Tobacco Use and Reproductive Outcomes if a woman Smokes

Last Updated on Sunday, 18 September 2011 11:27 Written by Natural Health Team Sunday, 18 September 2011 11:27

Health Information about Tobacco Use and Reproductive Outcomes if a woman Smokes

Women who smoke have increased menstrual and reproductive risks. These risks are caused due to nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, cyanide, and several other chemicals, carcinogens present in the cigarette smoke. When a woman smokes, she exposes these chemicals to the fetus and this increases the chance of miscarriage, abortion.

Despite the harmful effects of smoking on reproductive health, about 22% women continue to smoke, putting themselves and their baby at risk. But the good news is that by stopping smoking before and during pregnancy, women can greatly reduce the health risks associated with cigarette smoking.

Here are consequences of smoking on reproductive health of women:

A woman who smokes and plans a pregnancy has a risk of delayed conception when compared to a nonsmoking woman. Smoking decreases the probability of being pregnant to about one-third per cycle. Several studies have also showed that smoking women have infertility problems.

Babies of women who smoke have low-birth weight when compared to the babies of non-smoking women. Low birth weight is very dangerous for the baby as it can cause neonatal morbidity and mortality. A smoking woman’s baby’s deficit in birth weight is about 5% on an average.

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Smoking increases the risk of ectopic pregnancy, in which the fertilized tissue is implanted outside the womb. Ectopic pregnancy puts the life of mother at risk and endangers subsequent fertility. The risk of ectopic pregnancy is double in woman who smokes when compared to nonsmoking woman.

Smoking women are at risk of premature rupture of membranes i.e. Abruptio placentae (separation of placenta from uterus) and Placental previa (the placenta is abnormally located, which may result in hemorrhaging during delivery. Due to premature rupture of membranes, the woman has a risk of carrying the baby for shorter time period than the normal gestational period.

The risk of placenta Previa, a condition in which the placenta is prematurely separated from the uterus wall, is high in smoking women. This condition can result in stillbirth, or early infant death.

Babies of women who smoke have a high risk of SIDS and this risk is higher if the infant is exposed to postnatal smoking. Along with this, smoking women have high risks of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and prenatal mortality.

All the above reproductive health risks are in addition to other health problems such as cancer, pulmonary disease, cardiovascular diseases etc. In view of the several health risks, it is very important for a woman to stop smoking. The good news is that when women stop smoking in the first trimester, the reproductive health risks are greatly reduced.

The fact that pregnancy is a strong motivator for quitting smoking should encourage women to take up quit smoking programs. According to studies, women who quit smoking during pregnancy do not smoke even one year after delivery.

Quitting smoking not only ensures the baby’s health, but it also improves the health and extends the life of women. Hence, women should put in their complete efforts to quit smoking for a better future and a healthy family.

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Womens Health:the Negative Effects of Tobacco on Women

Last Updated on Sunday, 30 May 2010 09:54 Written by Natural Health Team Sunday, 30 May 2010 09:54

Since the 60s, smoking women has continued to grow: the proportion of smokers rose from 10 to 22% in 40 years on the 15 million smokers in USA. The women smoke more and more and earlier. The first cigarette is usually taken between 14 and 16 years. Cigarette smoke passes from the lungs to the brain within 10 seconds, carrying so much faster than would intravenous injection of illicit drugs. Smoking cigarette send some 4 000 chemicals to the body.

Tobacco and gynecological disorders

Smoking decreases the secretion of estrogen. It may therefore be responsible for menstrual disorders with irregularities and pain. There is also often a change of tone of voice, which becomes hoarse, and an increase of hairs. Menopause occurs 1 to 2 years earlier than average among smokers. Hot flashes are more intense and the risk of osteoporosis is increased. Tobacco also promotes the development of precancerous lesions of the cervix.

Tobacco and skin

Due to a lack of oxygenation of the skin, smokers are more often dull complexion and “clouded”. The cellular exchanges have slowed and the waste is not eliminated. The skin loose his radiance and elasticity. Wrinkles appear prematurely, with 10 to 20 years ahead, especially at the lips. Smoking stimulates the production of free radicals that damage the elastin and collagen.

