Stop Smoking Way

Rick Bender’s message to area students was clear: learn from his mistakes.

Bender began chewing tobacco at 12. By 26, he was diagnosed with cancer, which claimed a third of his tongue, half his jaw and left Bender with limited use of his right arm.

Bender, 47, told his story to freshmen at Piedra Vista High School Wednesday in an effort to help students learn from his mistakes. He also spoke at Hermosa Middle School and Navajo Preparatory School.

Despite otherwise first-rate health it appears that President Barack Obama is still having difficulties in giving up smoking. He has been attempting to kick the habit for a while now and according to reports is still struggling with it.

After his first medical examination since becoming president, at the Navy Hospital outside Washington yesterday, his doctors confirmed that he needed to carry on with “smoking cessation methods” as he had not yet managed to get the habit under control.

The research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2010.

Researchers reported on two new studies from the Familial Intracranial Aneurysm (FIA) project, a multinational collaboration funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study genetic and other risk factors in families with at least two members affected by intracranial aneurysm.

A pub landlord in England who failed to pay fines for deliberately flouting smoking ban laws was jailed yesterday.

He was described as ‘devastated’ by his wife today.

Nick Hogan, 43, from Chorley, Lancashire, was originally fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £7,136 in costs when he was found guilty of breaching the smoking ban.

The hearing, in January 2008, was told that on the day the ban came into force he organised a ‘mass light-up’ in his two pubs, The Swan and Barristers, both in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

Obesity is now a bigger overall threat to people’s health than smoking, according to results of the longest continuing health study of adults in the United States.

Obesity causes as much or more disease than tobacco, says the study, conducted by researchers from Columbia University and the City College of New York. It adds while smoking rates are starting to decline, obesity now shortens as many or even more healthy lifespans than tobacco use.

“Health impacts of obesity are, in many ways, much larger, than the health impacts of smoking,” said Arya Sharma, chairman for obesity research and management at the University of Alberta. “(Smoking) in the end, is limited to heart disease and cancer.”

Harvard Medical School’s Healthbeat reports:

• Smoking is the top risk factor for heart disease. But for women on birth control pills, it increases the risk of stroke and heart attack even more.

• Less than one out of three Americans gets enough exercise, but women are even less active than men, especially in the 18 to 30 and over-65 age ranges.

• Women should especially beware of having high triglycerides and a waist over 35 inches, which greatly increase the risk of diabetes or a fatal heart attack.

Chief medical officer Joann Schaefer says Nebraskans recognize the harm of cigarette smoke and support the state’s recent ban on smoking in most public places.

Her comments came earlier this month as the state Department of Health and Human Services released a report detailing reaction to the ban.

Q: Last night, my boyfriend became so violent, I was afraid he was going to hit my 22-year-old daughter or me. He threatened to burn down our home, and he tried to kick me out.

I realized that he started changing after he began taking Chantix to quit smoking.

I read on your Web site about possible violence and aggression from a combination of Chantix and alcohol. There needs to be a warning about this drug.

A: Some people taking Chantix have become violent. We have heard from others that alcohol may aggravate aggression linked to Chantix.

Pfizer says anti-smoking drug Chantix safe for those with mental illness.

NEW YORK (Associated Press) – Pfizer Inc. (ED pills manufacturer) said Thursday it believes its anti-smoking drug Chantix, which has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts, can be prescribed to patients with mental illness.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Pfizer Senior Medical Director Dr. Martina Flammer, who is also the medical team leader for Chantix, said that patients with a history of mental illness who are considering taking Chantix should let their doctors know of their condition.