Showing posts with label Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction. Show all posts
allergy associations
,
When there
are several associations, we start by districts PARIS, then alphabetically by
departments in the province.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Double the risk of AMD smoking
,
Drug use by people who work in order
to adapt to workplace concern nearly a third of individuals, shows a French
study thus highlights the practice of "doping" common.
While doping is the subject of
numerous works, the problem of drug use in the non-sporting world remains little
studied. However, as pointed out Maryse Lapeyre-Mestre and colleagues
Pharmacoepidemiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Toulouse and intercompany
medical service in the city, "workers are increasingly in demand and under
pressure performance ".
There is therefore a risk of doping
behavior, especially with psychoactive substances, a phenomenon which is at
present "largely unknown", even though it can lead to accidents and
drug dependence.
An inquiry was conducted by
questionnaire to 2,106 people during an annual visit to the occupational
medicine. According to testimonies collected, 30% of workers surveyed use of
drugs "in order to adapt to a professional environment."
Three lines "doping" were
identified (several of these behaviors can be observed in the same person): the
use of a drug to be fit to work (20.2%), having permanently on itself or more
medications to treat a bothersome symptom at work (11.6%) and the use of one or
more drugs to relax or sleep after work (18.4%).
Vitamins (188 of 385 cases) and
minerals (55 cases) accounted for the majority of drugs used to be fit to work,
to psychoactive substances (anxiolytics, antidepressants ...) in 44 cases and
analgesics in 43 cases.
Among the drugs used to treat
troublesome symptoms at work were especially antacids, antispasmodics and
intestinal motility stimulants, muscle relaxants, analgesics and psychoactive
substances.
As for drugs to help relax after
work, it was in the great majority of cases of psychoactive substances (229 of
281).
In these drug consumption is coupled
with the fact that 27.9% of people said they "have difficulty passing of
coffee or tea at work" and 22.3% often nibble at work. In addition, 4.1%
reported consuming an alcoholic beverage "to relax or be more comfortable
at work" and 43.9% reported consuming an alcoholic drink to relax after a
day's work.
The female stress at work and feel
job insecurity, lack of satisfaction outside of work or work constituted risk
factors for work-related drug consumption.
"Faced with increasing job
demands, the active topics are tempted to cope, to use substances [...] This is
in fact a doping practice," comment the researchers Toulouse.
The authors point out in particular
that, as this survey is based on the statements of the participants, it might
have been under-reporting, especially for psychoactive drugs and alcohol, and
even though the survey was conducted in anonymously. The problem could be even
more important, they note.
The authors relate their findings to
those of a study showing that people with stressful jobs were self-medicate or
seek to maintain their performance.
"At work, the risk of a
mismatch between the scope of the subject and the demands are high. Thus doping
behavior are part of the strategies of adaptation 'subjects to excessive
personal or social demand, so to stress" "It is possible that the
subject adopts risk behaviors," they put on hold. "These risks
include, among other alteration of psychological or mental state of the subject
that is not recognized in France as an occupational disease."
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Doubles the risk of AMD smoking
,
Doubles the risk of developing
smoking-related macular degeneration with age (AMD) which is the leading cause
of blindness after age 50, shows a British study published in the "British
Journal of Ophthalmology."
AMD affect about 200,000 people aged
75 and older in the United Kingdom and its treatment is very difficult.
To identify prevention strategies,
Professor Astrid Fletcher, Centre for Public Health and Ageing to the Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine, London University, and colleagues conducted a study as
part of the test MRC (Medical Research Council), which is a representative
sample of 4,000 people aged 75 and older recruited from 49 UK general practice
firms.
Participants underwent various tests
and were asked about their habits of smoking.
After taking into account other risk
factors such as alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease, the results
show that smokers prove twice as likely as nonsmokers to suffer from AMD
(relative risk 2,15).
For former smokers, the excess risk
did not appear significant, while those who had stopped smoking for more than
twenty years no longer had any of the excess risk compared to non-smokers.
Overall, the level of the UK
population, the authors calculated that 28,000 cases of AMD could be attributed
to smoking.
"This excess risk of AMD, which
is the leading cause of blindness in the United Kingdom, is one more reason to
quit smoking and to develop public health campaigns on this issue," the
authors conclude.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Cannabis in adolescence, a time bomb?
,
Cannabis starts earlier and earlier
as the maturation of the brain in which the substance is found stored is not
yet complete, explque Dr. Jean Lavaud specialist in addiction (CHU Rouen).
"The brain completes its
maturation at the age of 25 years. Yet cannabis use who knows a real surge
since 1993, has a real impact in coming to store in different brain areas.
Moreover, this type consumption begins increasingly early (14 years, 10% of
young people have smoked a joint), hence the importance of targeting
information and prevention at the college, "he says.
In France, the first European
consumer countries, passionate debates were generated by cannabis on one side
with a commonplace image of peace, tolerance and gentleness without dependence
on the other, associated with drugs and crime . "It is therefore essential
to adopt an approach as objective as possible, and do not forget to highlight
the scientific developments have revealed elements of real danger," said
Dr. Lavaud.
Two approaches are essential, he
says: "on the one hand, apply the precautionary principle (eg, no cannabis
during pregnancy as well as alcohol) and anticipate future damage to the
opposite attitude that we adopted about tobacco and alcohol for decades. "
According to him, like other addictive products, a classic denial is to hide
problems by reassuring the possible absence of harm or seeking a therapeutic
bond well, that "the grass is natural.
Cannabis accumulates in the brain
and produces delayed (between 8 and 15 days after smoking a single joint).
"In addition, smoke hashish have the same components as those of tobacco,
particularly carbon dioxide (hypoxia responsible in the blood and muscle), tar
(there would be 4-6 times higher than in a cigarette) and dioxins that are both
carcinogenic. Indeed, ENT cancers occurring before age 30 are more common among
smokers of cannabis. "
In addition, the specialist reports,
cannabis smokers smoke on tobacco, the latter increasing the cravings of other
substances and responsible for 70,000 deaths per year, or about 200 per day.
