Therapist Unlimited Blog

Contrary to what most people think hookah smoking is as deadly as cigarette puffing recent medical studies has shown.
Brian Primack, M.D., Ed.M., M.S., assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at Pitt’s School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "What they don’t realize", revealed hookah smokers are are exposing themselves to many of the same toxic chemicals contained in cigarettes.
A hookah, or waterpipe, is used to inhale tobacco that usually is flavored or sweetened.
The opening of hundreds of hookah cafes in the U.S. over the past decade demonstrates the increasing popularity of hookah smoking.
Primacj said although the aesthetic appeal of the practise suggests that it is not harmful, studies show that hookah tobacco smoke is just as toxic as cigarette smoke and is associated with substantial harm and addictiveness.
For example, one average hookah smoking session exposes the user to 40 times the tar of a single cigarette.
Meanwhile according to a latest study made by the University of Pittsburgh, college students who participate in intramural or club sports are less likely to smoke cigarettes than non-athletes, but are more likely than non-athletes to smoke from a hookah.

Smoking hookah is as deadly as puffing cigarettes.
 

To get the data, researchers at Pitt examined survey data from 8,745 college-age individuals who participated in the National College Health Assessment administered by the American College Health Association in 2008, and found that 33 percent of the respondents reported participating in varsity, club and intramural sport in the preceding 12 months.
Overall, 29.5 percent of the total sample reported having smoked from a hookah.
Consistent with what has been reported in the past, all types of athletes were less likely than non-athletes to smoke cigarettes.
Similarly, varsity athletes were 22 percent less likely than non-athletes to have smoked tobacco from a hookah.
However, club and intramural participants were each 15 percent more likely than non-athletes to have smoked tobacco from a hookah.

A recent study has shown that those who drink heavily are at higher risk of getting inflicted with prostate cancer.
Based on the research heavy drinking consist of four glasses of liquor a day on five days a week.
The researchers in their study also found out that heavy drinking made finasteride ineffective for reducing prostate cancer risk.

Heavy drinkers better stop their habit or limit their liquor intake if they wish to avoid suffering from prostate cancer.

The research has shown that that finasteride’s ability to lower prostate cancer risk was blocked in men drinking 50g alcohol per day.
To avoid chances of suffering from prostate cancer, medical experts hope heavy drinkers will stop their habit or limit their liquor intake for the sake of their health.Prostate cancer, a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system is a deadly disease that should not be overlooked.
The cancer cells may metastasize (spread) from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes.
Prostate cancer may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, problems during sexual intercourse, or erectile dysfunction. Other symptoms can potentially develop during later stages of the disease.

The financial crisis happening around the world is not affecting the global economy but the health of the people as well.
A recent research has shown that levels of debt have been associated with an increased risk of being fat.
According to the research the high price of healthy food and a tendency for people worried by debt to comfort eat.
To get the data, Eva Munster, from the University of Mainz, Germany, worked with a team of researchers to study more than 9000 people.
Based on the study they found out that 25% of the 949 people in debt were medically obese, compared to only 11% of the remaining 8318 participants.
Munster explained the recent credit crunch will have health implications for private households.
Munster added while income, education and occupational status are frequently used in definitions of socioeconomic status, levels of debt are not usually considered.
She said their study has shown that debt can be associated with the probability of being overweight or obese, independent of these factors.

Aside from the hardships it offers, the financial crisis can also make people fat.
 

She revealed a person’s ability to pick and choose the food they eat often depends on the financial resources they have available.
Munster said energy-dense foods such as sweets or fatty snacks are often less expensive compared to food with lower energy density such as fruit or vegetables.
Moreover, the researchers explain that debt can affect a series of risk factors for chronic diseases, for example by limiting leisure time activities and participation in social events.
The researchers said the quality of an individual’s diet can also be negatively affected.

Parents around the world should strive hard to keep their children away from smoking cigarettes since tobacco can lead to life-threatening diseases and premature death.
In a recent data gathered by the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) it was discovered that although it is illegal to sell cigarettes to children under the age of 18, 42% of 13 year old regular smokers and 57% of 15 year old regular smokers are reportedly buying cigarettes from a shop, while 13% of 13 year old regular smokers and 10% of 15 year old regular smokers buy their tobacco from a vending machine.
With the alarming result of their research a group of doctors in Scotland wants to see a robust approach to tobacco control in order to reduce the number of teens who smoke.
Dr. Peter Terry, Chairman of physicians group in Scotland explained it is essential that cigarettes are made less accessible to children.