Tobacco and pill

35% of women aged 20 to 44 years who take contraceptive smoke, increasing from 4 to 10 times the risk of cardiovascular problems. Combining a contraceptive with cigarettes is a major health hazard, especially past 35 years. Indeed, nicotine promotes deposition of fat in the blood vessels and damages arteries. The blood thickens and the risk of thrombosis, stroke and cerebral vascular accident (stroke) is accentuated. These evils are aggravated by contraceptives.

Smoking and Pregnancy

Cigarette smoking decreases by 50% female fertility: thickens the cervical mucus, preventing sperm progression, lack of estrogen reduces the quality of the uterine wall and restricts blood flow necessary for the implantation of the egg. Smoking increases by 3 the risk of miscarriage, and by 2 ectopic pregnancies and premature births. There is also stunted fetus that is not well oxygenated. Its weight is generally lower than 200 g at birth. In addition, smokers lactating produce 25% less milk than non-smokers.

Tobacco and weight

Smoking reduce the taste and smell. In addition, nicotine stimulates the nervous system that causes a cut-hunger, slows the storage of fat in adipocytes and artificially increases energy expenditure to 200 calories per day compared to non-smoker. The smokers have a weight lower than they would if they do not smoke (around 4 kg). So when you stop smoking, you just go back to your normal weight. No need to worry! However physical activity is still recommended to stabilize the weight. If you start to gain to much weight, try to eat better by cutting in the fat and salt.

It may be a good idea to consult a dietetist to help stabilize your weight while you stop smoking. Consulting a dietetist is a sure way to establish a healthy and balanced diet. Using dangerous product like laxative and purgative are dangerous and not the solution to long lasting weight loss!

Good luck!

women health

Womens Health:The Negative Effects Of Tobacco On Women.

Last Updated on Friday, 28 May 2010 09:54 Written by Natural Health Team Friday, 28 May 2010 09:54

Since the 60s, smoking women has continued to grow: the proportion of smokers rose from 10 to 22% in 40 years on the 15 million smokers in USA. The women smoke more and more and earlier. The first cigarette is usually taken between 14 and 16 years. Cigarette smoke passes from the lungs to the brain within 10 seconds, carrying so much faster than would intravenous injection of illicit drugs. Smoking cigarette send some 4 000 chemicals to the body.

Tobacco and gynecological disorders

Smoking decreases the secretion of estrogen. It may therefore be responsible for menstrual disorders with irregularities and pain. There is also often a change of tone of voice, which becomes hoarse, and an increase of hairs. Menopause occurs 1 to 2 years earlier than average among smokers. Hot flashes are more intense and the risk of osteoporosis is increased. Tobacco also promotes the development of precancerous lesions of the cervix.

Tobacco and skin

Due to a lack of oxygenation of the skin, smokers are more often dull complexion and “clouded”. The cellular exchanges have slowed and the waste is not eliminated. The skin loose his radiance and elasticity. Wrinkles appear prematurely, with 10 to 20 years ahead, especially at the lips. Smoking stimulates the production of free radicals that damage the elastin and collagen.

Tobacco and pill

35% of women aged 20 to 44 years who take contraceptive smoke, increasing from 4 to 10 times the risk of cardiovascular problems. Combining a contraceptive with cigarettes is a major health hazard, especially past 35 years. Indeed, nicotine promotes deposition of fat in the blood vessels and damages arteries. The blood thickens and the risk of thrombosis, stroke and cerebral vascular accident (stroke) is accentuated. These evils are aggravated by contraceptives.

Smoking and Pregnancy

Cigarette smoking decreases by 50% female fertility: thickens the cervical mucus, preventing sperm progression, lack of estrogen reduces the quality of the uterine wall and restricts blood flow necessary for the implantation of the egg. Smoking increases by 3 the risk of miscarriage, and by 2 ectopic pregnancies and premature births. There is also stunted fetus that is not well oxygenated. Its weight is generally lower than 200 g at birth. In addition, smokers lactating produce 25% less milk than non-smokers.

