip easing your pain 'cuz your case is terminal up in hospice, then do not come to us crying about this reality... Based on population alone, this healthcare fiasco is going to get worse...


There are several other GC'ers much more smarter than me. Shinerbock, macallan, Drolefille, 33girl, valkyrie, Professor, AKA2D'91, DSTChaos, Jubilance.

OtterOX and Epchick are in medical school right now. As well as quite a few others. Apparently AlphaFrog is a former EMT. So when we are telling you these things, these are not only our professional opinions, these are all our professional experiences--on rounds or runs to help folks out. Why would we lie?

To add: :)

What has been shown in animal models and pathologic autopsy reports in humans is that the additives combined with highly reactive nicotine--classified as a drug substances binds various receptors in the brain: nicotinoids, opiods, cannabinoids and NMDA receptors. Each of these receptors regulate neurotransmitter release and regulation, namely norepinephrine, dopamine and possibly seratonin. Depolarization and hyperpolarization down the axons are what is at stake here. In Parkinson's, there is a problem with neuronal health as well as other cells in the brain, I think stellates and astrals, but I could be wrong. Glial cells are always an issue, too.

Why nicotine has some protective effect has not been examined. Then again, why THC decreases pain also has not been examined. Moreover, a lot is not known about many drugs we take or abuse: Cocaine or aspirin, etc.

I'm trying to figure out how they figure that 2000 former smokers are getting the lung cancer from secondhand smoke and not the cigarettes they smoked when they were smokers.

ETA: They've also found that nicotine reduces exacerbations of ulcerative colitis and some people with UC have actually been put on the nicotine patch to help with their UC (they don't recommend that they smoke though). Conversely, a very similar disease, Crohn's, has shown the opposite. Recurrences increase with tobacco use for Crohn's.

My real identity? I created this username to make my retro rush thread more anonymous. I haven't used the old one since (it was a little too close to my real name), but I was a very uncontroversial and boring GC member under both usernames, so I don't know who you think I am.
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Paxil Settlement

AKA_Monet posted some pics a few pages back that showed the cancers that can develop on your mouth area due to tobacco & smoking.

Kinda random, but I saw on a show last week that countries like Singapore put those pictures ON THE CIGARETTE CARTONS. I think that's an awesome idea, but I guess it wouldn't be effective for everyone because everyone thinks they are invisible to that sort of thing.

My younger sister is a smoker, and I really really wish she wouldn't smoke :( It is just such a disgusting habit and her car reeks of it on top of all of the health issues it can cause.

Smoking is not just bad for your lungs - it's bad for other parts of your body, too, like your HEART. My dad, who was a chain smoker from 14 through the end of his life, DIED at age 52 from plaque built up in his arteries due to smoking. We were always worried about his lungs, but never thought about his heart...until he died suddenly in his sleep. Smoking will get you, one way or the other.

Canada does this as well I believe.

In the EU, cigarette packaging has big you-can't-miss-it labeling. I took some photos the last time I was there. Here's some samples I found on the Web from the UK and elsewhere:

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/ima...garette_packet

http://www.idonline.com/images/smokescreens.jpg

LOL. If you insist. ;)

I agree with jmangus that some of your posts do confuse the helloutta me when you're in your "zone."

I guess the same can be said for some of my posts for certain topics. Not because any of us are "ohhhh soo smart" but because we are typing within our fields of specialty/expertise and sometimes forget that we're presenting the info to the public (I don't like to refer to that as "dumbing down," though :)).

Smoking should be illegal. I'm kind of serious about that. [None of my friends or family members smoke. The ones who tried to sometimes be "social" or even "stress" smokers were immediately chastised by me when I found out. I got quite a few of my colleagues to stop smoking because I would join them and playfully heckle them during their smoke breaks. "Take a breather instead of a smoke. You're killing yourself."]

