Tuesday 10th May 2016- The Independent: Cannabis arteritis: Australian man diagnosed with marijuana-related disease that can cause loss of limb

‘An Australian man who smokes up to a gram of cannabis per day has narrowly escaped amputation after becoming the first in the country to be diagnosed with a rare disease linked to cannabis use.

After an ulcer on his toe failed to heal, the man consulted Frankston Hospital in Melbourne, where he was diagnosed with cannabis arteritis, an extremely rare disease which causes a build-up of plaque around the arteries, thereby decreasing blood flow to the limbs.

The patient, who has not been identified, was treated with a balloon angioplasty, where a collapsed balloon, known as a balloon catheter, is placed in the area which is constricted in order to inflate it to a healthy size.’

‘He will also have to take aspirin, a blood thinner, for the rest of his life, according to reports in the Sunday Morning Herald.’

‘Cannabis arteritis occurs when the constriction of arteries reduces blood flow to the affected limbs, which can lead to death of cells, called necrosis. Severe cases of necrosis can lead to necessary amputation.’

‘Very similar symptoms can be seen in patients suffering from Bueger’s disease, which is strongly linked to tobacco use. ‘

‘Although fewer than 100 cases of the disease have ever been recorded, Dr Soon, of the Royal College of Australasian Surgeons, said medical professionals should still remain alert.

“Due to the increase in cannabis usage and the legalisation of medicinal cannabis, awareness of the condition is important and may become a growing problem in the future,” he told the Annual Scientific Congress.’

See:

Cannabis arteritis: Australian man diagnosed with marijuana-related disease that can cause loss of limb

Monday 1st February 2016- The World Health Organisation: Films showing smoking scenes should be rated to protect children from tobacco addiction

‘WHO is calling on governments to rate movies that portray tobacco use in a bid to prevent children and adolescents from starting to smoke cigarettes and use other forms of tobacco.

Movies showing use of tobacco products have enticed millions of young people worldwide to start smoking, according to the new WHO “Smoke-free movies: from evidence to action”, the third edition since its launch in 2009.’

‘“With ever tighter restrictions on tobacco advertising, film remains one of the last channels exposing millions of adolescents to smoking imagery without restrictions,” says Dr Douglas Bettcher, WHO’s Director for the Department of Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases.

Taking concrete steps, including rating films with tobacco scenes and displaying tobacco warnings before films with tobacco, can stop children around the world from being introduced to tobacco products and subsequent tobacco-related addiction, disability and death.

“Smoking in films can be a strong form of promotion for tobacco products,” adds Dr Bettcher. “The 180 Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) are obliged by international law to ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.”’

‘Studies in the United States of America have shown that on-screen smoking accounts for 37% of all new adolescent smokers. In 2014, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that in the United States alone, exposure to on-screen smoking would recruit more than 6 million new, young smokers from among American children in 2014, of which 2 million would ultimately die from tobacco-induced diseases.

In 2014, smoking was found in 44% of all Hollywood films, and 36% of films rated for young people. Almost two thirds (59%) of top-grossing films featured tobacco imagery between 2002 and 2014. That same year, the US Surgeon General reported that adult ratings of future films with smoking would reduce smoking rates among young people in the USA by nearly one-fifth and avert 1 million tobacco-related deaths among today’s children and adolescents.’

Related Articles:

Films showing smoking scenes should be rated to protect children from tobacco addiction

Smoking in the Movies- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

WHO calls for adult ratings on films that feature smoking- The Telegraph

Films portraying smoking should get adult rating, says WHO- The Guardian

Friday 8th January 2016- The Independent: New alcohol guidelines: How much is 14 units?

BBC News article explaining new changes:

The Independent:-

‘The UK’s chief medical officer has fully reviewed alcohol guidelines issued in 1995, and reduced the recommended maxium number of limits to 14 for both men and women per week. Previously, men were told they could safely drink 21 units.

The guidelines also warn pregnant women that they should aim to abstain from drinking entirely, when they were previously told they could safely drink one or two units a week at most.

Below, we outline how what the 14 unit limit is equivalent to.