Tobacco and weight

Smoking reduce the taste and smell. In addition, nicotine stimulates the nervous system that causes a cut-hunger, slows the storage of fat in adipocytes and artificially increases energy expenditure to 200 calories per day compared to non-smoker. The smokers have a weight lower than they would if they do not smoke (around 4 kg). So when you stop smoking, you just go back to your normal weight. No need to worry! However physical activity is still recommended to stabilize the weight. If you start to gain to much weight, try to eat better by cutting in the fat and salt.

It may be a good idea to consult a dietetist to help stabilize your weight while you stop smoking. Consulting a dietetist is a sure way to establish a healthy and balanced diet. Using dangerous product like laxative and purgative are dangerous and not the solution to long lasting weight loss!

Good luck!

women health

Smoking Cigarettes (tobacco) and Nutrition

Last Updated on Monday, 3 May 2010 07:24 Written by Natural Health Team Monday, 3 May 2010 07:24

This article is about nutrition in relation for smokers, the one who asked it me asked a good question, asking for nutrition instead of food. Please do read till the end!

Maybe for some people food is nutrition and vise versa however there’s a huge difference, medically seen, between food and nutrition. Simply said what we take in our mouth to eat (no candy or so but really eating) is food, if this food is nutritious depends on the food and on the way you and your body convert the food into nutrition.

You and your body, this seems to be odd but is an important factor. The audience I’m writing for are people from welfare countries and in our western world eating is often an “in-between-case”. You’re working and while working you eat quickly this happens much for example in a car too, you need to catch a meeting and eat quickly in your car. In such cases that you eat quickly I call that you food processing, you put food in your mouth and a lot of the food you swallow without chewing first, that’s bad and more bad for smokers. In this case the swallowed food goes to your stomach and is from there on further processed. I prefer in this case to write for us busy people “processed” instead of digest. A lot of smokers (non smokers too) are since way to long used to eat in a bad way whereby digestion became a smaller part than processing food. A lot of people even nearly digest nothing while that’s the most important part to get from food nutrition!

Digestion is breaking down the food in the nutritious components we need to have good food for a healthy life. Food, moreover nutrition is an underestimated factor in healthcare, it’s really time that we give eating and digestion a lot more attention then we’re used to do. This is of course all in general speaking maybe some smokers take very good care, or try or think it at least, about healthy living.

About food, the first step when buying something to eat, we need to forget fast food or junk food then you can say that at the paper is written which nutrition this junk food contains and I do not say that they’re wrong but what I do know is that you never get that nutrition because those junk food companies who try to get rid of their stigma that it’s bad food let their food being analyzed in a lab. The results from the lab and the nutrition you get from junk food is way more less.

I’m not a nutrition specialist in the pure medical way but what I do know very well just like all MD’s should know is that when you have a fresh carrot from the field, let it analyze by a lab let’s say (this are random numbers) that the lab measures 5mg pro vitamin A but when a health freak who eats perfect according the medical rules gets maybe 2.5mg pro vitamin A in the blood after digesting that carrot.

Usually we eat junk food very quickly and instead of digestion there’s almost only processing so the absorption of the nutritional levels mentioned by those junk food chains is almost zero that’s one of the reasons that there’re so much fat people, processed food becomes fat somewhere (can be everywhere at your body with not much change for hands and feet, in case your hands and or feet or more fat looking they probably contain water, consult your physician).

Another thing is when you really buy food certainly in our western industrialized countries I see often by people at home and even more in exquisite restaurants 70% meat, 20% vegetables and 10% ‘basic’ food like potatoes, rice, paste, couscous, etc… This is completely wrong!!

A note about meat. Although still no consensus whether we’re meat or vegetable (plant) eaters the majority of nutrition specialist agree that we don’t need meet at all. I agree with them too, I personally eat nearly no meat at all. I do eat meat when I’m for example in China invited for dinner and there’s a little chicken, I don’t eat a pound of meat in a year. Some people say that they eat no meat but fish however I classify fish by meat. Meat is simply from animals, other basic products come from plants and are for us vegetables or fruit, that’s what we need! There’s however a gray zone between plants and meat like eggs and milk that’s why there’re vegetarians and lacto-vegetarians, the latter also don’t use any product from an animal without to mention the mother milk which is underestimated important to feed her baby.

