Nicotine Triggers Blood Sugar Boost in Smokers With Diabetes..

March 28. 2011 - Nicotine appears to be the main culprit responsible for high blood sugar levels in smokers with diabetes, according to new research presented here at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. Those constantly high blood sugar levels, in turn, increase the risk of serious diabetes complications such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and nerve damage.

"If you have diabetes and if you are a smoker, you should be concerned about this," says Xiao-Chuan Liu, PhD, lead author and researcher at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, who spoke about his findings at a news conference Sunday, March 27th.
Sunday.

In his laboratory study, he exposed human blood samples to nicotine. The nicotine raised the level of , a measure of blood sugar control. The higher the nicotine dose, the more the A1c level rose.The nicotine doses used in the lab study was comparable with that found in the blood of diabetic smokers and the dose would correspond to what the smoker received from smoking one or two packs daily.

They measured the effects of nicotine on the blood cells using the HbA1c test. Depending on the dose of nicotine used, the hemoglobin A1c levels were elevated between 9% to 34.5%, and the researchers observed, the higher the nicotine dose, the levels of hemoglobin A1c rose accordingly.

For years, doctors have known that smokers who have diabetes tend to have poorer blood sugar control than nonsmokers with diabetes. However, until Liu's study, he says, no one could say for sure which of the more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke was responsible.

About 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association, although 7 million of those are undiagnosed.

Ideally, Liu says, doctors will use the new study results to encourage patients with diabetes to stop smoking cigarettes. But he warns that smokers shouldn't use the smoking cessation products that contain nicotine, such as the nicotine patches, long-term because of their effects on blood sugar.

He couldn't pinpoint an ideal maximum time for using such products.

Makers of nicotine patches suggest that smokers use patches of progressively declining strengths as they wean themselves from cigarettes.

Galier encourages short-term use of the nicotine replacement products. "I usually recommend using each strength for two to four weeks," he tells WebMD. With a three-step program, people ideally stay on the product only for 6 to 12 weeks, he says.

According to Galier, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, “What the study is telling us is that nicotine is most likely the reason smokers have elevated HbA1c levels.”

References: "Sugar Boost in Smokers With Diabetes By Kathleen Doheny
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MWebMD Health News, 3/28/2011)
D>Nicotine Causes Elevated Blood Sugar Levels In Diabetic Smokers, Health Aim By Nancy on 3/28/2011.
Read more...

Wales - Further evidence banning smoking in cars ‘only way to protect children’..

March 28, 2011 - STARTLING research today reveals children are still breathing in harmful particles in cigarette smoke in a car even when adults aren’t smoking.

Directly related news briefs:
Wales - Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Jewell we must protect children from second-hand smoke, especially in cars.. The British Lung Foundation believes Wales should follow Canada’s lead and introduce a ban, while Dr Tony Jewell, Wales’ chief medical officer, wants to start a national debate about the idea.
Smoking in a car, even if window is open, exposes a child to dangerous levels of poisonous particles..

In brief, the Welsh study reveals high levels of particulate matter (PM) from tobacco smoke is present in the back seat of cars for up to two hours after a cigarette has been smoked. Smoking with the car windows open did little to lessen levels of the potentially harmful material.

The research will be presented at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Wales’ conference in Cardiff on Wednesday, March 30th and Thursday, March 31st.

Reference: Banning smoking in cars ‘only way to protect children’ by Madeleine Brindley, walesonline.co.uk, 3/28/20 Read more...

PMI - Japan are not expected to effect sales and profits..

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) Presents
at the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe (CAGE) Conference on March 28th

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan are not expected to affect Philip Morris International Inc.'s sales and profit in the country, the cigarette maker said today.

Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro and other brands overseas, said during a presentation at the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe Conference in London that all of the cigarettes for sale in Japan are produced outside the country and shipments at ports are "being unloaded normally."

The company said four of 28 third-party distribution centers in Japan are closed because of damage. Two are expected to open this week, and other distribution arrangements are being made for the other two centers.

The company, headquartered in New York and Lausanne, Switzerland, said it reopened its Tokyo office March 24 after a temporary closing. All of its employees are accounted for and safe.

Philip Morris International is the world's second-biggest cigarette company after the state-controlled China National Tobacco Corp. Altria Group Inc. in Richmond, Va., owner of Philip Morris USA, spun off Philip Morris International in 2008. Altria is the largest U.S. cigarette seller.

Japan - study shows the promotion of menthol cigarettes to women had increased the rate of female smoking even as men smoked less..


Reference: Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) Presents at the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe (CAGE) Conference, SOURCE: Philip Morris International Inc., 3/28/2011.
March 28, 2011

Reference: Philip Morris International says Japan profits intact 3/28/2011 Read more...

Sao Paolo, Brazil shut down an illegal cigarette factory..

March 28, 2011 - Brazilian authorities shut down an illegal cigarette factory in Sao Paolo, reports Jornal Nacional.

Police found 20 million cigarette, 20 tons of tobacco, counterfeit packaging and labels. The goods seized were valued at $3 million. One person was arrested.

Brazil is flooded with counterfeit cigarettes. Tobacco companies lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually to smuggled or fake cigarettes. These illegal cigarettes now represent 34 percent of the volume of cigarettes sold per year, jumping from 5 percent of the market in 1991 and 20 percent in 1995. Approximately 51 billion cigarettes are sold illegally every year in the Brazilian market out of a total of 150 billion cigarettes sold per year, mainly originating in Paraguay.
COUNTERFEITING AND PIRACY IN BRAZIL:
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT.

Reference: Illegal factory closed in Brazil, Tobacco Reporter, 3/28/2011. Read more...

Australia - PMI launch a website calling on smokers to unite..

Australia - alliance of retail groups funded by big tobacco suffers major loss in fight against plain cigarette packs..
March 28, 2011 - Tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) has launched a website calling on smokers to unite and flex their political muscle over tough federal government regulations. The online campaign comes as the tobacco industry ramps up opposition to a government plan for cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from next year. Australia - Philip Morris (PMI) searching for ways to prevent plain packaging of tobacco products coming in 2012..)

Philip Morris's new website - ideservetobeheard.com.au (I deserve to be heard) - claims smokers are under constant attack from a "nanny state"' determined to raise taxes and ban smoking in public spaces, such as beaches and city malls.

"If you're tired of being singled out as a smoker, it's time to speak up because the more that smokers like you have a say, the more the government will have to listen,"' the website, authorised by Philip Morris, says.

The site encourages disaffected smokers to contact their local member of Parliament and provides a forum to share grievances. The web address is on cards inserted inside tobacco products manufactured by Philip Morris.

The new strategy follows a recent media blitz by the Alliance of Australian Retailers, which is extensively funded by Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco. (Australia - alliance of retail groups funded by big tobacco suffers major loss in fight against plain cigarette packs..)

The campaign claimed there was no evidence to support the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes, which would harm newsagents, service stations and convenience stores.

Quit Victoria executive director Fiona Sharkie accused the tobacco industry of hiding behind websites and third-party organisations that purport to be independent.

Reference: Big tobacco splutters over plain package law, Cameron Houston, theage.com.au, 3/27/2011. Read more...