Second-hand smoke tied to memory problems: study

Smokers and people who regularly breathe others' cigarette fumes are worse at remembering things on their to-do lists than are people with no tobacco exposure, a small study says. Problems with so-called prospective memory may not only lead to embarrassment if a person forgets to meet with their friends, British researchers write in the journal Addiction. It can also have more-serious consequences such as forgetting to take your medication.

The study doesn't prove that smoke damages memory, but is nonetheless a cause for concern, the researchers say. "This research extends what is already known about the effects of smoking and second-hand smoke, suggesting there is not only health effects from it, but cognitive consequences too," said Tom Heffernan, the study's lead author from Northumbria University at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Heffernan and his colleague recruited 27 current smokers, 24 people who reported regular exposure to second-hand smoke and 28 people who said they were never exposed to smoke, whether first- or secondhand.

All were between 18 years old and 30 years old. The researchers had each person complete the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test, which included time-based tasks, such as returning a key to the researchers when seven minutes were left on the clock, and event-based tasks such as handing over the key when a certain word was said. Each person received points for the tasks they completed depending on how many prompts the researchers had to give them. Total scores ranged from zero to 18 points for each test, with higher scores meaning better memory.

For the time-based activities, there was a statistically reliable difference between the scores of each group. People without any exposure to tobacco smoke scored 16.3 points on average, while those who breathed second-hand smoke scored 13.7 points and smokers scored 11.6 points. For event-based activities, the smoke-free students again did better than smokers, but only marginally better than those exposed regularly to second-hand smoke.

Exactly what the findings mean in real life, and what's responsible for them, is unclear. And while the study suggests there is a link between smoking and memory problems, Heffernan warns that these are results from just one study. "I think we need to confirm these findings using other methods," he told Reuters Health.

Govt aims to stub out tobacco branding

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South Africa is aiming to follow Australia's lead and compel tobacco companies to use plain packaging for their tobacco products, MPs heard on Wednesday. "We will... be testing plain packaging... (which) means there will be no branding on tobacco products," health department director for health promotion Vimla Moodley said. Briefing members of Parliament's health portfolio committee on proposed new smoking regulations, she said the department was also testing the use of "pictorials" on tobacco packaging.

These were pictures of the "health consequences" of smoking. "Up to now, the regulations allowed for text messages (showing) health warnings, for example 'tobacco is harmful to your health'. "But in terms of international guidelines... we need to introduce pictorials, which are pictures of health consequences on tobacco products." The department was currently testing pictorials, and the health messages that went with them, in Gauteng and the Western Cape. Reports on these would be completed by December this year.

On the introduction of laws compelling tobacco manufacturers to use plain, non-branded packaging, Moodley noted that Australia had recently done this. "We are keen to test this and if there is... support for it, we will go this route," she said. Australia's plain-packaging laws were fiercely opposed by tobacco companies, but the manufacturers received a set-back last month when the country's highest court endorsed the new regulations, which are set to take effect on December 1 this year. Speaking after the briefing, Moodley said the new South African regulations - which are still subject to review - could be ready by as early as next year.

The proposed regulations also seek to ban smoking in public places and "certain outdoor places". Moodley told the committee that current regulations allow 25% of the floor space in a restaurant or an indoor facility be designated a smoking area. "With this set of regulations... indoor public spaces will now be 100% smoke free... Those places will no longer have a space for indoor public tobacco use."

Other areas the department was seeking to make 100% smoke free included "entrances to public spaces, outdoor eating and drinking areas, health facilities, schools, child-care facilities, covered walkways and in stadiums", she said. According to a document tabled at the briefing, so-called "smoking prevalence" in South Africa is declining, though about 44 400 deaths in the country each year are "related directly to tobacco".

Imperial Tobacco anticipates regionally varied results

Imperial Tobacco Group has said that the overall financial position and operational performance of the group in the year ended September 30th has been in line with its expectations. Tobacco net revenues are expected to be up by around four per cent with particularly good performances in its Eastern Europe, Africa & Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.

However, stick equivalent volumes are expected to decline by up to three per cent, the majority of which is due to ongoing market weakness in Ukraine and Poland and compliance with international trade sanctions against Syria. In a statement the firm said: "We are delivering strong gains from our key strategic brands and improving our revenue momentum through our focus on driving quality growth across our total tobacco portfolio.

"We are making excellent progress with our key strategic brands Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, West and JPS and expect this to be reflected in further strong volume and revenue gains from these brands which continue to represent an increasing proportion of our volumes." Analysts at Credit Suisse reacted by reiterating their "outperform" view on the company´s shares.

They added the followin: "This means that Imperial should deliver 4% organic tobacco sales growth in FY12, which we see as a resilient performance considering the difficult EU industry volume backdrop this year (…) On the positive side, Imperial's strategic brands continue to enjoy strong momentum in non-EU markets, trends in Germany remain favourable and the roll-out of innovation (glidetec, Davidoff Id, crushballs) should continue supporting top line growth in coming quarters."

Tobacco farmers say high taxes endanger livelihood

The Philippine Tobacco Growers Association said that high tobacco taxes will endanger their livelihood contrary to government claims that they will benefit from them. The 20,000 members of the group say that the fact that the government is encouraging them to plant other crops means it is not true there will be enough buyers for their products. PTGA president Saturnino Distor said they do not believe that alternative crop programs and funding have been prepared for them. We do not agree that there will be buyers for our harvest.