Anyway, I won’t be nagging about to stop eating meat what I highly advice you to the benefit of digestion, upgrading the nutrition level with the same amount of food, is to eat no more then 30% meat instead of 60 to 70% by a warm ‘healthy’ dish. But there’s more. Nearly all meat we eat is not straight from the cattle or whatever! Before meat is driven to the stores it’s in a very bad way processed. As an example, when having chicken filet of 50 gram then they inject it with lots of a kind of needles and add mainly water to it, the chicken piece swells and becomes 110gram. This also happens by complete chicken, you buy a grilled chicken of 1.2kg but you have about 450gram of real chicken. You might be thinking that the injected water disappear when a complete chicken is grilled but that’s not true however I’m no butcher and can’t go further into the processing of meat.

Anyway, I advice to eat no more than 30% of a warm dish as real unprocessed meat, how you can get unprocessed meat is a mystery to me, I think you can only obtain it from people who get the unprocessed meat. This all means that because in general meat contains 50% not meat that you’ve to slice the 30% I say to 15% to minimize the bad influence of real meat itself and from the adjectives injected into the meat which are a lot worse then the actual meat.

So far I know most people eat in fact (if you know it or don’t know it) meat because when it’s baked it smells good, it gives most people extra saliva in their mouth. Based on a good smelling dish you’ve enough with just a little (bad) meat. Don’t worry about that bad meat, you can become a centenarian with it however the important thing here is nutrition.

I take as example the dinner which now consists of a little piece of meat, about 70% vegetables and 15% basic food like potatoes, rice, etc.. The fresher your food the better. I mean, your food should come from the field and be eaten within 72 to 96 hours. Be aware of those fresh vegetables in the supermarket, those are most of the time more then a year old!!! When you get a good carrot fresh from the field of a farmer who cultivates vegetables according the biological standards the carrot is firm and 2 weeks later the carrot is still firm but take a firm carrot from the supermarket and if you don’t put it in a cooler but just on the shelf then next day it’s like rubber that’s bad food.

Now over to eating food itself so you get maximum nutrition from it. Whatever you eat when it’s in your mouth the digestive process is in it’s important starting phase. Before swallowing we need to chew our food very good, for each bite we should chew 40 times, that’s why we’ve teeth for. When food is being chewed then in our saliva are extra aids to break down your food so it’s already a little digested before you swallow. When you swallow there’s nearly no digestion before the food/nutrition (food became nutritious a little in your mouth, I can not say this enough!) becomes into your stomach. It’s oblivious that from the moment we’ve swallowed we can’t do anything anymore, from in the stomach our body takes over and the better the food is and the better the chewing is the better for your stomach and intestines to further break down the food/nutrition into nutrition that goes via a complex system into our blood.

In food are hundreds of nutrition’s which must be taken into our blood, the better the nutrition the better your stomach, the better your blood circulation, the better for your heart and lungs.

Our lungs are our primary organ for life. We can be without food for ours but we need very quickly air. As a matter of speak you can see our lungs as a very quick stomach, we breath in and in no time oxygen comes via our blood in our brain. Failure to do so causes death.

Smoking was a while seen as a healthy method to get quickly gasses in our bloodstream straight to our brain and indeed smoking good tobacco in a healthy way it can cure some lung diseases.

Our lungs are still used to administer quickly medication like for asthma patients who have a bottle upside down and take puffs of medication. Our lungs are still also used as only a transit of gasses quickly to our brain for anestheology.

Tobacco however in today’s cigarettes contain also a lot of poison even who stay in our lungs if we don’t take good care and slowly ‘glue’ lung tissue what can cause severe illness, remember that the main task in normal conditions is bringing air (oxygen) to our brain.

The smoke in our lungs give ‘nutrition’ into our bloodstream whereby we’ve a quick satisfaction feeling in our brain for the nicotine. However our bloodstream isn’t divided in parts for the point of view of non medical doctors so a lot of smoke poison gasses come into our bloodstream and break down at least an important circulatorory nutrition vitamin C therefore smokers should even more than other people take daily a gram of vitamin C. A gram is much but vitamin C is a very essential component, when lacking vitamin C then you die. When some hundreds years ago ships traveled for months to discover new land etc… many many sailors died due to the lack of vitamin C because when they departed they could take a limited quantity of fruit because after a short time fruit and other vitamin C containing food becomes bad while they needed food for 3 to 4 months and in that time they had only good food.

