Ciggyfree Blog & Gov Alert

5 Lung Cancer Symptoms Most People Don’t Know About

Shoulder or upper back pain: Pain in the shoulder or upper back is a often unnoticed lung cancer symptom. The pain results from a tumor pressing on the lining of the lungs.

Swelling of the face and neck is also a lung cancer symptom: Tumors can often put pressure of blood vessels, not allowing fluids to to travel as efficiently throughout the body. The fluids then build up, causing swelling of the face and neck.

Frequently having pneumonia or other lung infections: Tumor cells can trap bacteria causing frequent lung infections.
Frequently getting pneumonia is also a symptom of lung cancer.

Male breast development : Gynecomastia is the overdevelopment of the male breast and can be a symptom of lung cancer in men. Breast growth in men is normally due to the increase of estrogen. Lung cancer has been known to produce estrogen.

Hoarseness: Do you constantly feel like you have to clear your throat or your throat feels hoarse. This is a very common symptom of lung cancer. Lung cancer tumor cells can block passageways leading to many symtpoms, like hoarseness.

More About Lung Cancer: If you are experiencing the symptoms of lung cancer, please see your doctor. Keep in mind that these symptoms of lung cancer are also the symptoms of many other benign condition.

Source: Lisa Fayed,
Your Guide to Cancer.
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“One thing that we humans do very well is to defend ourselves psychologically, and our most potent weapon is denial. But when confronted with a terminal disease, denial flies out of the window. We have to find another defense.”

If we are smokers, and lung or throat cancer is diagnosed, denial is replaced with a sense of shame and/or guilt…For many, smoking after being told that they have a life-threatening illness is their way of saying: “I did it my way, I don’t regret it and I am still in control.”

— Professor Robert West 
Director of tobacco studies at Cancer Research UK

In September 2002 Barb Tarbox was diagnosed with incurable lung (stage IV) and brain cancer at the age of 41.

She smoked two packs of cigarettes a day since the tender age of 11. She smoked for 30 years, totaling a 60 pack-year smoking history.

She died May 18, 2003 after speaking to more than 50,000 students about the dangers of smoking.

View long version (15 minutes) or short version (3 minutes) and transcript.
Warning: This video contains strong emotional material regarding Barb Tarbox’s experience with terminal lung cancer caused by smoking.

Smoking is detrimental for Fibromyalgia patients for several reasons. Smoking reduces blood-oxygen content and impairs the already compromised muscle oxygenation further. Nicotine is a potent muscle contractor and causes aggravation of muscle tension and spasm, leading to increased pain. Nicotine is also a stimulant and increases the mental tension, which in turn intensifies preexisting muscular tension.

~Cabell Huntington Hospital

“The evidence is clear, there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke,”

“Many countries have already taken action. I urge all countries that have not yet done so to take this immediate and important step to protect the health of all by passing laws requiring all indoor workplaces and public places to be 100% smoke-free.”

~WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan

“Four million people die from tobacco related diseases yearly. This is equivalent to twenty-seven 747 airplanes full of passengers crashing every day.”

“Every eight seconds someone in the world dies from a tobacco-related disease.”

“The number of tobacco related deaths are estimated to increase to 10 million in 2030; 7 million deaths will occur in developing countries, including the African region.”

“Smokers and non-smokers are exposed to over 4,700 toxic substances in tobacco smoke and more than 50 of them are known human carcinogens, meaning cancer causing.”

~WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Regional Office For Africa

The stranglehold of nicotine addiction leads to more than four million smoking-related deaths each year. Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have now explained two roots of that addiction. The discoveries may offer new hope not just for smokers, but eventually also for sufferers of Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating movement disorder that affects some 40 million people worldwide.

Researchers have known for decades that chronic exposure to nicotine increases the number of nicotine receptors–molecules that are activated by binding to the drug–on nerve cells. The binding of nicotine to these receptors, and in particular to one specific subunit known as alpha4, enhances the release of a pleasure-causing neurotransmitter called dopamine.
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Smoking significantly increases the risk for head and neck cancers for both men and women, regardless of the anatomic site. Published in the journal Cancer, a large, prospective study confirmed strong associations between current and past cigarette smoking and malignancies of the head and neck in both genders.

Cancers of the head and neck include cancers of the larynx, nasal passages/nose, oral cavity, and pharynx. Worldwide, more than 500,000 people are diagnosed with these cancers every year. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), men are more than three times more likely than women to be diagnosed with head and neck cancer and almost twice as likely to die from their disease.

While tobacco use has long been identified as an important risk factor for head and neck cancers, the new study finds that smoking plays a greater role in the development of head and neck cancer in women than men.
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“Cigarettes are carcinogenic cocktails, containing unknown amounts of harmful and addictive substances. Tobacco is a deadly product, period. Congress should give the FDA the authority to regulate it — and the power to protect our kids.”