Medical experts revealed children hooked on smoking cigarettes can suffer death if their addiction could not be stopped.

Terry said banning point of sale displays and getting rid of tobacco vending machines will go some way to doing this.
He said smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory problems.
He added smoking also ages skin, makes your breath smell and stains fingers yellow.
Moreover, Terry said every day doctors witness the death and despair caused by smoking.
Terry said there is a need to break the tobacco trap.
Terry added young smokers will become tomorrow’s parents who smoke and they will continue the cycle of smoking-related ill health.

The number of college students killed due to drunk driving is rising in the United States of America.
Based on the data gathered by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) it was discovered that drinking-related, accidental deaths among 18- to 24-year-old students have been creeping upward from 1,440 in 1998 to 1,825 in 2005.
According to the data from NIAAA, the proportion of students who reported recent heavy episodic drinking (sometimes called "binge drinking") rose from roughly 42 percent to 45 percent and the proportion who admitted to drinking and driving in the past year increased from 26.5 percent to 29 percent.
The recent data already alarmed lead researcher Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., director of the NIAAA’s division of epidemiology and prevention research.

Proper measures should be done to stop the rising number drunk driving deaths among college students.

Hingson explained the data just showed that government and school officials need to work even harder to weed out drinking addiction among the college students to protect their health and well-being.
The lead researcher said government and school officials need to work together to create a comprehensive strategy to address the drinking addiction problem among college students.
The lead researcher added broader legislation should also be undertaken by both Congress and Senate to deter college students from engaging in drinking addiction.
Furthermore, Hingson said state laws that set the legal drinking age at 21 have been credited with reducing alcohol-related road deaths.
He noted, that the increases in heavy episodic drinking, drinking and driving, and alcohol-related deaths were seen among 21- to 24-year-olds, and not 18- to 20-year-olds.

According to a latest medical data one in every 25 persons who died around the world is due to alcohol addiction.
In the research conducted by Dr. Jürgen Rehm, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, and the University of Toronto, and colleagues they found out that in 2004, the net effect of alcohol consumption on health is harmful, accounting for 3.8 per cent of deaths globally (6.3 per cent for men and 1.8 per cent for women), and 4.6 per cent of years lived with disability.
The team of experts revealed most of the alcohol-related deaths were due to cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disorders like cirrhosis, plus injuries and violence.
Based on the result of their research, the medical experts suggested that the level of alcohol-related disease is linked to the amount consumed, the effect being strongest on poor people and those marginalized from society, for every extra unit consumed.

People who are addicted to drinking better stop their habit now since latest data has shown that one in 25 deaths worldwide are caused by alcohol.

According to the researchers, the cost of this burden is equal to more than one per cent of gross national product in high income and middle-income countries and most of this is not the health care cost but the social harm caused.
The researchers said they looked at two different aspects of alcohol consumption: the total amount drunk and the pattern of drinking, such as binge drinking where a lot is consumed in a short time.
The researchers explained they calculated the average global alcohol consumption per person per year is about 6.2 liters of pure ethanol, which is a rate of a dozen or so units of 10 mls each per week. One unit is roughly the amount of alcohol in a shot of spirits, a medium strength bottle of beer or a medium glass of wine.

Smokers who smoked five cigarettes a day are at high risk of suffering from migraines.
According to a recent research, smoking could improve migraines by reducing anxiety, one of the factors that trigger an attack.
The finding was taken from the study made on 361 medicine students from the University of Salamanca in Spain.
The researchers found out that 16% of students fulfilled migraine criteria, while 20% smoked.
The researchers also found out that the percentage of smokers was higher (29%) in those who were also migraine sufferers and migraine frequency in those
students who were migraine sufferers and smokers was clearly higher than in those who were non-smokers and migraine sufferers.

Smoking five cigarettes a day could lead to migraines.

