smoking – Page 22 – Oral Cancer News

Speaking and swallowing seems to be possible post tonsil cancer surgery

Source: www.healthjockey.com Author: staff Cancer of the tonsil is said to be one among the head and neck cancers. It apparently develops in the part of the throat just behind your mouth, called the oropharynx. Smoking and consuming alcohol may increase the risk for tonsil cancer. After a tonsil cancer surgery, it is believed that patients cannot speak or eat properly. But a new method for reconstructing the palate post surgery for tonsil cancer apparently preserved the capability of the patients to speak clearly and devour majority of the foods. This technique was developed at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Tonsil cancer apparently develops in the back of the throat, which could mean that surgery could contain parts of the palate, the tongue and the jaw. In conventional reconstruction efforts, a huge round piece of tissue was apparently taken to plug the hole left when the tumor is supposedly detached. But this apparently damages the way the palate and tongue function, and may not reinstate the intricate mechanism of the throat that may enable an individual to speak and swallow. Study author Douglas Chepeha, M.D., M.S.P.H., associate professor of otolaryngology head and neck surgery and director of the microvascular program at the University of Michigan Health System, commented, “This is the area that triggers swallowing, that separates the mouth from the nasal cavity. It affects speech and eating – typically, patients have difficulty eating when they have this kind of tumor and undergo surgery. We can remove the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-09-27T18:21:04-07:00September, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Smoking ban heart gains ‘massive’

Source: news.bbc.co.uk Author: staff Bans on smoking in public places have had a bigger impact on preventing heart attacks than ever expected, data shows. Smoking bans cut the number of heart attacks in Europe and North America by up to a third, two studies report. This "heart gain" is far greater than both originally anticipated and the 10% figure recently quoted by England's Department of Health. The studies appear in two leading journals - Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Heart attacks in the UK alone affect an estimated 275,000 people and kill 146,000 each year. Big impact Earlier this month it was announced that heart attack rates fell by about 10% in England in the year after the ban on smoking in public places was introduced in July 2007 - which is more than originally anticipated. But the latest work, based on the results of numerous different studies collectively involving millions of people, indicated that smoking bans have reduced heart attack rates by as much as 26% per year. Second-hand smoke is thought to increase the chances of a heart attack by making the blood more prone to clotting, reducing levels of beneficial "good" cholesterol, and raising the risk of dangerous heart rhythms. Dr James Lightwood, of the University of California at San Francisco, led the Circulation study that pooled together 13 separate analyses. His team found that heart attack rates across Europe and North America started to drop immediately following implementation of anti-smoking laws, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-09-22T05:10:54-07:00September, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

A dying smoker, with a British accent

Source: nytimes.com Author: Jennifer B. Lee The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene — never an agency to shy away from using vivid, even grisly, images to combat what it sees as public health scourges, namely soda and cigarettes — is unveiling a new television advertisement to discourage New Yorkers from smoking. This one focuses on the emotional toll of tobacco. It features a British man, Anthony, who is dying of lung and throat cancer, but wheezes out that he is looking forward to seeing his daughter during the holidays. The next frame reveals that Anthony died 10 days later, without having seen his daughter again. City Room wondered how New York City viewers could end up watching a British man in an antismoking ad. After all, the other antismoking stars of late have had New York ties: Ronaldo Martinez, a one-time Bronx resident who uses a device to speak from his throat, and Marie, also of the Bronx, a woman with numerous amputations. It turns out there are a number of central online clearinghouses for antitobacco advertising where health departments and nonprofit organizations can essentially share their outreach efforts. The two most prominent exchanges are run by the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention and World Lung Foundation. For example, the ad featuring Mr. Martinez, which was originally developed for Massachusetts, is also being used in Australia. “There is so much effective media being produced throughout the world,” said Elizabeth Kilgore, acting assistant commissioner of tobacco control at [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-09-10T07:25:37-07:00September, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Oral use of Swedish moist snuff (snus) and risk for cancer of the mouth, lung, and pancreas in male construction workers: a retrospective cohort study