MEMORY AND MOTIVATION DISTURBED
Adolescents, informs Dr. Lavaud,
cannabis disrupts memory and motivation and slows functional abilities, even if
they return to normal after stopping use.
As well as all addictive products,
cannabis also stimulates the reward systems, thus inducing a psychological
dependence that now stands at 10-20%. This dependence leads, moreover, a risk
of joining another drug, harder, such as heroin, cocaine or tobacco and
alcohol. In contrast, heroin addicts can become addicted to alcohol and
cannabis, according to genetic and environmental susceptibility of the
individual, "said the doctor, adding that this happens mostly for everyday
use."
Thus, cannabis should be considered
a true power dependence on addictive product, which may, therefore, a craving
(insomnia, agitation or aggression, loss of appetite, nausea, irritability and
hyperactivity).
A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IN ACCIDENT
Numerous studies have demonstrated a
decrease in alertness and coordination disorders in cannabis, with a decrease
from 30 to 50% of capacity for several hours (between 4 and 8 hours) and
recovery within 24 hours, says Dr Lavaud.
"After a fatal accident, he
illustrates, cannabis is found in the blood of 27% of young victims under the
age of 27 years who smoked within 6 hours before the event."
However, he notes, blood levels do
not reflect brain levels that are actually much higher.
OTHER RISKS AND IMMEDIATE LATE
Cannabis is responsible for other
risks, lists Dr. Lavaud:
- Immediate: bad trip ("bad
experience"), characterized by the occurrence of bursts of anxiety and
panic can take a look depersonalization syndrome, cognitive impairment and
amnestic type that can exist from acute use cannabis acute psychosis
(hallucinations, delusions), decompensation of schizophrenia (knowing that a
person with schizophrenia smoke hashish seven times more than a normal
individual);
- Late (between 2 and 5 years):
alterations in behavioral and social performance (stop learning and progress,
school failure and love), amotivational syndrome (difficulty concentrating,
ideational poverty, emotional indifference with narrowing of the social life );
- Other: mood disorders (anxiety,
depression, and suicide), cancers (throat, lungs), cardiovascular complications
(arteritis, via chronic inflammation) flashback (hazardous deleterious effect
for heavy smokers, related to an accumulation of product in the blood and
urine) consequences for the fetus (during pregnancy, cannabis has long been
considered rather as psychotoxique nerve, but 50 publications have highlighted
the emergence of functional abnormalities in adolescents aged 12 15 years born
to mothers smoking the drug during this period of life), hence the importance
of recommending zero consumption during pregnancy, as well as alcohol, legal
consequences, violence, awareness of other drugs .
To conclude, Dr. Lavaud emphasizes
the importance of evaluating and tracking a teenager at risk: Early smoking,
high alcohol tolerance (ability to drink at least 6 glasses in one night),
family history of dependence ( alcoholism), a finding of more than 6 per year
drunkenness, hyperactivity syndrome.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Smoking, confirmed a deleterious effect on fertility
,
Smoking is responsible for a delay
in the time required to design, an increase in the frequency of infertility and
a decrease in fertility from 10 to 20%, with a dose-response relationship, have
warned Dr. Jacques Mouzon and Joëlle Belaisch-Allart (CHI Jean Rostand, Sèvres)
at national meetings on the theme "Women and tobacco" which took
place in Bordeaux (Bicetre, Kremlin Bicetre Hospital).
"Among couples who have sex
without precautions, it is generally accepted that about 8 out of 10 years in
the design and 9 out of 10 in 18 months. But this probability appears
diminished by tobacco," reminiscent specialists reporting many studies
have attempted to analyze this relationship.
Among them, a French study was
conducted in 1986 with 1,887 volunteer couples belonging to the Mutual General
of National Education (MGEN): the percentage of pregnancies a year has revealed
15% lower in smokers by compared to non-smokers (70% against 85%). Similarly,
the study of the Oxford Family Planning Association, 6199 Research conducted on
pregnancy objectified a doubling of the percentage of childless couples in
smokers of more than 20 cigarettes, five years after stopping contraception, by
compared to non-smokers.
In Denmark, a retrospective study of
nearly 11,000 women showed that those who smoked 5-9 cigarettes per day were
1.8 times more likely than non-smokers to be more than 12 months to conceive. A
second Danish study involving 423 couples followed after stopping contraception
revealed not only a deleterious effect of smoking on women's fertility but also
passive smoking in utero suffered this type of exposure is related a decrease
in fertility to the offspring, even when the girl in turn of childbearing age,
did not smoke then.
A European study (Germany, Denmark,
Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Sweden), 64% of non-smoking women have achieved
pregnancy within three months and a half, when they were only 53% of those smoking
more than 10 cigarettes per day. In contrast, the percentage of women who took
more than nine months to be pregnant from 19% to 28%. Women smoking more than
10 cigarettes per day, duration of infertility was 1.5 times on average,
compared to non-smokers and the risk of infertility than 9.5 months in both 1.7
case. The duration of infertility has, again, been multiplied by 1.5 to 1.6.
A Canadian study of 2,607
pregnancies has established a significant decrease in fertility by 10%, even
higher than cigarette consumption was high.
Finally, a British study showed on
8515 pregnancies, an increased risk of developing more than 6 months by 23% in
smokers compared to non-smokers. The risk of developing more than one year
increased by 54%. A second study showed on 1976 consecutive pregnancies, an
increase in the time required to develop from 9.1 to 18.7 months among
non-smokers and smokers of 15 or more cigarettes.
