SMOKING IS MORE DEADLY AND ADDICTIVE THAN IT WAS 50 YEARS AGO

The article below is from the Daily Mail below. We should all know by now that smoking is bad for us, however the charity "The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids" has discovered the lengths tobacco companies are going to make sure smoking is highly addictive

Why smoking is more deadly and addictive  than it was 50 years ago: Charity reveals the underhand tactics tobacco companies now use to make sure we’re hooked

• Chemicals added to cigarettes to ensure addiction, make smoke easier to inhale, reduce harshness and increase the speed nicotine hits the brain

• Today's smokers have a higher risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than in 1964 despite smoking fewer cigarettes

Cigarettes are more dangerous than ever due to a wealth of tactics adopted by tobacco companies over the last 50 years, a charity has warned. 

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has produced a revealing infographic which lays out exactly how cigarettes have changed in the last five decades. 

Doctors at the charity say that cigarettes today pose an even greater risk of disease than those sold in 1964 when the first warning about the health dangers came from the Surgeon General in the U.S.

Deadlier than ever: The report illustrates how cigarettes have changed over the last 50 years

The charity's research is based on a review of scientific studies and tobacco industry documents, as well as the Surgeon General's report.

It found that today's smokers have a much higher risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than in 1964  - despite smoking fewer cigarettes.

This is due to 'changes in the design and composition of cigarettes'.

The charity claims that over the past 50 years, tobacco manufacturers have designed and marketed ever more sophisticated products that are 'effective in creating and sustaining addiction to nicotine,' more appealing to new young smokers and much more harmful. 

'They took a deadly and addictive product and made it worse, putting smokers at even greater risk of addiction, disease and death,' the report, Designed for Addiction, says. 

The addictiveness of cigarettes has also been increased by raising nicotine levels.

The report claims that manufacturers also add ammonia, which increases the speed which nicotine is delivered to the brain .

Another tactic is to add sugars, which increase the addictive effects of nicotine and make it easier to inhale tobacco smoke.

Cigarettes today deliver nicotine more quickly from the lungs to the heart and brain. 

And by altering the taste and smell of cigarettes, tobacco manufacturers have made it easier for people to start and continue smokin.

They have also made tobacco smoke less harsh by adding levulinic acid. This makes the smoke feel smoother and less irritating.

The report states: '[It is] clear that tobacco products – and cigarettes in particular
– are highly engineered to expand the appeal of these products and facilitate
the consumption of and addiction to nicotine, a highly addictive drug. 

'Tobacco companies also know that almost all new smokers begin their addiction as
children and that smoking is distasteful for new smokers, so they carefully
design the product to appeal to this important market. 

'The companies have spent huge sums to research the design of their products and ensure they
achieve these goals, even if the impact of these changes also makes the product more dangerous.'

Understanding Pain: What to do about it in less than five minutes?

I came across this helpful video by way of the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association, being that I am a TN sufferer myself. It does apply to all chronic pain however. Reiki works well with me as being a reiki master, I can reiki myself when necessary and that helps me through the worst attacks by helping me relax as when you are tense pain is felt much more.



 

Astrid Brown (Author)

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TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA

Trigeminal neuralgia is sudden, severe facial nerve pain. It's often referred as the "suicide disease" because of the significant numbers of people taking their own lives before effective treatments were discovered.  Trigeminal Neuralgia has been known now for centuries. It is probably one of the worst kinds of pains known to man. An estimated one in 15,000 people suffers from trigeminal neuralgia, although numbers may be significantly higher due to frequent misdiagnoses. Trigeminal neuralgia is relatively rare an estimated one million people worldwide suffer from trigeminal neuralgia. It usually develops after the age of 40 and affects women in a 2:1 ratio. 

The pain in the face has been described as stabbing, piercing or like an electric shock. The intense pain can last from just a few seconds to two minutes each time and can last continuously for a couple of hours or so and random times during the day. 

In most cases it only affects one side of the face (unilateral), more commonly the right side. Rarely, people with trigeminal neuralgia have pain on both sides of their face (bilateral).

In 80-90% of cases the pain is caused by pressure on the trigeminal nerve, the largest nerve inside the skull.

For more information on this debilitating ailment please follow the link here TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA or the tab at the top of the page it will take you to THE TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA ASSOCIATION UK WEBSITE.  