Source: www.thelancet.com Author: Juhua Luo, MSc et al. Background: Although classified as carcinogenic, snuff is used increasingly in several populations. Scandinavian moist snuff (snus) has been proposed as a less harmful alternative to smoking, but precise data on the independent associations of snus use with site-specific cancers are sparse. We aimed to assess the risks for cancer of the oral cavity, lung, and pancreas. Methods: Detailed information about tobacco smoking and snus use was obtained from 279 897 male Swedish construction workers in 1978—92. Complete follow-up until end of 2004 was accomplished through links with population and health registers. To distinguish possible effects of snus from those of smoking, we focused on 125 576 workers who were reported to be never-smokers at entry. Adjusted relative risks were derived from Cox proportional hazards regression models. Findings: 60 cases of oral, 154 of lung, and 83 of pancreatic cancer were recorded in never-smokers. Snus use was independently associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer (relative risk for ever-users of snus 2·0; 95% CI 1·2—3·3, compared with never-users of any tobacco), but was unrelated to incidence of oral (0·8, 95% CI 0·4—1·7) and lung cancer (0·8, 0·5—1·3). Interpretation: Use of Swedish snus should be added to the list of tentative risk factors for pancreatic cancer. We were unable to confirm any excess of oral or lung cancer in snus users. Authors: Juhua Luo MSc a, Weimin Ye MD a, Kazem Zendehdel MD a c, Johanna Adami MD a b, Prof Hans-Olov Adami MD [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-26T11:02:58-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Anti-smoking bill a victory for kids

Source: www.blackvoicenews.com Author: Dr. Ernest Levister, Jr The health risks of tobacco are well known, yet the rates of smoking and using chewing tobacco continue to grow. Many young people pick up these habits every year — in fact, 90% of all adult smokers started when they were kids. Each day, more than 4,400 kids become regular smokers. So it was particularly encouraging to see President Barack Obama this week surrounded by children from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids sign the strongest anti-smoking measure ever, calling it “an extraordinary accomplishment that will help keep children from getting hooked on cigarettes”. This landmark legislation is a clear victory for kids. With an estimated 3,500 young people smoking their first cigarette each day, the ban on flavorings alone could have significant health benefits. Mr. Obama cited his own long struggle to quit the cigarettes he got hooked on as a teenager and praised the bill for providing critically needed protections for kids. Studies show that African Americans smoke fewer cigarettes when compared to Caucasians, but they share a far greater burden of smoking related health problems. It’s important to make sure kids understand the dangers of tobacco use. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, and can cause cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Chewing tobacco (smokeless or spit tobacco) can lead to nicotine addiction, oral cancer, gum disease, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks. Kids might be drawn to smoking and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-06-25T18:23:42-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

NYC may require tobacco retailers to post warning signs

Source: NEWSDAY.COM Author: MICHAEL FRAZIER The New York Health Department is proposing city tobacco retailers post signs with graphic images such as cancer-ravaged throats and black lungs in an effort to discourage smoking, health officials said Wednesday.The signs - the first of their kind in the country - would include health risk warnings and information on how to quit, said Sarah Perl, assistant commissioner of the city's Bureau of Tobacco Control."You're going to see what a blackened lung looks like; you're going to see what mouth cancer looks like; you're going to see what it looks like when you have throat cancer," Perl said. "They're going to have to think, 'Do I really want to pay 10 bucks for mouth cancer?' "The city Board of Health will hold hearings and vote in September on the proposal. Officials expect opposition from many of the city's 12,000 tobacco retailers and the cigarette industry. Jim Calvin, president of the state Association of Convenience Stores, said a new law giving the Food and Drug Administration more tobacco control is sufficient. "I'm not sure we would be eager to give up additional wall space and advertising space for posters and signs and images," said Calvin, whose group represents 7,700 stores statewide. President Barack Obama signed a law Monday allowing the FDA to lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products; forbid ads geared toward children; ban sweetened cigarettes that appeal to youngsters; and prohibit "light" and "low tar" labeling. The Health Department said its proposal is aimed mainly [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-06-25T10:49:05-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

