Smoke & Ash

A study led by Dr Michael Thun and published in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that women who smoke are at far greater risk of dying now than they were in the 1960s. This appears to be due to the current generation of women smoking more cigarettes and starting to smoke at a younger age. The study, based on 2 million American women, reported that the changes in women’s smoking habits over the last 50 years has brought women’s risk of lung cancer and resultant death rates up to the same level as men’s. These findings were reported in a number of news media including Science Daily.

According to a study published in The Lancet, based on more than a million women in the UK, lifelong smokers died a decade earlier than those who never started. Women who give up smoking by the age of 30 will almost completely avoid the risks of dying early from tobacco-related diseases. Lead Researcher Prof Sir Richard Peto, at Oxford University, said "If women smoke like men, they die like men."

An additional fact noted in the American study is that smokers who switched to cigarettes labelled as ‘light’ or 'mild' may have made the situation worse because the smoke had to be breathed in more deeply to achieve the nicotine levels of standard cigarettes. Those labels are now banned.

Just a few of the chemicals in cigarettes:

• Nicotine - immediate physiological effects include increased heart rate and a rise in blood pressure
• Ammonia - also found in toilet cleaners
• Acetone - found in nail varnish remover
• Cadmium - a highly poisonous metal used in batteries
• Vinyl chloride - used to make PVC
• Napthtalene - used in moth balls
• Carbon monoxide - poisonous gas that is commonly given off by exhausts and gas fires, fatal in large amounts
• Tar - thick brown stuff in cigarette smoke that stains fingers and teeth a yellow-brown colour and which deposits in a smoker's lungs, clogging them up
• Cyanide - a lethal gas used in Second World War gas chambers
• Formaldehyde - used to preserve dead bodies
• Arsenic - poison

Weighing up the fat tax

The number of people in the UK, not just overweight, but obese, is a problem that has to be tackled. Children in particular regard  many unhealthy foods like sugary cereals and ready made meals as part of their normal everyday intake. The future health implications both personally and as a cost to the NHS are alarming.

In November 2012, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham called for changes in the law to force food manufacturers to limit the fat, salt and sugar in processed foods so that ingredients are controlled at the production point.

The Independent leading article today 'The case for a fat tax' takes an opposing view that taxing the unhealthy products at the point of sale could be the most effective in reducing the population's intake of 'nasties'.

Denmark first introduced a 'fat tax' just over a year ago, but have abandoned it because of resulting food prices increases and job losses: BBC report.

Inequalities - a lost battle?

The King's Fund have a current Blog entitled Have we lost the battle to improve health inequalities? Gabriel Scally, Associate Fellow of the Institute for Public Policy Research has the opinion that more could and should have been done towards acheiving social health equality.  

                                                                                         The government's key aims to reduce social health inequality were listed in 'Fair Society Healthy Lives' and reviewed in (The Marmot Review Summary) 2002:

Give every child the best start in life.

Create fair employment and good work for all.

Ensure healthy standard of living for all.

Strengthen the role and impact of ill-health prevention.

Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and  communities.

Enable all children, young people & adults to maximise their  capabilities & have control of their lives.

On all counts, there still seems to be a long way to go to.

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Alzheimer's Update

The Alzheimer's Society have published the latest statistics on dementia diagnosis in the UK. These range from 31.6% of people with dementia having a formal diagnosis in the East Riding of Yorkshire, to 75.4% in Islington.


Jeremy Hunt said that there has been a small overall improvement, but inequality of alzheimer’s diagnosis between different parts of the country is unacceptable. A Guardian report today quotes Mr Hunt saying 'It’s disgraceful that more than half of all people with dementia are not receiving a diagnosis. A map of the dementia prevalence and diagnosis rates makes the situation very clear.

Old and cold?

Back in the news this week, and reported in the Telegraph, is the topic of means-testing winter fuel payments; a timely re-appearance considering the cold weather dip that is forecast to start this weekend.

In the winter of 2011/12 19,500 deaths in the over 75 age group were directly caused by these pensioners being unable to afford to keep themselves warm enough. The problem is not new; similar figures apply to previous winters. Currently under debate is the thought voiced by Mr Burstow, the former care services minister, that money saved through paying WFP only to those eligible for pension credit would make it possible to pay for a cap on care costs for the elderly. Would this, however, mean more of our elderly who are ‘neither rich not poor’ moving into the fuel poverty category with its’ potential health hazards?

Eat well on a budget in 2013

This week sees a new Change4Life campaign hitting our TV screens revealing details about the amounts of salt, sugar and fats in many family favourite foods. It is the quantity of these ‘nasties’ in everyday foods that is often surprising. The new campaign called 'Be Food Smart' promotes meal alternatives affordable on a low budget. By signing up to the campaign, subscribers have access to a range of healthy eating information, recipes and money off vouchers.

Public Health Minister, Anna Soubry, comments that the development of simple and clear food labels is underway to assist in making informed choices about our daily food.

Rich food, poor health.

A BBC report quotes the shadow health secretary Andy Burnham’s concern that current voluntary agreements with the food industry are not working and that the nationwide obesity problem is worsening. With obesity being a major cause of preventable disease there is general agreement that action is needed to tackle it, but whether regulation or collaboration is the route to take is subject to much debate. The Government’s key aim is to control levels of fat, sugar and salt in our food.

Possible actions under discussion are compulsory cookery lessons in schools, improved food labelling and legislation on manufactured foods. How would you tackle this growing problem?

Further thinking:

An article written by Kraft Foods’ CEO in this month’s issue of NGF, Next Generation Food, is thought provoking in its comments on the two contrasting global epidemics; obesity and hunger.