IMPACT ON THE QUALITY OF MENSTRUAL
CYCLE
Smokers appear to have a frequency
of dysmenorrhea (disorder rules) increased by 50% compared to non-smokers,
especially as the number of cigarettes is high. One study even found a doubling
of risk of dysmenorrhea in women smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day, the
risk is multiplied by 3.4 for those who smoked for 9 years or more.
Smoking also appears to increase the
duration of painful half-day average rules. In addition, smokers are more often
irregular periods or shorter than non-smokers cycles. These disorders are
reversible upon cessation.
A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON IVF
The impact of cigarette smoking on
the outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF) has been less studied and lower
numbers. However, a study of 499 women showed a decrease in estradiol levels
and the implementation in the group of smokers, while they were younger than
non-smokers. The implantation rate was also found to be very less.
It has also been shown a decrease in
estrogenic activity in smokers, both in blood and in the ovary during
maturation. Researchers have found that one of the consequences of the action
on the quality of ovarian stimulation was a decrease in the number of oocytes
according to the number of cigarettes, 10 for non-smokers to 7.3 for women
smoking more than 15 cigarette per day.
In addition, this reduction after
infertility treatment could be estimated at 40% and has a dose-response
relationship, the number of oocytes being smaller as cigarette consumption is
highest.
Other authors also found a decrease
in clinical pregnancy rates with the use of tobacco, especially from 10
cigarettes per day.
Finally, as in natural fertility,
the action of the harmful tobacco appears on the course of pregnancy, with an
increased rate of early miscarriages.
SEVERAL
ASSUMPTIONS
"Several hypotheses have been
advanced to explain the decline in fertility in smokers. The first involve the
action of nicotine at the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, as suggested by the rise
in the rate of early menopause in this type of women. Tobacco could therefore
have an anti-estrogenic effect, "argue Drs Mouzon and Belaisch-Allart.
According to them, there are also
arguments in favor of an altered metabolism of gonadotropins, which regulate
the production of estrogen and progesterone and thus affect ovulation and
implantation of the embryo, as well as maintaining of pregnancy.
"Nicotine, they say, seems to
alter the release of gonadotropins, which may affect ovarian function.
Components of cigarette smoke are also toxic to ovarian cancer in animals.
Moreover, smoking affects metabolism male "sex hormones.
Other assumptions involve local
action on the cervical mucus, tubal motility and ciliary function. "In
IVF, the researchers observed a percentage of tubal infertility by 34% among
non-smokers, 57% of former smokers and 62% among current smokers. Action
tobacco may go through a change in the tubal function ", suggest experts.
Finally, they continue, the role of
smoking on hypoxia and oxidative metabolism is increasingly studied. "This
could go through the vasoconstrictor action of nicotine or more directly, by
displacement of oxygen by carbon monoxide inhaled by smoking. This mechanism is
also probably responsible for the increased incidence of stunting intrauterine
growth retardation and in smokers, reducing oxygen supply to the fetus and
placenta development, "they comment.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Female smoking multiplied by 2-5 the risk of cervical cancer
,
Female smoking greatly increases the risk of cancer of the cervix, multiplying it by a factor of 2 to 5, which remind doctors to this effect should be in itself a motivator to stop smoking women.Present national Dating Women and Tobacco, organized by the Association Bordeaux perinatal prevention, research, information (APPRIs, Lille), the College of Gynecologists Bordeaux and South-West, the French and European Network of hospitals and maternity without tobacco and Aquitaine Perinatal Network, the Hoche Professor Claude and Claudine Mathieu (Hôpital Saint-André, CHU Bordeaux) recalled the recent data on the role of tobacco in women's cancers.
In cancer of the cervix, the analysis of the scientific literature is unambiguous and clearly shows a significant increase in the risk of developing this disease in smokers. This increase varies by a factor of 2-5 depending on the study.
There would be a dose effect, moderate smoking multiplying by 3 the risk of high-grade dysplasia, the heavy smoking (> 1 pack per day) multiplied by 4.
Recently, some authors have shown that passive smoking also pose a risk of occurrence of intraepithelial lesions of the cervix, which in a third of cases are high grade. Smoking cessation may, however regression of dysplastic lesions.
.
In contrast, tobacco has a protective effect against the risk of endometrial decancer, it halves, probably through its anti-estrogenic effect and the trend to earlier menopause in smoking patients, doctors have reported.
Regarding breast cancer, the data are contradictory and, at present, no causal link between smoking and breast cancer has not been established. The most recent studies show a slight increased risk of breast cancer in smokers, but the risk appears to be related to many factors (intensity and duration of smoking, age at first cigarette, alcohol ...).
In any event, "the existence of the aggravating effect on the cervix and proven causal role of smoking in lung cancer alone suffice to implement preventive actions and awareness of the smoking cessation in our society in the context of public health, "say the doctors who" potentially neutral or beneficial effects of tobacco are insufficient compared to increases their risk further. "
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Perinatal maternal smoking accounts for 17% of cases of adult asthma
,
Perinatal maternal smoking accounts
for 17% of cases of adult asthma
Approximately 17% of asthma cases
occurring in adults could be attributed to exposure to maternal smoking in
utero and during childhood, suggesting a Norwegian study presented at the
European Respiratory Society (ERS ).
Some studies have shown that
maternal smoking has an impact in utero, working on the development of fetal
airway, said Trude Dielen the University of Bergen in an oral session.
But little data exist on the
long-term impact, including the risk of respiratory symptoms and asthma in
adulthood.
With his colleagues, the specialist
interviewed 2,819 adults aged 15 to 70 years on the occurrence of respiratory
symptoms and asthma between 1985 and 1996 to 1997. Participants also provided
information on the possible smoking mothers.
In this cohort, 9.5% of respondents
have experienced maternal smoking in utero and 22.8% during their childhood. In
addition, 58.4% were also exposed to smoke from other smokers.