The aim of the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association UK is to offer support and encouragement to TN patients, their families and friends, and to provide information on treatments currently available as well as details of any advances being made in the management of this excruciatingly painful and debilitating condition. Another vital part of our work is to raise awareness amongst medical professionals, particularly GPs and dentists, regarding the diagnosis and treatment.

Astrid Brown (Author)

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THE DANGERS OF ULTRA VIOLET LIGHT

The following article is from the Daily Mail and I'm posting this as its the time of year when people throw caution to the wind and at the first sign of sunshine lie out in it and toast themselves often without sun protection, which is crucial if you happen to have very fair skin. I've written many times about the dangers of UV light on this site follow the link below for more information on the dangers of UV light.

http://www.astridestella.info/2012/06/its-that-time-of-year-again-please-take.html#.U59UhxYwjwI

Teacher, 30, told the mole on his back was nothing to worry about is dying from more than 50 tumours which have now spread to his brain and heart

Series of failures by medics leaves father-of-one with terminal cancer

Father Jordi Akhurst spotted mole on his back in 2007 and went to GP

But hospital dermatologist twice told him there was nothing wrong

After doctor removed it 'as a favour' Mr Akhurst was found to have cancer

Following scans, experts then missed disease when it spread to his heart

He is now on 'last resort' drug and hoping to be given access to trials

Jordi Akhurst, 30, has been left with more than 50 tumours around his body after doctors dismissed his concerns about a mole on his back

A teacher has been left with terminal cancer after doctors refused to remove a suspicious mole from his back for nine months.

Jordi Akhurst, 30, sought medical help after spotting the worrying blemish on his skin - but was repeatedly told there was nothing wrong.

Over the next six months, the spot started to bleed and crack but a dermatologist insisted it was benign.

His GP finally agreed to remove the mole because of Mr Akhurst's worries and sent off samples for routine analysis.

Within days the father-of-one's worst fears were confirmed when hospital staff broke the news that he had skin cancer.

The cancer has since spread to his brain, heart, adrenal glands and lymph nodes, leaving him with more than 50 tumours around his body.

Experts say spotting the disease as early as possible is key to surviving cancer but Mr Akhurst, dad to a five-year-old son, Luca, says experts repeatedly botched his diagnosis.

The maths teacher, from Plymouth, Devon, said: 'I started going to the doctor about a mole on my back in 2007.

'My GP said they don't remove them anymore and I was referred to a dermatologist at Derriford Hospital [in Plymouth] who said there was nothing wrong with it and he would leave it and see how it went.

'Three months later all the original problems were still there. It kept bleeding and it was bleeding so often it wouldn't be long before there was a blood mark on my shirt and I would have to change.

'This was happening every day. I wasn't too worried - it was more annoying than anything else.

'Six months later the dermatologist said it seemed unchanged and it was all fine.'

Mr Akhurst wasn't happy with the diagnosis and went back to his doctor, who once more referred him to a dermatologist.

Mr Akhurst shows the scar left from the removal of the original mole which doctors dismissed

He said: 'I went back to my GP after nine months because I wasn't happy and I wanted it taking off.

'She referred me to the dermatologist again and he was quite insistent he wasn't going to remove it.

'It was black, raised, cracked and bleeding - you don't have to be an expert in skin cancer to know something wasn't right.

'I wasn't panicked at all. I just thought it was a case of getting rid of it.

'I'm 30 and have a terminal illness - it's all very well if you're 70 but I was hoping for another 40 years of life ahead of me.'

Cancer sufferer Jordi Akhurst

'My GP ended up removing it as a favour. They're obliged to send it away for tests and a week later I had a phone call from the hospital in a complete state of panic.

'I went in and was put in a room with a few people who were extremely apologetic, including a specialist cancer nurse and the dermatologist, who I haven't seen since.

'At the time my son was being born so I just wanted anything that needed to happen to happen so I could get on with my life.'

Nine months after his original visit to the GP, Mr Akhurst was finally admitted for surgery on his back.

He said: 'They did the first operation and they weren't happy with the lesions and felt there was more they could have chopped out.

'I had a second and then third operation. They kept having to open up the scar and search for more and more.

'I went from being told there was nothing wrong to having this giant scar. In the following months I went for check ups but I felt they were quite brief and a bit useless.'

A dermatologist at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital said there was nothing wrong with the original mole

After the three operations in 2007 to remove the infected tissue, Mr Akhurst hoped he had beaten the disease, but in January last year he noticed some new lumps.