The Charlotte Observer, 08/26/2007

“Camel No. 9 continues a long history starting in the 1920s of tobacco industry marketing that targets women and turns more young girls into smokers. These marketing campaigns cynically equated smoking with independence, sophistication and beauty and preyed on the unique social pressures that women and girls face. And Camel No. 9 is carrying on the shameful legacy of targeted marketing that lures young women and girls into a lifetime of addiction and disease.”

Carter Headrick
Director, Grassroots
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

“Tobacco is fast becoming a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease,” says the WHO.

John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society, has an even bleaker outlook. “We’re about to witness the largest manmade, tobacco-industry-induced pandemic that the world has ever seen.”

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco on Friday filed with the Oregon state Elections Division to form the “Oregonians Against the Blank Check” committee to oppose a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to increase the state cigarette tax by 84.5 cents per pack to fund health initiatives, the Oregonian reports (Har, Oregonian, 8/18).

Measure 50 would generate an estimated $153 million from 2007 to 2009 and $233 million from 2009 to 2011. Democratic lawmakers this year were unable to secure a three-fifths majority in the state Legislature, which was needed to pass legislation to raise the tax, but there were enough votes to put it on the ballot as a constitutional measure. The initiative will be on the Nov. 6 ballot (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/14).

Most of the funding would be used to provide health care for more than 100,000 children in the state. However, opponents say the initiative also would give lawmakers the ability to spend as much as $68 million on other health programs. J.L. Wilson, a spokesperson for the R.J. Reynolds campaign, said, “Our contention is that it’s not so much about insuring kids as it is about providing blank checks for various interest groups.” Wilson said he expects the campaign to spend $3 million, but it might spend more. Philip Morris USA also has created a committee to oppose the measure, called the “Stop the Measure 50 Tax Hike” (Oregonian, 8/18).

People who smoke are about four times more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of severe vision loss, Australian researchers reported. Researchers followed for 10 years 2,454 Australians who were at least age 49 at the study’s outset.

Along with being more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration, smokers developed the disease an average of 5 years earlier than non-smokers, according to the study. The results confirm those of other studies that also found a link between smoking and an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration.

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The dog days of summer are here once again! I feel like my friend Paul from Musician’s Friend who emailed me last month stating that he was busier than a one legged man at an ass kicking contest.

Aside from being busy working mental health, I am also working on a remote client business logo, business cards, flyers, and a new web development project which gets quite complex when the client gets lost for days at a time in the communication process…

I feel quite sad that I have had zero time to devote to Clean Air Works for New Hampshire and even less time for Global Smokefree Partnership (Article 8 guidelines.) I am still fortunate to be able to devote some energy toward Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, but not as much as I wish I could at this time.

A few more weeks to go before legislators on Capitol Hill vote on S. 625, which allows the FDA to regulate the tobacco industry. I just received two snail mailings today from Senators Sununu (still fence sitting) and Greg (of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, who voted August 5 to approve S. 625.) Go Greg Go!!!

As a parting thought I sincerely think it is almost time to switch back to an information technology position. I have been combing the universities and colleges nationwide to see what is currently available. I hope to get back to normal communications by September. Have a great summer and just don’t smoke - not even one!

Hugs,

~robbster

A Des Moines woman has volunteered to spend time in jail in order to quit smoking. Jodi Perkins said she’s desperate to stop her 23-year habit. Perkins said she has tried just about everything to stop, such as going to the doctor, using patches and chewing gum. She said nothing has worked.

“This is shameful. I can’t take it anymore. I don’t know what to do. I need to be removed from the nicotine. Will power doesn’t do it for me,” Perkins said.

Perkins said she called the Polk County Jail to see if officials would allow her to spend time there so she could get the nicotine out of her system.

“I want to quit smoking real bad. I can tell when I’m outside, I’m mowing and I’m doing activities it’s getting harder to breathe. I’m still in my 30s and I can’t catch my breath,” she said.

Perkins said she offered to pay whatever fee might be required. She said she knows a lot of people would not understand her actions. “It is a sickness — an addiction,” Perkins said. She said she’s willing to go to the extreme by giving up her vacation and freedom to get the nicotine out of her body. Jail officials told Perkins that she cannot go to jail unless there is a warrant out for her or a court order issued.

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Did you know…

The link between smoking and AMD (age-related macular degeneration) is now as robust as the link between smoking and lung cancer, yet few people are aware of the link or even of AMD. AMD is the UK’s leading cause of sight loss - there are around 500,000 people in the UK with AMD - and an estimated 54,000 people have the condition as a result of smoking.