Data analysis indicates that exposure
to maternal smoking in utero triple the risk of asthma and increases the risk
of chronic cough by 1.6 by 1.5 productive cough, dyspnea (shortness of breath)
grade 2 and attacks of dyspnea by 1.2. In contrast, no significant association
was established with wheezing.
The impact of age of exposure to
maternal smoking during childhood appeared less important: only the asthma risk
was doubled, while the link with other respiratory symptoms was not
significant. In contrast, the risk of wheezing was multiplied by 1.4.
"It is difficult to separate
the effects of prenatal and postnatal maternal smoking, but they seem stronger
in utero," said the Norwegian researcher. However, these results confirm
that the incidence of asthma and respiratory symptoms is higher when the mother
smokes during pregnancy and near the child.
The researchers estimated that a
significant proportion of the incidence (number of new cases per year) of
asthma and respiratory symptoms is linked to maternal smoking, giving it 17.3%
of asthma cases, 6.6 % of attacks of dyspnea and 1.9% of dyspnoea grade 2.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
The hospitalization rate shows higher among infants exposed to smoking by their parents at home and in the absence of precautions smokers, says a study in Hong Kong and published in the "Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine ".
,
Passive smoking in infants causing
more frequent hospitalizations
Given the difficulty to advance
smoking cessation among parents and caregivers of children, some researchers
have proposed approaches to reduce the harmful impact of smoking on the child,
but the evidence remains scarce and controversial.
Gabriel Leung and colleagues at the
University of Hong Kong (China) studied the effects of passive smoking and
health smoking (that is to say that smoking more than 3 meters of the child)
the health of newborns, as well as health expenditures related to these two
parameters, following more than 8,000 newborns for 18 months.
Fathers and others in the household
has been responsible for most of the exposure of infants to tobacco smoke: only
2.8% of mothers smoked after delivery and 4.6% had smoked for pregnancy.
According to this study, a new-born
living in the same household as a smoker does not take special precautions
(that is to say smoking within 3 meters of the baby) is at risk of
hospitalization in its first 18 months of life than 28% that of a newborn
brought up in a home without smoking.
Passive smoking infants accounted
for 2.8% of hospital admissions for all infants less than one year and 616
additional admissions.
But this increased risk disappears
if the smoker parent means he smokes more than 3 meters from the infant, which
shows some effective strategies to reduce the harmful effects of passive
smoking by hygiene measures.
The risk reduction strategy must be
strictly adhered to when the complete cessation is not possible, therefore the
authors recommend.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Passive smoking in children head back pain in adulthood
,
Passive smoking in childhood may
increase the risk of back pain and neck adulthood, suggest the results of a
Norwegian study published in the September issue of the "European Journal of
Public Health."
Regular inhalation of cigarette
smoke, whether voluntary or not, has a negative impact on different parts of
the body and as some studies have associated smoking with the onset of back
pain, not only back pain, but as neck pain and herniated discs (projections of
the nucleus of the intervertebral disc) in the cervical region, Dr. Willy
Eriksen, University of Oslo wanted to determine whether passive smoking during
childhood led to adulthood a greater likelihood of work stoppages long associated
with such disorders
The researcher has followed a group
of nearly 5,000 Norwegian aides who responded to both questionnaires emailed to
fifteen months apart. None of the participants did was on sick leave at the
time of completing the first questionnaire and follow-up survey focused on work
stoppages in the past twelve months.
After adjusting the results to take
into account the influence of other factors (being a smoker, non-smoker or
ex-smoker, physical recreation, nature of work performed under occupation,
history cervical trauma ...), it is clear that passive smoking in childhood
appeared to increase the risk of developing disabling pain in adulthood.
Indeed, aides exposed to smoking
from their parents during their childhood have shown on average 1.34 times more
likely to take sick leave for more than two weeks for neck pain than those
whose parents did not smoke during their early years.
The multiplicative factor associated
with passive smoking in childhood risk reached 1.49 for work stoppages
exceeding fourteen days and pain resulting from the upper back.
However, the difference between the
two groups did not reach a significant value regarding low back pain (relative
risk 1.21), while the smoke of the child also appears to predispose the adult
he to become sick more than eight weeks (with a multiplicative factor of 1.29.)
To explain the findings, Dr. Willy
Eriksen, besides advance their carcinogenic effects already well known, the
components of cigarette smoke could have a negative impact on the spine growth.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
A case of recurrent stroke associated with cannabis use
,
Cannabis could increase the risk of
cerebrovascular accident (CVA) of ischemic origin in young consumers assume
that Spanish doctors and describe the case of a patient who suffered three
recurrent stroke immediately after smoking cannabis.
The misuse of drugs, mostly cocaine,
heroin and amphetamines, is a risk factor for stroke, especially among young
people, said the team of Dr. Juan Carlos Garcia-Monco the hospital Galdacano in
"Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry."
But the association between
cerebrovascular disease and cannabis is "exceptional" as it is the
most abused drug in the world, say the researchers. In the literature, only 15
cases have been described.
However, the Spanish doctors
reported a case where a clear temporal relationship appears between cannabis
use and stroke occurred on three separate occasions, with an unusual take a
significant amount of cannabis combined with three or four glasses of alcohol
during a party.
It is a 36 year old man without
known cardiovascular risk factor or a history of migraine, having ever used
cannabis occasionally. Neurological symptoms developed in three occasions
occurred immediately after taking cannabis.
The first time, the patient had an
acute episode of isolated aphasia followed a few hours after a seizure episode.
MRI revealed two acute ischemic stroke, one in the left temporal lobe
corresponding to neurological deficit, and the other, silent, in the right
parietal lobe.
Examinations excluded the use of
other drugs and the absence of diffuse atherosclerotic disease. Seizures do not
recur. The patient was treated with antiplatelet therapy.