If people want to smoke, they should be forced to do so in their cars with other smokers (and no children) or in the dark alleys of establishments. Oh yeah, and at home but only when smokers are by themselves or around other smokers (and, again, no children).

Point being, smoking is potentially deadly and somehow it is still legal whereas other things that are arguably less harmful are illegal. Unlike alcohol consumption, I argue that there's no "moderation" with smoking. So if you want to kill yourself, have at it. It's when you want to harm and kill others that I have a huge problem.

I think you're thinking of centaur/pfr/AlexMack.

I was never an EMT (I just played one on TV ;)).

I got a couple packs in Poland like that. One side says "Smoking Kills" and the other says "Smoking Will Cause A Slow And Painful Death". I'll put up a link if anyone here wants to see it.

My favorite are the ones from Canada that say "Smoking may cause impotence" and shows a pic of a limp cigarette.

Mama,
I would love to see a pic of that if you have one.

I live in Illinois and I love this smoking ban - especially since I'm very sensitive to smoke. It's great to go to a restaurant or bar or somewhere like that and NOT leave reeking of smoke or choking on it even though I'm in the nonsmoking section. Going out is so much more pleasant. :)

In Canada, cigarette packages have pictures on them, like diseased lungs, etc.

There has been a smoking ban in Ontario for a number of years now. As a smoker, I really don't have a problem with it. I know as a smoker it's a nasty, dagerous habit, and I'll admit that I don't have the strongest will power, so it hasn't been easy for me to quit.

But from an economic standpoint, having a smoking ban DOES NOT seriously, negitivly affect businesses. The only time I saw a smoking ban cause a problem was when I was still at University. The University banned smoking it its bars before the town did and before the province did. Because you could still smoke in the bars off campus, people stoped going to the campus bars. It did have a negative impact on the campus bars and they did have to start making the bars all ages just draw people in. Once the smoking ban took affect in the whole town and the rpovince, business started to pick up again.

Here is a pic of the Impotence label.

http://lurquer.com/cig/imp.html

And here is a link to the other labels we have.

http://lurquer.com/cig/

Oh my god, that is AWESOME. Nothing like that will ever ever ever happen in the U.S. with the chokehold the tobacco lobby has on DC, but oh, how GREAT would that be??!?!?!??? I'd pay to see some big guy walk in to a gas station convenience store and pick up one of THOSE babies. When his girlfriend is with him. :p :D

The odd thing is, I'm a smoker...and I still think those packs are awesome. If I was in Canada it would be like a game for me. Kinda like a McDonald's happy meal..."Collect all 12!".

I actually have a collection of cigarette packs. My friends bring me odd ones, regional and from other countries. Even for my non-smoking friends bring me them. It's pretty impressive...

I'm a smoker too, and honestly, I don't think those labels do anything to deter people. Smokers and non-smokers alike tend to think they are amusing.

OK being my very first post I guess please don't flame me for what I am about to say.

I've read many intelligent posts on here, mostly made by jmagnus.

Here's my deal, and I AM quoting someone here directly, others indirectly and I apologize as I can no longer remember who: "You're right to smoke ends where my right to health begins". Or something to that affect. And if I was ANYBODY else I'd agree. I have Multiple Sclerosis. I suffer from SEVERE vertigo. ANY kind of stimuli makes my vertigo, and thus my urge to purge, worse. What makes it better? Besides the stupid meds which make me sleepy? You guessed it cigarettes! So by anybody just being next to me, breathing, my own health gets worse. I am not arguing to smoke next to a child or a pregnant woman, just to be able to smoke in a public place where smoking is allowed. In Illinois there were plenty of smoke free establishments before the January 2008 law went into play. I didn't go to them. I'll NEVER forget at midnight I was at Hollywood Casino in Aurora (IL) and the staff took away all the ashtrays the entire place cheered. CHEERED. And now....there is no one there. I don't know where all the cheerleaders went but they apparently went elsewhere with their friends who DID (do) smoke. Anybody who thinks the Chicagoland business area is doing better since the ban went into effect is either more of an invalid than I am or never noticed the long lines to get into places like bars, casinos, etc. Chicago is a bar town. It's not like the other cities where the smoking ban (New York specifically since the weather is similar) has been in effect and has had negligible impact on business owners- specifically bars and casinos (i.e. riverboats). Despite the gasoline prices, people in the Chicagoland area are going to Indiana or Wisconsin to go to casinos {OK- slot machines are the ONLY thing I am able to do without getting sick- don't ask me why....I used to dance :( } In fact right now, there is a bill in the Illinois House proposing that businesses can buy a "smoking license", much like a liquor license. No other state has come up with such legislation. And businesses will be forced to buy this license just to get their customers back...and so they can pay the state of Illinois the same amount of money they were paying before. Genius, no?

