Moscow death rates 'up 50% in heatwave'

RNW, 30 August 2010

Russia's health ministry on Monday confirmed that mortality rates rose 50 percent in Moscow during the country's worst ever heatwave, the first official confirmation of a spike in deaths.

"July 2010 in Russia was characterized by abnormally high temperatures that immediately affected growing death rates," the health ministry said in a statement.

"The highest mortality rate -- 50.7 percent -- was registered in Moscow," it said comparing the city's death rates to other regions.

Federal authorities have so far steadfastly refused to give details about any national death toll, although one Moscow official has said there have been hundreds more deaths each day in the capital alone due to the country's worst ever heatwave.

Alcohol abuse kills around 500,000 Russians annually
and greatly impacts male life expectancy

Related Articles:

Russians urged to smoke, drink more

U.S. scientists: Russians rapidly die out

Smoking Toddler Puffs Two Packs a Day

Jakarta Globe, Mark Moloney, May 27, 2010

Ardi Rizal, a two year old from Sumatra puffs his way through two pack of cigarettes per day. (Photo courtesy SCTV)

Ardi Rizal is a two year-old from Musi Banyuasin in Sumatra with a difference - he is addicted to cigarettes and smokes two packs a day.

According to his mother Diana, "he's totally addicted. If he doesn't gets cigarettes, he gets angry and screams and batters his head against the wall.'

She said that he suffered withdrawal symptoms when he was denied cigarettes. "He complains that he feels dizzy and sick if he doesn't get a cigarette," she said.

His father, Mohammed, first introduced Ardi to smoking at the age of eighteen months.

Ardi, who weighs about 25 kilos, is also too unfit to play with other children and instead gets around on a toy truck.

Ardi refuses to smoke anything other than his favourite brand.

When his father was asked if he thought smoking would harm Ardi, he said "Ardi looks pretty healthy to me. I don't see the problem."

Related Article:

Mom of toddler smoker in Indonesia seeks help for him

Alcohol 'only protects non-smokers against stroke'

BBC News,

The cigarette cancels out the protective effect of alcohol

Sensible drinking can substantially reduce your risk of a stroke, but only if you don't enjoy a cigarette at the same time, research suggests.

A study of over 20,000 people in the UK found non-smokers who drank moderate amounts were nearly 40% less likely to have a stroke than non-drinkers.

But once cigarettes were added, this protective effect vanished.

The findings are being presented at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Toronto.

The study, led by Cambridge University, looked at 22,254 people over 12 years. There were nearly 900 strokes.

People who stayed within moderate drinking guidelines - one or two small glasses of wine a day for a woman and slightly more for a man - saw a 37% decrease in their risk of stroke.

But this was only true if they did not smoke, with smoking drinkers and smoking non-drinkers seeing similar levels of risk.

"Our findings could have public health implications in that we appear to have a clearer understand of the dangers of combing smoking and moderate drinking on overall stroke risk," according to lead researcher Yangmei Li.

Smoking trouble

Large quantities of alcohol are known to increase the chance of a stroke by raising blood pressure, a key risk factor.

The links between smoking and stroke are clear - 10% of stroke deaths and a quarter of all strokes are linked to smoking

Stroke Association

But alcohol does thin the blood, so can prevent clots forming. It may also affect the way cholesterol is carried in the bloodstream, reducing the risk of the build-up of fatty deposits in the blood vessel walls.

Smoking, however, causes the arteries to fur up, making the blood more likely to clot. This increases the risk of a stroke.

The study suggests that alcohol does not prevent this process that smoking kicks off.

"The links between smoking and stroke are clear - 10% of stroke deaths and a quarter of all strokes are linked to smoking. So giving up smoking is a vital step in reducing your risk of stroke," says Joe Korner of The Stroke Association.

"It is also important to note that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol does not protect against haemorrhagic strokes - those caused by a bleed, and in some cases it may in fact increase the risk. And we know that drinking more than the recommended alcohol limit increases your risk of all types of stroke."

US doctors group backs marijuana for medical uses

By Will Dunham, Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:39pm EST

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A leading U.S. doctors group has endorsed using marijuana for medical purposes, urging the U.S. government to roll back a prohibition on using it to treat patients and supporting studies into its medical applications.

The American College of Physicians, the second-largest doctors group in the United States, issued a policy statement on medical marijuana this week after it was approved by its governing body, the group said on Friday.

The group cited evidence that marijuana is valuable in treating severe weight loss associated with AIDS, and nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients.

"Additional research is needed to clarify marijuana's therapeutic properties and determine standard and optimal doses and routes of delivery. Unfortunately, research expansion has been hindered by a complicated federal approval process, limited availability of research-grade marijuana and the debate over legalization," the group said.