Despite this treatment, and the
warning against the use of drugs, the patient underwent a new episode of
aphasia and right hemiparesis a year later. MRI showed a new acute stroke at
the left frontal cortex, responsible for the symptoms, and another silent
ischemic stroke over the contralateral frontal lobe.
For a year and a half, the young man
remained abstinent then a new party, he developed an auditory agnosia. A MRI
appeared a stroke involving the posterior temporal and inferior parietal lobes.
The patient recovered and since then
his condition remained stable during treatment. He assured not consume
cannabis.
Data on the patient strengthen the
association between stroke and cannabis because of the close temporal
relationship between stroke and three repeated use of the drug, involving
different arterial territories, the absence of embolic source or
atherosclerotic disease and good patient recovery after stopping taking the
product, the authors write.
The latter believe that cannabis
"may be associated" with the risk of ischemic stroke in young people,
as yet unexplained mechanisms, toxic or inflammatory vasculopathy caused by
cannabis, they assume. In the case described, the concomitant use of alcohol
may also have played a role, they add.
Toxicology testing including
research cannabinoids and should be performed in young stroke patients, they
suggest.
However, further studies are
necessary, because the role of cannabis in stroke may be underestimated.
Spanish doctors even fear that this risk increases with increased consumption
of cannabis because of its potential therapeutic benefits and its possible
legal in some countries.
Dr. Dominique Delplanque the Lille
University Hospital said the study provides "for the first time," a
"highly plausible" causal relationship between cannabis use and
cerebrovascular events.
The recreational use of cannabis
does not seem as harmless as we thought, which involves improving public
information, he says. The risk / benefit of cannabis for therapeutic purposes
report should also be rigorously evaluated before allowing its commercialization,
he adds.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Women and Tobacco: gynecologists and midwives must support patients themselves
,
The seventh National Women &
Tobacco meetings, which were held in Angers, emphasized the need for
gynecologists and midwives are involved in the management of patients who
smoke.
These meetings, organized by the
Association perinatal prevention research information (APPRIs), National French
College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (CNGOF), the National League against
Cancer, the hospital Tobacco-Free Network and the National Association of Midwives
French tobaccologists , attended by over 400 participants. A large part of the
program concerned smoking and pregnant women, in particular the implementation
of the recommendations of the consensus conference "Pregnancy and
tobacco" which was held in October 2004.
One of the recommendations was to
include a smoking cessation education in initial and continuing education
courses for health professionals and education.
This teaching is more, especially in
midwifery schools who can prescribe nicotine replacement, note Dr. Jacques
Lansac, president of CNGOF in an interview with Reuters Health. But
"Midwives France 15,000 are not all trained or all prescribers.
As for obstetricians, they have
"not yet turned the corner" to support themselves smokers or patients
to prescribe nicotine replacement therapy. "In practice, rather directs
patients to a smoking addiction," he says.
"However, smoking cessation
clinics are 'overbooked' and patients can wait three months," he notes.
Meanwhile, the pregnancy progresses and the patient continues to smoke.
"We need to improve the
management of patient smoking. An approach is essential for the general
practitioner, midwife, gynecologist are trained and involved," he pleads.
There are often a seminar on addictive behavior in the initial curriculum
generalists and midwives, the effects of this training will feel slow, he says.
For obstetricians, however, "we
must add a layer," teaching focuses primarily on surgery, he says.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Smoking decreases the lifetime of 10 years
,
Smokers die 10 years earlier on average
than non-smokers, according to new findings published in the "British
Medical Journal" (BMJ) published by the researcher who demonstrated for
the first time, 50 years ago, that smoking causes lung cancer.
Professor Richard Doll of the
Epidemiology Unit of the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, which has followed a
cohort of 34,000 British doctors published his initial findings in the BMJ in
1954, paving the way for many anti-smoking campaigns in the world since then.
Today, 91 years epidemiologist, whose
study is also signed by Richard Peto, an epidemiologist and also recognized
specialist studies on the dangers of tobacco, published a 50-year follow-up of
this cohort, showing that the damage tobacco are even more important today than
they were before because they fully offset the impact of health improvements on
these 50 years.
"Over the past decades,
prevention and better treatment of disease divided by 2 the death rate of
non-smokers," said Richard Doll in a statement. "But these
improvements have been completely offset by the effects of tobacco for those
who continue to smoke."
Indeed, for men born between 1900
and 1909, mortality between 35 and 69 years was 42% for smokers and 24% for
non-smokers, nearly a doubling of risk. But for those born in the 1920s, while
mortality between 35 and 69 years fell to 15% for non-smokers, it remained at
43% for smokers. And because of this, the difference between smokers and
non-smokers increased to almost a factor of 3 in this age group.
The authors emphasize the generation
of men born in the 1920s, who were conscripted into the army during the Second
World War, and with the easy access to cheap cigarettes, were likely to become
smokers at the age of 18. Among those who continued to smoke, 2/3 are dead.
The study also shows that there is
interest in quitting. "On average, those who continue to smoke lose 10
years of life. But stop smoking at 60, 50, 40 or 30 saves, respectively, 3, 6,
9 or 10 years of life expectancy," said Professor Peto.
"Among those who continue to
smoke, half will be killed by their practice" of smoking.
He adds that "thanks in part to
previous results of this study, many people in the UK have stopped smoking and
the country has the largest decrease in the world of tobacco-related deaths.
But in many countries, deaths from smoking continue to increase. "
"In the UK, tobacco caused 6
million deaths over the last 50 years, but in the world it will cause almost 6
million deaths every year," he predicted.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Cannabis, what health risks?
,
In a collective expertise, entitled
"cannabis, what effects on the behavior and health?" the authors
mention "the demonstration of an association between cannabis use and a
negative effect on health, which does not imply a causal inference and does not
say if this use before the health problem." The experts have made the link
between cannabis abuse and schizophrenia.
The authors recommend targeting
campaigns and prevention of health risks in the immediate or longer term.