One unit of alcohol (10ml) is the equivalent to:

A single measure of spirits (ABV 37.5%); half a pint of average-strength (4%) lager; two-thirds of a 125ml glass of average-strength (12%) wine; half a 175ml glass of average-strength (12%) wine; a third of a 250ml glass of average-strength (12%) wine.

14 units of alcohol equal:

14 single measures of spirits (ABV 37.5%); seven pints of average-strength (4%) lager; nine and one-third 125ml glasses of average-strength (12%) wine; seven 175ml glasses of average-strength (12%) wine; four and two-thirds 250ml glasses of average-strength (12%) wine.’

The Telegraph:

Binge Drinking Across The UK:

Weekly Alcohol Consumption Guidelines Across Europe:

Related Articles:

New alcohol guidelines: How much is 14 units?

Alcohol limits cut to reduce health risks- BBC News

Weekly alcohol limit cut to 14 units in UK for men- The Guardian

Mapped: How the UK’s new alcohol guidelines compare with the rest of Europe- The Telegraph

Mapped: The binging regions furthest from the new alcohol guidelines- The Telegraph

Sunday 3rd January 2016- BBC News: New laws on e-cigarettes to be introduced across EU

‘To some, they are the perfect way to quit smoking. For others, they are a new health risk.

Laws on electronic cigarettes will change across Europe this year, with new health warnings and controls on how they are sold.

In some parts of the EU, e-cigarettes are currently banned.’

See:

New laws on e-cigarettes to be introduced across EU

Saturday 2nd January 2016- The Telegraph: Scottish ambulances attend 60 drink-related calls a day

‘Ambulances in Scotland have to attend more than 60 incidents every day where a patient is so drunk that it has to be formally recorded by medics, according to official figures.

Paramedics had to treat around 12,000 people in the six months to the end of September who were so intoxicated it was noted on Scottish Ambulance Service systems.

More than 90,000 incidents have been recorded since 2012/13 where alcohol is not the primary reason for the call-out but has been named as an “additional factor”, for example where a drunk has cut their head after a fall.

Scotland’s largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, had the highest number of alcohol-related 999 call-outs in the last six months at 3,849, followed by NHS Lothian with 1,935 and NHS Lanarkshire with 1,470.

The figures, unearthed by the Scottish Conservatives, followed a staff survey last month which showed anecdotally paramedics thought alcohol played at least some part in half of weekend call-outs

The Scottish Ambulance Service report also found that drink was also involved in 42 per cent of incidents on weekday evenings and one in six during the daytime.’

See:

Scottish ambulances attend 60 drink-related calls a day

Thursday 31st December 2015- The Guardian: Woman whose body turns food into alcohol beats drink-drive charge

‘Drunken-driving charges against a woman in upstate New York have been dismissed based on an unusual defence: her body is a brewery.

The woman was arrested while driving with a blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit. She then discovered she has a rare condition called “auto-brewery syndrome”, in which her digestive system converts ordinary food into alcohol, her lawyer Joseph Marusak said.

A town judge in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg dismissed the charges after Marusak presented research by a doctor showing the woman had the previously undiagnosed condition in which high levels of yeast in her intestines fermented high-carbohydrate foods into alcohol.

The rare condition, also known as gut fermentation syndrome, was first documented in the 1970s in Japan, and both medical and legal experts in the US say it is being raised more frequently in drunken-driving cases as it is becomes more known.

“At first glance, it seems like a get-out-of-jail-free card,” said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. “But it’s not that easy. Courts tend to be sceptical of such claims. You have to be able to document the syndrome through recognised testing.”

The condition was first documented in the US by Barbara Cordell of Panola College in Texas, who published a case study in 2013 of a 61-year-old man who had been experiencing episodes of debilitating drunkenness without drinking liquor.

Marusak contacted Cordell for help with his client who insisted she had not had more than three drinks in the six hours before she was pulled over for erratic driving 11 October 2014. The woman was charged with driving while intoxicated when a breath test showed her blood-alcohol content to be 0.33%.

Cordell referred Marusak to Dr Anup Kanodia of Columbus, Ohio, who eventually diagnosed the woman with auto-brewery syndrome and prescribed a low-carbohydrate diet that brought the situation under control. Her case was dismissed on 9 December, leaving her free to drive without restrictions.’