Vitamin C is a component that’s very easy for our body, when we take 0.5gram, or 5 gram our body takes what it needs and the remaining goes via a healthy process away with our urine.

I advice smokers to take 3 times a day right before eating 0.5gram pure vitamin C. You can buy it OTC in a pharmacy with a kilo in white nearly powder. Take a soup spoon to take the vitamin C and do it in a glass of bottled water, turn in the water till the vitamin C is solved into the water, drink it and start to eat. Smokers who smoke mainly after their last meal I advice to drink vitamin C like described before they go to bed or do I need to say after your last cigarette. Also other smokers and non smokers can do the same. Vitamin C is since hundreds of years known as a very healthy component and there’s still research going on about taking vitamin C for cell regeneration. Vitamin C has many functions and it’s helpful by cell regeneration but probably more than we know and because certainly the tar in tobacco put a heavy strain on the lung cells smokers can use additional vitamin C and you never have to worry about taking to much.

Vitamin C is an acid, it’s called ascorbic acid which is also an anti oxidant. When you see (female) face products it says often that it contains an anti oxidant, those are for every human being these days very important in the struggle against free radicals, a reason the more the use daily 3 to 4 times 0.5gram vitamin C.

The storage of vitamin C is very important, never do the powder in a metal container!!! Mainly when you buy vitamin C with a kilo or so you get it in a dark brown glass bottle maybe with a sponge within. Vitamin C may not come in contact with metal, air and light. Of course there’s some air in the bottle of vitamin C that’s why you do not use a half a bottle, going for 3 months on vacation, come back and use it further, in this case you throw the vitamin C away and buy new.

Suppose mother and father are taken vitamin C, when the food is ready on the table, somebody takes out the closet the bottle when the 2 glasses of water are ready, open the vitamin C bottle, a soup spoon in on one glass (while not touching the water!!!) and another soup spoon in the other glass. Closing quickly the vitamin C bottle and put it immediately in pure dark and not warmer then 77°F (25°C) place. When you’ve taken the last vitamin C for the meal you can use that soup spoon to turn already in the water the solve, in the other glass is a spoon and you bring the two glasses to the table, even when not yet all vitamin C is completely solved you can drink it but an underestimated factor by taking a meal is to be relaxed so why the hurry for a second more to completely solve the vitamin C.

smoking

Global Smoking Trends- Where Tobacco Companies Make Money These Days?

Last Updated on Monday, 3 May 2010 07:23 Written by Natural Health Team Monday, 3 May 2010 07:23

Smoking has become the affliction of a large magnitude of people and others seem to be joining the smoke bandwagon at an alarming rate. Smoking has become a very common sight with one out of every fifth person being a smoker. The trend of smoking has become very common among teenagers also. The problems one gets due to smoking are many, but they do not seem to encourage people to stop smoking or deter people for starting to smoke. The hazardous effects of smoking are many, but people do not seem to be paying heed; the tobacco companies seem to be the only one is reaping the rewards out of smoking.

Since tobacco was born, it has been a few companies dominate the tobacco industry. These companies control most of the production and distribution around the world. They are quick to adapt to their policies and tactics to conform to the regulations set by the government and cater to the needs of the ever-increasing number of smokers around the world.

Tobacco companies of the world

A few companies hold the tobacco production and control of tobacco; the three largest companies sell close to two thirds of the entire supply. The stagnation in demand has prompted them to explore new markets.

The government is in a predicament since the tobacco industry accounts for a vast amount of jobs, but it also has to protect the health of its citizens. The government has tried to cut down on smokers by increasing the taxes imposed on them. By increasing the taxes on tobacco products and leveling higher duties on the companies, the companies are forced to raise the prices, which indirectly reduce use; since higher priced goods will be used less often. There is not much the government can do since tobacco is not a banned product.

The large companies also diversify their business to keep abreast in the market. They use various ways the companies diversify.

By market segments: Products are usually divided into categories, from high priced premium cigarettes to low and middle class of cigarettes. Companies with big brand names sell premium high priced cigarettes but also expand in to lower class sales to protect them from susceptibility. A decline in sales of premium cigarettes will be ploughed back by the sales in the lower or middle brands of cigarettes.