Julio Pascual, one of the authors of this research and doctor at the Neurology Unit of Marqués de Valdecilla, University Hospital (Santander) said smoking is a precipitating factor of this type of headache, as the prevalence of active smokers is one third higher in migraine sufferers and there is a direct relationship between the number of cigarettes consumed and the frequency of migraine attacks.
Pascual and his team stressed the importance of the dosage. The results of the interviews reveal that the migraine sets in after five daily cigarettes.
He said although the percentage of those who smoked was higher in people with migraines, they smoked less than those who did not suffer migraines.

Those persons who are computer addicts or those that play computer games more than seven hours a week usually lack sleep during weekdays and experience greater sleepiness than casual or non-gamers.
This was the result to a recent research conducted by the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, AR who also discovered that excessive gamers have significantly poorer sleep hygiene and sleep less on weekdays than other gamers; a significant positive correlation was found between the hours of game play and sleepiness.
Based on the study, the researchers also discovered that gamers who reported that their gaming interfered with sleep slept for 1.6 hours less than other gamers, while those who claimed to be addicted to  gaming slept one hour less on weekdays.
According to lead researcher Amanda Woolems the result of their survey has clearly shown the world that excessive gamers spend less time in bed and have longer sleep latency.

Lack of sleep is common among those persons who are computer addicts.

To get the data, Woolems explained they examined data from 137 students recruited from the university who were enrolled in introductory psychology courses.
Woolems revealed participants’ mean age was 22 years and a majority of the sample was women (86).
She said gamers were classified as casual or excessive (those who spend more than seven hours a week using the internet and playing computer games), based on a demographic questionnaire and sleepiness was assessed subjectively through questionnaires.
The lead researcher said of the total sample, 10.81 percent reported that gaming interfered with their sleep and 12.6 identified themselves as being addicted to gaming.
Woolems hoped that through their study, those who are addicted to computer games will now strive hard to have ample time of sleep ideally eight to nine hours a day for them to be healthy and away from sickness.
She and her group hoped that through the result of their study adult would strive hard to achieve eight hours of sleep per night and that adolescents get nine hours of sleep in a regular basis.

According to a latest research the culture and environment makes the US Navy sailors at risk of being addicted to drinking.
Based on the study conducted which was published at the Journal of Mixed Methods Research, many factors contribute to the rise of drinking addiction in the US Navy.
Some of the factors cited in the study were the youth of recruits, alternating periods of exertion and boredom, and a culture that emphasizes drinking as a mechanism for bonding, recreation, and stress relief.
The researchers get the data, though the use of the statistical analysis of survey data as well as an analysis of interviews and observations on bases, ships and submarines.

US Navy sailors are prone to drinking addiction due to culture and environment of the place.

The people behind the study explained they conducted the study to determine the drinking problems happening in the US Navy so that they can map out solutions into it.
It is hoped that the report should serve as warning to Navy personnel to be more vigilant in their work and workplace so that they would not end up suffering from drinking addiction.

Those people who are marijuana addicts better stop their unhealthy activity now of face strong chances of suffering from cancer.
According to the result of a new research, “convincing evidence" has shown that marijuana smoke damages the genetic material DNA in ways that could increase the risk of cancer.
Based on the study made by Rajinder Singh and his team, they also found out that toxic substances in tobacco smoke could damage DNA and increase the risk of lung and other cancers.
Despite the data they gathered, Singth and his team are still uncertain over whether marijuana smoke has the same effect.
Singh and the other researchers are currently concerned on the toxicity of acetaldehyde, present in both tobacco and marijuana.

Constant marijuana users better stop the habit now or face risk of suffering from cancer.

The researchers however admitted it is difficult to measure DNA damage from acetaldehyde with conventional tests.
The researchers added the development and use of a modified mass spectrometry method that showed clear indications that marijuana smoke damages DNA.
Moreover, the researchers explained the results provide evidence for the DNA damaging potential of cannabis [marijuana] smoke, implying that the consumption of cannabis cigarettes may be detrimental to human health with the possibility to initiate cancer development.
The team revealed the data obtained from this study suggesting the DNA damaging potential of cannabis smoke highlight the need for stringent regulation of the consumption of cannabis cigarettes, thus limiting the development of adverse health effects such as cancer.
The team said the finding is an indication that marijuana should be avoided and to be stopped for those who are addicted to it since it can also lead to cancer.