By the time the results came back on April 15 last year it had reached his adrenal glands, which are at the top of the kidneys and his lymph nodes.

REGIONAL THREAT - SKIN CANCER RISKS IN THE SOUTH WEST

Figures show there are around 10,000 new cases of skin cancer every year and it's the fastest growing cancer for 18 to 30-year-olds.

One in four diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of the disease, do not survive beyond five years.

Mr Akhurst's plight emerged after shock figures revealed that the number of new cases in Devon and Cornwall is double the UK average.

According to a new campaign from Public Health England (PHE) you are twice as likely to fall prey to the disease if you live in the two counties.

But the heath group is urging anyone who spots anything strange on their skin to see their GP.

PHE centre director, Professor Debra Lapthorne, said: 'The campaign message is clear, if you notice any unusual or persistent changes to your skin, you should visit your doctor.'

He was diagnosed as being Stage 4 - which is terminal.

Mr Akhurst was given pneumotherapy, which he said was hailed as a 'wonder drug', but didn't well respond to the treatment.

The Bristol University classics graduate added: 'I was going up to the hospital every three weeks for four months and being put on a drip.

'Even though it didn't work I felt well enough to carry on with my job and my day to day life.

'They left me for two to three months to see how I was and after a scan they found the cancer had spread to my heart.

'Doctors told me it was untreatable and any treatment would leave a hole in my heart. They said the tumour was new and it had grown quickly.

'I had a specialist heart scan and it found the tumour wasn't new - it had been missed on previous scans and was actually treatable.

'Despite all this I was still well, but I became ill in February this year. I was behaving quite strangely and couldn't do simple things like use my phone.

'I found out I had 10 new brain tumours so the disease had progressed quite severely.'

Mr Akhurst is now taking Zelboraf - the last of the licensed drugs he is able to take.

If he doesn't respond after six months he will try to take part in clinical trials to be able to use unlicensed treatments.

He said: 'It is very toxic and doesn't make you feel great. After this six months there is no more treatment. The best case scenario is that by the time I stop responding I would be put on a drug trial.'

Mr Akhurst is now urging anyone who sees something unusual on their skin to see their doctor. 

He added: 'I would be very happy to take part in trials. They said I have between one and five years when I was diagnosed in April last year.

'I'm 30 and have a terminal illness - it's all very well if you're 70 but I was hoping for another 40 years of life ahead of me.

'I didn't realise it would spread to where it has or so aggressively and quickly.

'I was quite resentful to be honest - there's a slight injustice in it. I know people are dying of cancer all over the world but when you're 30 you think you have lots of time left.

'There's nothing I did to contribute to it. I didn't sun worship or get burnt.

'I want people to know that skin cancer exists. I had a mole and I had it removed and I really thought that was as far as it would go.

'I don't want to be an anti-sun bed person and they're not part of my story but if people could think twice about using them and use sun cream - whether it's factor five or 50 - just think about it and use some protection.' 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2658914/Teacher-30-told-mole-worry-dying-50-tumours-spread-brain-heart.html#ixzz34pp07suM
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Astrid Brown (Author)

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IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN WHEN COMMUNICATIONS OF ALL SORTS GO AWRY

This time Mercury enters retrograde from June 7th 2014 until July 1st 2014.

When Mercury goes into retrograde all communication is affected one way or another, not just between people in relationships, but mail, transport, computers, phones, you name it, things can become difficult, delayed, mail gets lost. So if you have anything that needs signing do it now or delay things until after July 1st. This is generally a busy time for me with clients with relationship problems. if you find yourself in this scenario, DON'T overreact, hang fire and count to ten, the difficulties will pass at least this time it's just around three weeks.

For those who don't understand what Mercury Retrograde is:

An apparent backward motion of the planets is called a "retrograde" motion. It occurs in several stages. At first the planet seems to stand still, then it backs up through the signs, stands still again, and then resumes its forward motion. The amount of time that a planet spends in retrograde motion depends on the planet's orbit, varying from about twenty-two days for nearby Mercury to about 160 days for distant Pluto.

When Mercury is retrograde, it is considered to be a time of problems with interaction, travel and even the simple basic workings of things. It is also thought that the general averse aspects of a retrograde planetary motion carry over into the lives of the people born under them as a part of their lifetime astrological chart.

Astrid Brown (Author)

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