The Philadelphia-based group, founded in 1915, is made up of 124,000 doctors who treat adults.

"The richness of modern medicine is to carefully evaluate new treatments. Marijuana has been in a special category because of, I suppose, its abuses and other concerns," Dr. David Dale, the group's president and a University of Washington professor of medicine, said in a phone interview.

'SCIENCE SHOULD BE KEPT OPEN'

David Murray, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's chief scientist, said, "The science should be kept open. There should be more research. We should continue to investigate."

The policy statement said, "ACP encourages the use of nonsmoked forms of THC (the main psychoactive element in marijuana) that have proven therapeutic value." It also backed research into additional therapeutic uses of marijuana.

The government should review marijuana's status as a so-called schedule I controlled substance, alongside such drugs as LSD and heroin, given scientific evidence of its safety and efficacy for some medical conditions, the doctors group said.

It called for exempting doctors who prescribe or dispense medical marijuana in accordance with state law from federal criminal prosecution and other actions. It also urged protection from criminal penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws.

A dozen states have laws allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. But supporters of medical marijuana accuse the federal government of undermining those state laws by having Drug Enforcement Administration agents raid medical marijuana providers.

Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which urges legal and regulated sales of marijuana, said, "This statement by America's second-largest doctors group demolishes the myth that the medical community doesn't support medical marijuana."

"The ACP's statement smashes a number of other myths, including the claims that adequate substitutes are available or that marijuana is unsafe for medical use," Kampia added.

Nursing not behind saggy breasts

Pregnancy may make breasts sag, but nursing does not make it worse

BBC News

Contrary to popular belief, breastfeeding does not make breasts sag, according to research carried out on US women seeking plastic surgery.

However, one of the principal contributors to breast sagginess is getting pregnant in the first place.

Smoking and age also play a role, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Conference heard.

Women can now breastfeed without fear for the future of their breasts, author and plastic surgeon Brian Rinker said.

Dr Rinker said he decided to carry out the study after many of his patients demanded he "fix what breastfeeding did to my breasts".

With colleagues from the University of Kentucky, he studied 132 women who had sought breast lifts or augmentation between 1998 and 2006.

The majority of them had been pregnant at least once. Nearly 60% had breastfed at least once.

The research team evaluated the patients' medical history, height and weight, pre-pregnancy bra cup size and whether they smoked.

There was no difference in the extent of ptosis - the clinical term for breast sagginess - between those women who had breastfed and those who had not.

Smoking

But other factors did play a role. The degree of sagginess increased for each child carried by the woman. Smoking was also identified as a contributor.

"Smoking breaks down a protein in the skin called elastin, which gives youthful skin its elastic appearance and supports the breast," Dr Rinker said.

"So it would make sense that it would have an adverse affect on the breasts."

Other research has found that failure to wear proper sports bras may also play a part in breast sagginess.

Mr Kevin Hancock, a consultant plastic surgeon based in Liverpool, agreed with the analysis.

He said pregnancy often initiated changes to breast size, which could stretch the tissue and make sagging more likely.

This often became an issue when the breasts began to shrink when they stopped producing milk - a process known as post-lactation atrophy.

However, he said: "There is no evidence that breastfeeding makes any difference to these changes."

Living Alone Doubles The Risk Of Serious Heart Disease

Living Alone Doubles The Risk Of Serious Heart Disease

MedicineWorld.Org

People who live alone double their risk of serious heart disease as those who live with a partner, suggests research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. This includes severe angina and heart attack.

The finding is based on a study of more than 138,000 adults between the ages of 30 and 69 living in one area (Aarhus) of Denmark.

Between 2000 and 2002, 646 people were diagnosed with severe angina, or sustained a heart attack, or sudden cardiac death, a spectrum of conditions known as acute coronary syndrome.

When analysed in detail, using information from population registers, poor educational attainment and living on a pension were linked to an increased risk of the syndrome.

But the two strongest predictive factors for the syndrome were age and living alone.

Women above the age of 60 and living by themselves, and men over the age of 50, in the same position, were twice as likely to have the syndrome as everyone else.

Lone women over 60 comprised just over 5 per cent, and lone men over 50 just under 8 per cent, of the whole population.

Yet lone women in this age group accounted for a third of all deaths from the syndrome within 30 days of diagnosis, while lone men in this age group accounted for two thirds of deaths.

The lowest risks included cohabiting with a partner, a high level of education, and being in work. Women divorcees also enjoyed a lower risk of the syndrome.

The authors say that certain risk factors tend to be more common in the lifestyles of those who live by themselves, which may help to explain the differences.

These include smoking, obesity, high cholesterol and fewer visits to the family doctor. People living on their own may be less able to draw on social support networks as well, say the authors.