Ciggyfree Blog

Exclusive: A major new report seen by the IoS has revealed that smoking holds the key to a mystery that has baffled doctors and brought heartache to thousands.

Nine out of 10 mothers whose babies suffered cot death smoked during pregnancy, according to a scientific study to be published this week. The study, thought to be one of the most authoritative to date on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), says women who smoke during pregnancy are four times more likely than non-smokers to see their child fall victim to cot death.

The comprehensive report will make a strong case for the Government to increase the scope of anti-smoking legislation. It even suggests a possible move to try to ban pregnant women from getting tobacco altogether.

The study, produced by Bristol University’s Institute of Child Life and Health, is based on analysis of the evidence of 21 international studies on smoking and cot death. The report, co-authored by Peter Fleming, professor of infant health and developmental physiology, and Dr Peter Blair, senior research fellow, will be published this week in the medical journal Early Human Development.

Not Succeeding is a failure only if you do not try to quit smoking again.

Results from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that currently there are 1.3 billion smokers in the world. The same data show that every 8 seconds somewhere in the world one person dies from the consequences of smoking. Smoking is the leading cause of premature deaths in the world.

Experts calculated that the number of deaths caused by smoking will increase by 10 million annually until 2020. In Croatia, every third person is a smoker, of which 33.8% are men and 21.7% are women.

Smoking is often considered just a habit, but it is actually a much more serious problem. Smoking is an addiction on three levels – psychological, emotional and physical. The World Health Organization prepared an International Classification of Diseases which includes smoking addiction as a mental organic disorder.