The main short-term effects are
reversible alteration of certain psychomotor and cognitive performance, such as
drowsiness, memory problems and the inability to perform certain multiple
tasks. When the decision is more important, language disorders or motor
coordination as well as dysphoria may occur. Changes sometimes last until 24
hours.
Moreover, acute psychiatric
complications such as panic or depersonalization syndrome have been observed in
some subjects. Exceptionally, cases of cannabis psychosis (delusions
stylebouffées, but with more hétéroagressif behavior disorders, visual
hallucinations, depersonalization) have been described in adults, the use of cannabis
had increased recently.
In the longer term, repeated use
(cannabis more than 10 times a year) increases the risk of addiction, some
studies have even reported a phenomenon of tolerance and withdrawal syndrome in
chronic low-level consumers. Among the effects described, the authors cite the
occurrence of lung cancer or head and neck cancer, regardless of smoking.
Moreover, the link between cannabis
and schizophrenia, suggested by a survey conducted in France, has since been
confirmed by other international studies. This association could be the
expression of a common vulnerability to genetic or environmental, say the
authors, who recommend to study the possible interactions between cannabis, the
endocannabinoid system and schizophrenia.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of testicular cancer in the newborn
,
Maternal smoking during pregnancy
increases the risk of testicular cancer in male newborns, say epidemiologists
analyzed data from cancer registries Nordic and European surveys.
The parallelism between the
development of testicular cancer in men and cancers of the bladder and lung
cancer in women, and is now proven that testicular cancer in situ develops in
utero, led Dr. Andreas Pettersson and colleagues at the Karolinska Hospital in
Stockholm to the theory that maternal smoking during pregnancy is responsible
for the increased prevalence of testicular cancer.
The researchers explain in the
journal "International Journal of Cancer" they analyzed data from the
Nordic Cancer Registry, detailing the smoking habits of women of childbearing
age children (25-29 years) between 1920 and 1940 and those of men aged 30 to 34
years during the same period.
They also collected information on
the prevalence of testicular cancer in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, for
cohorts of men aged 20 to 34 years, born 28 years after the cohorts of women
studied.
The correlation between maternal
smoking during pregnancy and the incidence of testicular cancer in their son
was particularly high in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, but much less pronounced
in Finland, say the authors.
They explain that the studies in
this country were of lower quality and therefore does not allow such a detailed
analysis.
No association between paternal
smoking and the incidence of testicular cancer has however was observed.
Tobacco smoke can reduce the rate of
hormones produced during pregnancy, placental blood flow and fetal growth
delay, suggests Dr. Petterson. Carcinogens present in cigarette smoke can
indeed cross the placenta.
"If testicular development is
disrupted or delayed, this can result in neoplastic transformation or cause
fertility problems and malformations of male urogenital tract," he said.
And if maternal smoking during pregnancy is actually a cause of testicular
cancer in boys born to these mothers, part of the current trend of increased
incidence of this type of cancer and then find an explanation, especially a
means of prevention.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
The link between cannabis and schizophrenia confirmed
,
The link between cannabis and
schizophrenia which was put forward in 1987 is confirmed by the results of new
studies says Jeanne Etiemble, Director at Inserm collective expertise.
A pioneering study published in 1987
and performed in Swedish conscripts during the period 1969-1970, showed an
increased risk of developing schizophrenia in people who had used cannabis at
the age of 18 and without psychiatric disorder, compared with people who have
never used this product.
But no indication was given on the
possible prior existence of latent psychiatric disorders among these people
with schizophrenia. Remained the central issue of whether cannabis is likely to
cause, by itself, as a psychiatric illness, said the scientist.
The collective expertise on
"cannabis, what effects on the behavior and health?" published in
November 2001 and has remained on this question.
Three new studies published in 2002
confirm the role of cannabis in the onset of schizophrenia. "The findings
go in the same direction," she said.
The group of Swedish conscripts
study has been extended to 50,000 people and various factors were taken into
account. The researchers found "a significant excess of
schizophrenia." In another study of 4,000 non-psychotic Dutch, the risk of
onset of schizophrenic symptoms is more important "in patients using
cannabis with a relationship between the dose consumed and the presence of
symptoms." More people have severe symptoms, the greater the influence of
cannabis is important.
A study of 700 New Zealand leads to
similar results. Those who consumed at least three times cannabis at the age of
15 or 18 have a four times greater risk of presenting symptoms of schizophrenia
at the age of 26 years compared to those who have never used the product more
one or two times.
Moreover, it appears through various
studies that the risk increases when consumption begins at the age of 15 years
compared to the age of 18.
All persons with cannabis will not
become schizophrenic, but the use of the product appears as one of many factors
of the disease (with increased risks ranging from 2 to 6), alongside such
genetic factors recently highlighted by a French team.
THE THEORY OF CLIMBING LITTLE
EVIDENCE
This reassessment of risk is an
element of updating the collective expertise of INSERM which also took into
account the new data-less evidence on the controversial theory of
"escalation".
According to this theory, the use of
cannabis may cause an increased risk of subsequent use of other drugs including
heroin risk.
However, to date, no data shows an
explosion of heroin while the cannabis growing, especially among boys aged
16-17: a teen couple has tried cannabis in 2003 against one in five 1993.
Similarly, the use of animal models
do not support the hypothesis of a causal link between cannabis use and the
onset of opiate dependence (heroin), said Jeanne Etiemble. However cannabinoids
are able to induce a relapse of self-administration behavior (addiction) of
psychostimulants (amphetamines), opioids (morphine) and ethanol in previously
dependent animals.
Finally, the implication of cannabis
in the occurrence of coronary and cerebral vascular accidents is not currently
established by epidemiological studies, but only discussed through case studies
of growing since 2001, said Jeanne Etiemble.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Adolescents and eating disorders: attention to teasing about weight!