By target group: Every cigarette has its target group. By creating a new target group, the company can raise its overall market share. Thus the need to branch out into women cigarettes and target young people.

This targeting of women and youngsters has been seen in bad light. The tobacco industry has long targeted young people with its advertising and promotional campaigns. One of the most memorable, “Joe Camel” campaign initiated by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, helped generate public outrage against tobacco company efforts to reach young audiences and it is no longer used. The reason is obvious, most people start smoking at an early age. Getting a hold on a new segment will increase its share in the market.

Women are also a segment that the industries try to win over. Cigarettes for women are put forward as a symbol of liberation and some even shown in the light of slimming products. Manufacturers produce (long, slim) cigarettes especially for women. Perfumed or scented cigarettes with exotic flavors are targeted at women. Cigarettes usually have the word “slim” or “lights” to attract women consumers. Minorities are also a target for the tobacco industry.

Diversification by tobacco products: cigarettes companies also try to branch out into other tobacco products. For example, Imperial tobacco has decided to branch out into the roll your own segment; it dominates both the tobacco and the paper for this segment.

Diversification by non-tobacco products: food seems to be the favorite for companies seeking to diversify. R.J. Reynolds bought Nabisco (which, in turn, was later acquired by Kraft) owned by Philip Morris. Japan Tobacco derives a (small) part of its sales from food. Logistics and wholesaling are another favorite

Austria Tabak, wholesaling of tobacco and other products (and the operation of vending machines) makes up a large share of turnover. Over 20 per cent of Altadis’ earnings originate in its logistics division. Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni owns the largest wholesaler of consumer goods in Denmark. BAT tried financial services (but, since 1998, is a pure tobacco company).

Diversification into food and other activities makes the tobacco companies less dependent on (slow-growing) sales of tobacco products. However, the profit margins in these industry are usually well below those attained in tobacco processing. Producing and marketing cigarettes remain the more lucrative activity.

Incase of diversification by geographical market, OECD-based tobacco companies are keen to reduce their dependence on their stagnant home markets and establish a presence in markets where growth is above average. After having started business in many markets in Latin

America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Central Asian republics in the 1990s, their center of attention is shifting to the Far East. All the major tobacco companies now have a presence in Poland, Russia and the Central Asian republics. Austria Tabak, which gained a presence in

Estonia when it acquired the cigarette activities of Swedish Match also has a 67 per cent market share in Guinea. The company was considering entering Asian markets when it was taken over by Gallaher in June 2001. Through this take-over and the acquisition in 2000 of Liggett-Ducat, the Moscow cigarette maker, Gallaher greatly reduced its dependence on the UK market. Similarly, Japan Tobacco became a world player when it acquired the international activities of R.J. Reynolds. Thanks to a relentless internationalization drive, Germany’s Reemtsma now sells less than one-third of its total in its home market (compared to over 60 per cent in 1991) (see also figure 6). It is now on the go in several Central and Eastern European countries and, in 1999, it acquired Cambodia’s Paradise Tobacco Company.

The government.

A predicament is generally faced by the Governments all across the world. On the one hand, tobacco-growing and processing can makes a large contribution to employment, tax revenue and foreign exchange receipts. In many developing and formerly centrally planned economies, the tobacco companies have made sizeable and most welcome investments when other investors were disinclined to do so. On the other hand, governments have the responsibility to protect the population’s health. Smoking is harmful to health and treating people for smoking-related illnesses is expensive. This can lead to heated debates within the same government as each sector defends the interests it believes it should represent.

The economic importance of tobacco growing and processing differs from country to country. At the national level, cigarette (sales and import) tax can be a main source of government revenue. In Russia, cigarette tax revenue contributes around 8 per cent to the financing of the state budget.

When the government owns the industry, it receives profits in addition to tax. That is why, in so many countries, State monopolies continue to control cigarette trade and production. In China, proceeds from state-owned CNTC amounted to the equivalent of US$11,000 million in 1999. CNTC has been the Chinese State’s top revenue generator for years. Japan Tobacco earned more than US$400 million for the Japanese State in the fiscal year ending March 2000. The monopolies can also play a social function. In Italy, several of the state monopoly’s factories are to be found in areas of high unemployment.