See:

Woman whose body turns food into alcohol beats drink-drive charge

Tuesday 29th December 2015- The Telegraph: E-cigarettes are no safer than smoking tobacco, scientists warn

‘Vaping is no safer that smoking, scientists have warned after finding that e-cigarette vapour damages DNA in ways that could lead to cancer.

Researchers at the University of California created an extract from the ‘smoke’ of e-cigarettes and used it to treat human cells in a lab.

The exposed cells developed DNA damage and died far sooner than those left untreated. Nicotine free e-cigarettes caused 50 per cent more DNA strand breaks, while for those containing nicotine the damage rose three fold over eight weeks.’

‘”There haven’t been many good lab studies on the effects of these products on actual human cells,” said Dr Jessica Wang-Rodriquez, professor of pathology at the University of California, San Diego, and one of the lead researchers on the new study.

“Our study strongly suggests that electronic cigarettes are not as safe as their marketing makes them appear to the public.

“We were able to identify that e-cigarettes on the whole have something to do with increased cell death. We hope to identify the individual components that are contributing to the effect.

“Based on the evidence to date I believe they are no better than smoking regular cigarettes.”

Scientists and health officials are divided over whether they are safe. Earlier this year Public Health England urged smokers to switch to vaping, saying e-cigarettes were far safer than traditional tobacco.

But the World Health Organisation and scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Liverpool remain concerned about their safety.’

Related Articles:

E-cigarettes are no safer than smoking tobacco, scientists warn

E-cigarettes may be ‘no better’ than regular cigarettes- The Guardian

Vaping ‘no better’ than smoking regular cigarettes- The Independent

Thursday 12th November 2015- The Independent: US veterans dump hundreds of empty pill bottles at the White House to demand access to medical marijuana

‘Dozens of US servicemen and women marched to the White House this Veterans Day and dumped a large box of empty pill containers, calling on the president and other federal officials to make medical marijuana accessible to veterans.

“Here’s what the over-medication of our veterans looks like,” they said as they spilled the canisters onto the floor. “We don’t want it.”’

‘The veterans and protesters — affiliated with various veteran and marijuana advocacy organizations — argued that Veterans Affairs hospitals are over-medicating veterans, prescribing them a large number of psychoactive medications to treat PTSD.  They marched from McPherson Square to the Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters, then to the White House, some smoking joints along the way, which is illegal in DC.

VA health-care providers can’t talk to their patients about medical marijuana options, even in states where there are legal medical marijuana programmes. A bill in Congress, the Veterans Equal Access Amendment, would allow doctors to provide recommendations about participating in such state programmes.’

See:

US veterans dump hundreds of empty pill bottles at the White House to demand access to medical marijuana

Thursday 1st October 2015- BBC News: Car smoking ban comes into force

‘A law banning smoking in vehicles carrying children has come into force in England and Wales.

Drivers and passengers who break the law could face a penalty fine of £50 – but police say they will take a non-confrontational approach initially.

Whenever an under-18 is in the car, smokers will still be liable even if the windows are down or sunroof open.

But the law will not apply to people who are driving in a convertible which has the roof down.

Nor does it apply to e-cigarettes.

The Scottish Parliament is expected to consider bringing in its own law banning smoking in cars carrying children next year.’

See:

Car smoking ban comes into force

Tuesday 11th August 2015- The Guardian: Motorists alerted over upcoming ban on smoking in cars to prevent surge in fines

‘Motorists and passengers in England and Wales are being warned they will soon be breaking the law if they smoke in a vehicle carrying a person under 18. From 1 October, they face fixed penalty fines of £50– with drivers at risk of being fined twice if they have failed to stop a passenger smoking and are smoking themselves.

The Department of Health is stepping up publicity to increase awareness of the new rules seven weeks before they are introduced to prevent a surge in fines.

The chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies said: “Children breathe faster than adults so they are much more exposed to the dangers of second-hand smoke. Their airways, lungs and immune systems are still developing so are much more at risk from harm.’

See:

Motorists alerted over upcoming ban on smoking in cars to prevent surge in fines