What Farrah Fawcett can teach us about anal cancer

Source: health.usnews.com/blogs Author: Deborah Kotz As much as I think celebrities should be afforded their privacy—like the rest of us—when they're battling life-threatening diseases, I sometimes blog about their conditions because I see them as teaching moments. Farrah Fawcett is in the news today with reports that she's been hospitalized for complications of anal cancer. She was first diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006. Speculation was running wild that she was "close to dying," but the latest reports say she's suffering from a blood clot that resulted from an "alternative" cancer treatment she had in Germany to fight the cancer's recurrence. Anal cancer is one of those cancers no one likes to talk about because it's, well, anal cancer. But we really should discuss it as much as, say, cervical cancer. Both are predominately caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. In fact, a 2004 study of 6,000 anal cancer patients (the majority of whom were women) found that 73 percent of the patients tested positive for the strain HPV-16, one of the strains that the Gardasil vaccine protects against. What's worrisome is that unlike cervical cancer, which has dropped dramatically since the advent of the Pap smear, anal cancer is on the rise. Incidence rates over the past 30 years have jumped by 78 percent in women and 160 percent in men, probably because more people now have more sexual partners and more people have anal sex (both among heterosexuals and gay men), says Lisa Johnson, a cancer epidemiologist [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-04-08T18:25:08-07:00April, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Pretreatment health behaviors predict survival among patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, 10.1200/JCO.2008.18.2188 Author: Sonia A. Duffy et al. Purpose: Our prior work has shown that the health behaviors of head and neck cancer patients are interrelated and are associated with quality of life; however, other than smoking, the relationship between health behaviors and survival is unclear. Patients and Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted to determine the relationship between five pretreatment health behaviors (smoking, alcohol, diet, physical activity, and sleep) and all-cause survival among 504 head and neck cancer patients. Results: Smoking status was the strongest predictor of survival, with both current smokers (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.3 to 4.4) and former smokers (HR = 2.0; 95% CI, 1.2 to 3.5) showing significant associations with poor survival. Problem drinking was associated with survival in the univariate analysis (HR = 1.4; 95% CI, 1.0 to 2.0) but lost significance when controlling for other factors. Low fruit intake was negatively associated with survival in the univariate analysis only (HR = 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.1), whereas vegetable intake was not significant in either univariate or multivariate analyses. Although physical activity was associated with survival in the univariate analysis (HR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93 to 0.97), it was not significant in the multivariate model. Sleep was not significantly associated with survival in either univariate or multivariate analysis. Control variables that were also independently associated with survival in the multivariate analysis were age, education, tumor site, cancer stage, and surgical treatment. Conclusion: Variation in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-03-17T17:07:20-07:00March, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Smoking Behaviors Among Cancer Survivors: An Observational Clinical Study

Source: Journal of Oncology Practice Author:Lola Burke, MSI, Lesley-Ann Miller, PhD, MS, Ayman Saad, MD, Jame Abraham, MD Purpose: Smoking is a well-recognized risk factor for several cancers including cancers of the lung, bladder, and head and neck. Studies have shown that smoking can adversely affect the outcomes of different modalities of cancer treatment. This study examines smoking behaviors among cancer survivors to collect information necessary to create successful smoking cessation interventions. Methods: For this observational clinical study, questionnaires were sent to 1,000 randomly selected patients diagnosed with cancer between 2003 and 2007 in one cancer center. Data were statistically analyzed to determine the likelihood of a patient quitting smoking after being diagnosed with cancer. Results: We received 187 responses from the 1,000 surveys sent (18.7%). Of these, 166 were usable for analysis. The mean age of respondents was 64 (± 13) years. Men were more likely than women to be past smokers (55% of men and 32% of women respectively, P = .003). Fifty-two percent of respondents reported having a history of smoking. However, only 20% of patients reported having been active smokers at the time they were diagnosed with cancer. Furthermore, only 44% of these reported having quit smoking after their diagnosis with cancer. Only 62% of all respondents reported that they had been informed of the dangers of smoking by their health care provider during cancer treatment. Conclusion: In our study sample, less than one half (44%) of smoking cancer patients quit smoking after their cancer diagnosis, and only 62% of smoking cancer patients received smoking cessation counseling from their physicians. Intervention programs are needed to help cancer survivors to quit smoking. Prospective clinical [...]

Webmaster2009-04-07T18:27:23-07:00January, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Smoking and drinking linked to throat and stomach cancer

Source: uk.reuters.com Author: Michael Kahn Drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes appear to increase the risk of certain common throat and stomach cancers, Dutch researchers reported on Monday. The findings, presented at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington, underline other health recommendations for people to follow a healthy lifestyle and drink and smoke only in moderation. "It appeared that current smokers have the highest risks, and former smokers have an intermediate risk compared with never smokers," Jessie Steevens, an epidemiologist at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, said in a statement. The incidence of stomach cancer has fallen dramatically in the United States and western Europe over the past 60 years but the disease remains a serious problem in much of the rest of the world, where it is a leading cause of cancer death, according to the Mayo Clinic. Oesophageal, or throat, cancer is a form of cancer that starts in the inner layer of the oesophagus, the 10-inch-long tube that connects the throat to the stomach. The researchers followed more than 120,000 Dutch residents for more than two decades to investigate risk factors for oesophageal adenocarcinoma and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma -- a type of stomach cancer -- as well as oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, which resembles head and neck cancer. Other studies have linked oesophageal cancer in general to drinking and smoking, but Steevens and colleagues wanted to refine the risk of the different types of the tumours. They found that for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma -- [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-19T18:43:46-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|