Then there are balance of payments issues to mull over, many low-income countries rely on the export of cash crops such as tobacco to pay for the service of their foreign debt.

Tobacco exports made up close to 10 per cent of Cuba’s exports in 1997-98. In the case of

Tanzania it was 15 per cent, In Zimbabwe over 25 per cent and in Malawi tobacco exports made up two-thirds of commodity exports.

Citizens smoke. But, if they smoke domestically produced cigarettes, using homegrown tobacco or use imported cigarettes and tobaccos can make a large difference when foreign exchange is scarce. That explains why so many countries try to restrict the imports of cigarettes and encourage domestic producers to use local tobaccos, for example, by providing a favorable tax treatment to companies that use a minimum percentage of homegrown tobaccos. The cigarette companies have also been a key source of investment in the formerly centrally planned countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. When others were disinclined to invest, those companies saw the possibilities offered by a blend of pent-up consumer demand, outdated production facilities and the association with independence and “western style” living that so appealed to the people in these countries after many years of central planning and little consumer choice. After having lobbied successfully for the reduction of restrictions of Asian markets such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, the large tobacco companies are eagerly waiting for the opening up of the other economies (notably China) that continue to restrict imports from and/or investments by foreign tobacco companies.

Tobacco growing, processing and exports can thus make a significant involvement to national employment and national income. Yet, however important tobacco growing and processing may be at the national level, its full economic and social significance is best grasped at the micro or regional level. In some regions, tobacco is grown side by side with the crop, which is the main source of income; its contribution to overall income is modest. However, in many others, tobacco is a main source of income and employment.

Tobacco growing and tobacco processing may bring substantial economic and social benefits, but the treatment of smoking-related illness is costly. Cigarette smoking causes cancer. It is addictive. The WHO estimates that tobacco products cause around 3 million deaths per year. Cigarette smoking is the major cause of preventable mortality in developed countries. In the mid-1990s, about 25 per cent of all male deaths in developed countries were due to smoking. Among men aged 35-69 years, more than one-third of all deaths were caused by smoking. The costs of treating all these people are clearly enormous (WHO, 1997).

So far, smoking has not had the same impact on mortality among women and among people from developing countries. There is an approximate 30-40 year time lag between the onset of persistent smoking and deaths from smoking. The effects of the greater incidence of smoking between these two groups will thus be felt with a lag, but it seems reasonable to believe that its impact on them will not differ fundamentally from that on developed country males.

It may be argued that smokers willingly take a certain health risk when enjoying their smoke. They like the taste and all the other things that they associate with smoking. Nevertheless, this does not apply to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or “second-hand smoke”.

Smoke gets in your eyes your clothes. Moreover, it gets in your lungs. Non-smokers cannot escape from smoke in badly ventilated areas. To be exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke can be a nuisance in addition to being a health risk for non-smokers.

Governments and conflicting pressures: How do they get by?

In practice, governments have opted for several strategies (which are often followed simultaneously). A recent strategy consists of seeking compensation for the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses. It has been followed with success in the United States, as we saw in section 3.4. Governments also set rules regarding the maximum content of hazardous substances in cigarettes. Most of all, however, governments try to discourage demand for what is, as the industry does not tire of telling us, essentially a legal product.

This is done in a variety of ways, with some governments applying particular vigor and others taking a more relaxed approach. Overall, however, the trend is clear: governments’ rules on smoking are becoming ever more restrictive. The use of tobacco products is being discouraged in several ways.

Limitation of the space where smoking is allowed.

This is done above all to protect non-smokers from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke. Smoking is being prohibited in public places (particularly health care and educational facilities) and in mass transport. Legislation requires restaurants to reserve space for non-smokers.

Limitation by age group

It is prohibited to sell tobacco products to people under a certain age.

Limitations on points of sale.

The use of vending machines is being restricted because these cannot discriminate against sales to young people.

Health warnings stating that tobacco is harmful to health have become obligatory.

The warnings must be placed on packets and in ads, with the authorities prescribing the text and the minimum space allotted to the warning in the ad or on the pack. Governments sponsor education and public information programs on smoking and health.