,
Adolescents who suffer ridicule on
their weight by trying the following lose weight through various means which
lead to unhealthy eating disorders, suggests a study published in
"Pediatrics" magazine.
Jess Haines, of the University of
Minnesota and colleagues conducted a study of 2,516 adolescents treated between
1998 and 2004 to assess whether the criticisms of weight predict the
development of eating disorders such as binge eating , control weight by
vomiting, taking diet pills, laxatives or repeated practice plans.
From the study, about 25% of
participants reported undergoing critical remarks or jokes about their weight at
least several times per year.
Among the girls who have undergone
these mockeries, 18% reported practicing five years after frequent regimes
against 11% for the other girls of the study.
However, after adjusting the
results, the relationship between teasing and eating disorders has been
confirmed only for boys and not girls. The authors hypothesize that girls face
many other factors such as images of "supermodel" in the media that
affect the relationship with their bodiesBoys who suffered critical of their
weight are, five years later, into increased risk of developing eating
disorders, such as excessive food intake, compared to their peers (4.1% versus
1.4%) and that controls the unhealthy weight (27.5% versus 19.3%).
"The public must be informed of
the consequences caused by the ridicule on weight, even though they may appear
to be simple initially harmless jokes," say the authors of the study.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Passive smoking increases by 15% the risk of mortality of non-smokers
,
Passive smoking kills, say the
authors of a study published in the journal "British Medical Journal"
and is already available on the website of this review that tobacco smoke
increases by 15% the risk of death from non- smokers who live with smokers,
compared to those living in a completely non-smoking environment
Dr. Sarah Hill and colleagues at the
Wellington School of Medicine conducted two cohort studies to assess mortality
over three years depending on exposure to passive smoking home.
The two groups, one followed from
1981 to 1984 and the other from 1996 to 1999, consisted of adults aged 45 to 74
years who had never smoked. They have provided information on the possible
smoking all household members aged over 15 years.
The researchers found that people
who have never smoked, living with one or more smokers at the time of the
survey were exposed to passive smoking. Those, however, did not share their
homes with one or more smokers were reported unexposed.
Data analysis shows a significantly
higher mortality overall 15% among non-smokers subjected to passive smoking
compared to those who are not exposed.
These results reinforce the need to
reduce exposure to smoke, the authors conclude, noting that their study was
limited to passive smoking at home.
QUICK PROFIT OF SMOKING IN PUBLIC
PLACES
The journal also publishes in its
accelerated online a U.S. study showing the benefit of rapid myocardial
infarction a ban on smoking in public places and professional publishing.
Dr. Richard Sargent and colleagues
at the Hospital of the City of Helena (Montana) compared the incidence of
admissions for myocardial infarction in Helena Hospital, a city of 28,300
people during the four years preceding a ban on smoking in workplaces,
restaurants, bars and casinos, established in June 2002, and during the 6 month
ban.
During the latter period, the
researchers noted a 60% decrease in the number of heart attacks among residents
of Helena and the people staying there. At the same time, there was no
difference in the rest of the county.
These results were presented in
April 2003 at the meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in
Chicago.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Children: passive smoking also promotes skin allergies
,
Early exposure to tobacco smoke not
only affects the airways of children, it also increases their risk of
developing skin allergies, warn the authors of a German study published in the
"British Journal of Dermatology" .
If the negative impact of passive
smoking on the respiratory system of children is well known, including the
exacerbation of asthma symptoms it causes, knowledge of its effects on atopic
eczema remains insufficient, find members team led by Dr Ursula Krämer,
Düsseldorf.
They therefore sought to determine,
following more than 1,600 young children, whether exposure to cigarette smoke
may influence the development of this skin condition that affects people with
atopy (that is to say hereditarily predisposed to develop allergies),
sensitization to certain allergens or the occurrence of allergic respiratory
diseases.
The questionnaires to the parents of
the young participants and different biological tests were conducted to detect
allergic reactions. Passive exposure to tobacco in turn was determined by the
declarations of the parents, but also by measuring cotinine (derived from nicotine)
in the urine of children.
A MULTI-LEVEL ANALYSIS
The data collected from all
participants revealed that the presence of atopic eczema on screening was
significantly associated with measures of urinary cotinine levels. Respiratory
symptoms (wheezing, hay fever) also appeared to be related to passive smoking,
but not significantly, the authors note.
For children with a genetic
predisposition to allergic diseases (defined as those whose parents suffered
from atopy), they are even more likely than other children to develop allergic
reactions.
In this group, the risk of
sensitization to house dust mites also appears to be higher, the authors have
observed.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Alcohol dependence: a general practitioner, a central role in the management
,
The GP is often the first caregiver
to come into contact with an alcohol-dependent person, knowing that 20% of
patients have a disorder related to their alcohol consumption.
It therefore appears not only as a
crucial player in the screening but also to support the sustainable maintenance
of abstinence, said Dr. Paul Kiritzé Topor (Beaupreau, Maine-et-Loire).
The results of a study called
Combine, conducted among 1,383 volunteers reveal an significant efficacy of
naltrexone, alone or in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy in the
maintenance of abstinence and relapse prevention.
"Three successive and
interrelated steps (before weaning, when the realization of this, and after)
are key steps that the general should be able to manage if he decides to take
charge of a alcohol-dependent person. Moreover, it often takes 15 years of
alcohol dependence before a patient comes into care, "said Dr. Kiritzé
Topor.
"Before the withdrawal, he
says, one must know track: one adult in five has a problem with alcohol
consumption (a third is alcohol-dependent, two-thirds having a harmful use or
risk)."
To locate a heavy drinker, there is
no better way, he said, the dialogue. "A discussion of the lifestyle must
lead to the detection of consumer misuse, a goal that is achievable if the
practitioner knows the necessary time to listen to his patient and provides
several consultations can overflow a little. "
To quantify the importance of
alcohol consumption, a number of questions can be asked in a simple progression
that will lead gradually to approach the reality of the consumer: you happened
to these alcoholic beverages last month? How many drinks per occasion? How many
times a month?