 The government knows that our only livelihood will be affected which is why they are pushing us to plant other crops,” Distor stressed. They added that based on their experience, government support promised them are not enough and often come late. Distor said that tobacco is a cash crop that provides them good income that supports their family’s needs and their children’s education. He explained they have tried planting other crops like corn, but this did not give them the same income they get from tobacco. He reiterated that the tax bill of the DOF and the Department of Health (DOH) will wipe out a large percent of farmers’ incomes as well as threaten the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of factory workers dependent on the industry.

 The PTGA appealed to the Senate to remove these anti-farmer and anti-worker provisions in the excise tax bill on tobacco and alcohol products approved by the House of Representatives last month. The PTGA president explained that their harvest are bought by big manufacturers as well as small cigarette makers. And that a considerable volume of their harvest are bought for the manufacture of low-priced brands, which under the amended House Bill 5727 threatens to put these out of the market.

The very high tax of as much as 708 percent on low-priced cigarette brands, which small manufacturers make, will price these products out of the market leaving the farmers with no market to sell a significant volume of their annual production, Distor noted. “This is a big dent on our income. How can we recoup our production and operational costs in planting tobacco if we can not sell all our produce?” he asked. “We appeal to the Senate to correct the grossly unfair and inequitable provisions in the House tax bill, which threatens the survival not only of tobacco farmers, but of the millions of others dependent on the tobacco industry.”

County program addresses alcohol, tobacco use during pregnancy

More than 2,000 children are born every year in Ventura County after exposure to alcohol, tobacco or illegal substances during pregnancy. Since 2003, Ventura County Public Health has partnered with Ventura County prenatal care providers to use the 4Ps Plus Screening Tool, a nationally recognized program that helps identify women at risk for using alcohol, tobacco and illegal substances during pregnancy.

Over the past nine years, more than 20,000 pregnant women have been screened. In 2011, 19.3 percent of those screened admitted to using alcohol, tobacco or an illegal drug during the month before they knew they were pregnant. According to the Center for Disease Control, exposure to alcohol during pregnancy is the leading cause of preventable birth defects today. As many as 1 in 100 Americans may be living with the effects of maternal drinking in pregnancy, known collectively as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

Alcohol use during pregnancy crosses all socioeconomic boundaries, and it is estimated that the lifetime cost to the taxpayers for individuals with FASDs is almost $2 million per person. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are entirely preventable by abstaining from alcohol and drugs during conception and pregnancy.

Recto wants lower rates for tobacco?

Advocates of the sin tax bill expect the measure to be diluted further when the Senate comes out with its committee report on the bill in October. Health Secretary Enrique Ona and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima met with Senate ways and means committee chair Ralph Recto on September 18 in a bid to persuade him about the benefits of the bill, a source, who belongs to an organization working with the Finance and Health departments in pushing for the bill, told Rappler.

But Recto, who earlier expressed misgivings about the “high” taxes that will be imposed especially on tobacco, seemed to be unconvinced. Recto reportedly wants a 3-tier excise tax system for cigarettes, diluting the 2-tier provided in the bill passed by the House of Representatives in June. Apart from this, Recto also reportedly wants lower rates imposed on the tiers.

The tiers – for low-priced, medium-priced and high-priced cigarettes – will have tax rates of P3.50, P8.50 and P12.50, said the source. The rates are close to what were provided in the bill Representative Victor Ortega of the tobacco-growing province La Union earlier filed in the House. There is no word, however, on the tax structure for alcohol products. Authored by Cavite Rep Jun Abaya, approved House Bill 5727 seeks to raise at least P31 billion additional revenues from a 2-tier tax system for tobacco (with tax rates of P22 and P30) and 2 and 3 tiers for fermented liquor and distilled spirits.

The bill was a watered-down version of the one originally filed by Abaya that sought to raise P60 billion. In the Senate, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed bills, which carry the same provisions as the original Abaya bill in the House. The additional revenues from the sin tax measure will be used to fund the Aquino government's universal health care program and assist tobacco farmers in shifting to viable, alternative crops. The Senate held Thursday, September 20, its fourth and possibly, last public hearing on the measure.

Bland packaging a way to cut the appeal of cigarettes

We may not judge a book by its cover, but we appear to judge a cigarette by its packaging, an insight that could help cut smoking rates. According to a new study of 640 young women in Brazil, placing cigarettes in plain packages may be a way to cut down on their appeal.

 The study, published in BMC Public Health, asked women to compare the appeal of brand cigarettes with those placed in generic packaging. In one part of the study, the women were asked to choose whether they would like to be given the gift of a brand pack of cigarettes or a pack in plain packaging. Three times more chose the branded pack.

 "The women in this study rated branded packs as more appealing, more stylish and sophisticated than the plain packs," said David Hammond, a University of Waterloo researcher and the study's leader. "They also thought that cigarettes in branded packs would be better tasting and smoother. Removal of all description from the packs, leaving only the brand, further reduced their appeal." Australia recently passed a law making plain packaging mandatory for cigarettes.