Advertising bans. Restrictions concern the location of ads, the media used (no billboards, no ads in the printed media or in cinemas), the images presented (no young people, no cigarette packets), and the time when broadcasting is allowed (not during hours when children watch television).

The manufacturers are unhappy with these restrictions, and in particular with the ban on advertising. In their view, it is not proved that such a ban discourages demand for cigarettes (as its proponents claim). They are concerned about its effect on the value of their prime asset, the brand name.

Worldwide, the tobacco-processing industry employs hundreds of thousands of people. However, due to a combination of slow demand growth, consolidation, and higher productivity, this number is unlikely to increase by much in the near future. Fewer people are needed per unit of production. The industry is becoming less intensive in the use of labor. Tobacco growing, in contrast, gives work to millions of people. It continues to be a highly labour-intensive activity. The scope for productivity increases in tobacco growing would appear to be more limited than those in tobacco processing.

Over a million people are employed in the world tobacco industry

However, of this number a high percentage is employed in just three countries: China, India and Indonesia. The large number employed in China comes as no surprise in view of the large number of cigarettes (one-third of the world total) produced there. Still, the productivity gap with the United States is striking. China produces roughly three times as many cigarettes as the US, but it needs over nine times as many people to produce them. In the other two countries, the scope for productivity improvements would appear to be even higher.

THE SCENARIO TODAY.

The situation concerning smoking are scary, if global trends continue as they are doing today by 2030 more than 8 million people will die each year from tobacco related causes-80% in the developing regions of the World. In India per example where 120 million smoke 1 in 5 men will die for smoking. Smoking is on the decline in developed nations but is on a large-scale rise in developing or underdeveloped nations. The statistics are frightening, every eight seconds someone dies from smoking; about 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily. There are 1.1 billion smokers in the world today, and if things continue as they have, that number is expected to increase to 1.6 billion by the year 2025.

Smoking and use of tobacco products is on a decline in most developed countries. However, it is on a rampant increase in other developing countries.

In the US, there has been a decrease in the number of smokers. This can be attributed to the growing awareness of the damage smoking causes to the health of the individual. There is however a sad side to the story, smoking has increased to a drastic level in other countries and the figures are staggering.

China is home to 300 million smokers who consume upwards of 1.7 trillion cigarettes a year, or 3 million cigarettes a minute. As many as 100 million Chinese men presently under the age of 30 will die from tobacco use. There are approximately 120 million smokers in India today, and it is estimated that in the year 2010 alone, there will be close to one million tobacco-related deaths among men and women age 30 to 69 in India. Worldwide, tobacco use will kill more than 175 million people between now and the year 2030. Current tobacco-related health care costs in the United States total US $81 billion annually. Germany spends an average of US $7 billion, and Australia, US $1 billion each year on health care directly related to tobacco use. Health care costs associated with secondhand smoke total US $5 billion a year in the U.S. It is estimated that as many as 500 million people alive today will be killed by tobacco use. The statistics are chilling.

One reason for the sudden spurt in the numbers in these countries may be due to the arrival of tobacco companies. The lax stand of the governments in these countries makes it a good bet to start business. The anti smoking lobbies in these countries have not been able to combat the increase. Increased awareness has made it hard for tobacco companies to work in many countries and so the tobacco companies have shifted their sights to greener pastures.

These countries have a very small anti smoking lobby and the government restrictions o them are not so tough and the government is dependent on the revenues it earns from them. Setting up business in these countries has resulted in increased used of tobacco products.

The anti smoking lobby has been very effective in curtailing the spread and increase of smoking around the world.

Advertising related to tobacco has is banned in most countries. Warnings of the harmful effects of the product have to be printed on the packet. This statutory warning is mandatory in most countries. The WHO in its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into effect on 27 February 2005 has specified that all 168 countries should ban advertisements unless their constitutions forbade them to do so.

Today, we are aware of the hazards of smoking. Even though the people are aware of the harmful effects of smoking they rarely seem to pay heed. Everyone knows that smoking causes cancer, heart diseases and can shorten the life span of an individual. It is a highly addictive habit and smokers are at a risk of losing ten years of their life.

With so many smokers around the world, tobacco companies are the only ones gaining form the increase.

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