"It should also try to
establish the link between alcohol and the patient pathologies which he
suffers. The clinic must also be able to locate an alcohol problem through
taking the blood pressure, the dosage of blood triglycerides, or by looking for
anxiety and depression. Moreover, it is essential to ask the addiction as an
assumption, not a certainty and to suspend this type of consumption for 8 days.
After this test is the patient arrives and says he eats and sleeps better, snore
less and less often headache, in which case it will show more motivated, or he
does not succeed and acceptance will be delicate, "explains the Kiritzé
Topor.
Another requirement is to introduce
the concept of time: "there is no rush to make a diagnosis of addiction,
it may take 4-5 consultations," he considers.
For weaning, the general must then
implement a support strategy by asking the question: where, when, how to make
this withdrawal, by choosing the location of the patient (hospital or
outpatient, the? hospitalization is primarily aimed at patients with a history
of complicated withdrawal, as the occurrence of seizures or delirium tremens,
or social disadvantage middle), timing and practicalities. The physical signs
of dependence decreased from the third day of weaning and disappear in 7-10
days.
"It is important for the
practitioner to ensure that the patient weaning safely and painlessly,
negotiating a contract of care with him," insists the doctor.
After this phase, the monitoring is
codified and has several objectives:
- Prevent réalcoolisations, knowing
that "relapse is part of the course of alcoholics, it is necessary to
address this issue in post-treatment," warns Dr. Topor Kiritzé while
noting that attempts to reconsommer as everyone should be banned because of a
brain memory dependence (80% of alcohol-dependent who take a drink of alcohol
relapse, even after long months of abstinence);
- Maintain abstinence lasting (with
the help of a medical treatment prescribed for 3 months, as is the case for
naltrexone as one tablet per day, possibly associated with a
cognitive-behavioral therapy). "The prescription of an order can further
ensure a therapeutic relationship," he says.
Support is completely personalized
and monitoring can be done in one of 230 outpatient centers cures of
alcoholism, a French specificity. There are also spa resorts or post-treatments
where patients can stay 1-3 months or up to a year if they wish. Nearly 100,000
patients are well monitored in consultation with alcoholism. "The former
drinkers movements are also great allies, we must not neglect their
impact," said the general.
To be successful these steps (one
third of alcohol-dependent and heals with the help of a GP), the physician
should be able to benefit from learning a support strategy, he judge.
DENIAL: A DEFENSE SYSTEM
In the opinion of Dr. Kiritzé Topor,
denial is actually a defense system. "We must therefore reassure the
patient who feels a sense of shame, saying that alcohol dependence is a disease
and not being a bad person, prepare the idea of a long-term illness and the
ability to care, to show that he is not alone in this (drawing, for example,
medical records of all other records relating to patients followed in
alcoholism).
"Denial is not
patient-dependent, it is related to the interrelation and can be solved by a
motivational technology from marketing to evacuate the resistance of the
patient," informs Dr Philippe Batel, head of alcoholism Service at the
Beaujon Hospital in Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine).
It is in this case to address the
issue, not a closed question (if you do not want to finally get an answer) as:
"You drink alcohol like everyone else, or?: do you drink? ", but
open-ended questions:" What can you tell me about your drinking Is it you
happen to consume alcoholic beverages such as beer, cider? wine? " This
type of question should be integrated, according to him, more questions about
the lifestyle.
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
NRT: underdosing a cause of failure
,
NRT provide valuable assistance to
smokers who want to quit, provided they are chosen sufficiently dosed in early
nicotine withdrawal tabagique.Plus three quarters of smokers who quit with
willpower alone relapse during the first two weeks recalls Dr. Beatrice Master,
tobacco specialist at the University Hospital of Caen.
Counter in pharmacies, nicotine
replacement promote smoking cessation and are reimbursed by social security for
50 euros per year per insured if they are accompanied by a medical
prescription. They exist in many forms (gum, lozenges, inhalers, patches) and
are available in different strengths.
The dosage should be adapted to
nicotine dependence level because underdosing makes stopping more difficult and
increases the risk of relapse, warns Dr. Master. Regimen depends on the length
of the smoker. "Heavy smokers have special needs and need to be well
supported, particularly early withdrawal," insists the smoking addiction.
Approximately 30% of smokers consume
more than 16 cigarettes daily. The Fagerström test enables health professionals
(pharmacist, doctor, tobaccologist) to quickly calculate the dependence score
of smoking, with six simple questions like "How long after you wake up do
you smoke your first cigarette?" or "you find it difficult to refrain
from smoking in places where it is forbidden?".
And for those who are afraid
"to leave a dependency for another," Beatrice Master ensures that
substitutes provide patients with a "clean" nicotine because it is
dangerous in cigarette smoke, she says, "it is 4,000 chemicals the accompanying
nicotine as tar, carbon monoxide, cadmium, polonium, etc. ".
In addition, inhaled nicotine
cigarette with pass through blood and reaches the brain within seconds, causing
a "shot effect" on the origin and maintenance of addiction. Nicotine
substitutes diffuse "soft", intravenously, without the risk of
addiction. It allows the smoker not be missing, so that his "brain can
then be deprogramming smoking habits."
There are 10.5 million smokers over
25 years in France, quoted Dr. Master. According to the International Study
Project Victory (ToLuna Greenfield / Nicorette) conducted in 2008 among 3,500
smokers, including 500 French, 78% of smokers said they wanted to stop, or at
once (24%) or having reduced their consumption (54 %). And 40% of those who
wish to stop planning to use nicotine replacement therapy
Read More »
Labels:
Alcohol and tobacco and drugs: addiction
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