Pauline Edwards, 50, from Salford, has AMD after smoking most of her adult life. Pauline said: “I smoked for years. Now I have AMD, am partially sighted in one eye and am likely to go blind. When you smoke you cannot imagine what it is like to have lung cancer and especially when you are young the risk of dying earlier doesn’t come into it. I am a nurse, I saw people die from smoking-related diseases and that did not make me kick the habit. But if I had been told that I could lose my sight because of smoking I would have given up. I stopped the day I found out.”

Steve Winyard, RNIB’s Head of Campaigns and Chairman of AMD Alliance UK, said: “Smoking is the only proven cause of AMD that people can do anything about yet people are not aware of the link and most people have not even heard of the condition. The message is simple: do not take up smoking and if you do – stop! People also need to make sure they have regular eye tests to check their eyes are healthy – an eye test can save your sight.
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Recently I came across a great wikiHow article on how to deal with impossible people. I’ve had a few impossible people (bullies) that I used to feel inclined to deal with on a regular basis on Usenet, but after reading this article it was apparent to me that the insights and steps for dealing with these types is some of the best information available on the Internet today.

I occasionally work in a professional capacity with victims who are bullied online. It is interesting to note that most online bullies posses varying degrees of a personality disorder. WikiHow states:

Ways to detect if you’re dealing with someone with a personality disorder:

• People either really love the person or really hate him/her (the former may even be the majority, in which case you may feel “crazy” or begin doubting your judgment);
• You, and everyone else, note the person’s “oversensitivity” and feel like you must walk on eggshells around that person;
• The person rarely, or never, accepts responsibility for his/her own actions;
• The person talks behind people’s backs all the time and tries to pit people against each other, causing rifts (or splits);
• The person appears unable to see the “grey area” in people–people are either good or bad (and one little thing can toss someone into their “bad books”);
• The person over-compliments you or other people all the time (tries to create alliances);
• The person has trouble with personal or professional boundaries (over shares, pries, dresses inappropriately, etc.);
• The person has trouble holding an opinion–many people with personality disorders don’t possess their own “personality” and you will see their opinions shift according to their environment;
• The person is highly influenced by external, environmental factors–their mood is a barometer based on goes on around them (for example, they interpret someone looking at them askew and it “ruins their day”, but then someone compliments them and they are suddenly having “the best day ever”, but then they misplace their keys, and their “day is ruined”, etc.);
• The person might complain about having trouble “being alone” or perpetually feeling “empty”;
• Drama always surrounds the person because the person creates it and constantly lives in a state of chaos. Sound brutal? It is. So be sure to bail on that situation ASAP.

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Seventy per cent of parents are not aware of the extent of the cot death risk posed by smoking in the home. A poll(1), conducted for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) during the first two weeks of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places, found that 70 per cent of parents of young children (aged 0-3) either significantly underestimated or did not know how much more likely cot death was if a baby is exposed to tobacco smoke for one hour every day.

A baby who regularly spends one hour a day in a smoky environment is twice as likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) - or cot death - as a baby who lives in a smoke-free home.(2) Forty-seven per cent of parents polled, however, thought that there was either no risk or a much lower risk than is in fact the case, while 23 per cent couldn’t estimate the risk from the options given.

The poll also found that a greater proportion of families on lower incomes than higher incomes (76 per cent as opposed to 56 per cent) were unaware of the extent of the risk. A greater proportion of parents in the North of England (75 per cent) and the Midlands (74 per cent) than parents in the South (65 per cent) and in London (60 per cent) were unaware of the extent of the risk.

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Green tea data show promise in treating small-cell lung carcinoma: Ingredient brings about cell death by reducing activity of key enzyme By Jeni Baker

The statistics are sobering. Small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), which represents 15-20 percent of all lung cancer cases, is fatal within five years in more than 85 percent of the patients who develop it. And because the disease typically becomes resistant to drug therapies, it is particularly insidious and difficult to treat.

That’s the bad news. The better news is that the active ingredient in green tea appears to arrest the disease’s progress at the cellular level, according to the results of a study* published in June.

What is it about green tea?

“Because no therapies work too well in treating SCLC, and this cancer tends to become drug-resistant fairly quickly, the prognosis for SCLC patients currently isn’t very good,” says primary investigator David Sadava, PhD, of the Claremont University Consortium’s Keck Science Center and the City of Hope Medical Center. “This study was about looking into other treatment options.”

Green tea was a natural choice. “There’s data that say it can prevent lung cancer, there are no side effects that I’m aware of, and it’s very widely consumed,” Sadava says. “And when you look at epidemiology and animal studies of many cancers, green tea is more effective than black tea in many ways.”

The active ingredients in green tea are antioxidants called catechins – and the most abundant type of catechin is epigallocatechin-3 gallate (EGCG).
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