One of the moderators made the comment that any type of smoking ban was a good one. OK I get it. You want to breathe clean air. I'd like to leave the house and be around people. It's really hard for me but it's even harder to be so young and such an invalid. Can't we all find a middle line, like, somewhere???? Illinois has a total smoking ban with crazy rules about 15 feet from an entrance (I can't even WALK 15 feet), police STANDING on the side of the highway checking to make sure people have their seatbelts on (stay with me people), but NO helmet law requiring people driving at 60 mph plus on a bicycle with a motor on it??!! I am so lost.......

And I hate to rain on everybody's parade, but you need the gene for lung cancer (any type of cancer actually). So second hand smoke can't necessarily cause lung cancer. That's where the tobacco companies get off saying cigs don't cause cancer (just making the point here not necessarily agreeing) because there ARE people who've smoke a bigillion years and died of other things than cancer (probably caused by cigs but as long as it's not **gasp {no pun intended} LUNG cancer, well then**. Nothing can cause lung cancer. Some things in life just happen. Like Multiple Sclerosis. Aye now I'm dizzy. I need a square. Sorry if there was bad grammer or if I was tangential, I DO have a brain disease ya'll :D.

You don't get cancer if you don't have a "cancer" gene? Is that even true?

No. It's the most asinine thing I've ever read and I was concerned what I might actually type if I'd responded directly to the freak when I first read it.

Cancer is caused by various genetic mechanisms and epigenetic mechanisms related to aging... It is also caused by viral and/or some microbial infections.

If you talking about the BRCA genes because there is 1 and 2 forms, then depending on the specific mutations you have, yes, you can have cancer--specifically breast for the BRCA mutations.

But there is sporadic Non-hodgkin's polyopsis colon cancer that the genes are affected, but it just happens. It is thought environmental factors--such as asbestos and agent orange--cause this kind of cancer.

I don't mean to cause any offense, but your health issue seems like a corner case - a niche case that really can't be accounted for when making legislation. Contrary to some people's best efforts, not everybody can be accommodated everywhere all the time, you know?

Besides this, most states do indeed have helmet laws, and if Illinois doesn't, you can go ahead and lobby for it - however, it's really not the same. You can likely hold up seatbelt laws as a fine example of the "nanny state" in effect, and I won't argue - but there is a fundamental difference between seatbelt laws (which affect only the driver of the car) and public health requirements related to smoking indoors. It's really not even close to similar.

Besides that - New York isn't a bar town??? Holy Christ.

Yeah . . . this really isn't true, strictly speaking, and you should really read up on the mechanism for lung cancer.

Additionally, after 1994's Congressional hearing disaster and losing a couple hundred billion in lawsuits, even Big Tobacco openly admits cigarette smoke causes cancer.

I would think Chicago is an awful lot like Minneapolis/St. Paul, what with being large midwestern cities on large bodies of water.

Does anyone else think Guenivere should move to CA, get her medical marijuana and just sit in her house all day?

p.s. If you can't walk 15 feet away from a building to smoke, how'd you get to the building in the first place???