It’s been known for a while that smoking increases the risk of developing bladder cancer. Actually, it’s the highest risk factor – smokers are twice as likely to develop bladder cancer than those who don’t smoke.
According to the American Cancer Society,
Smoking causes about half of the deaths from bladder cancer among men (48%) and almost a third of bladder cancer deaths in women (28%). Some of the carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) in tobacco smoke are absorbed from the lungs and get into the blood. From the blood, they are filtered by the kidneys and concentrated in urine. These chemicals in urine …read more

Smokers who can’t bear not to light up while in the air may make Ryanair their new favorite airline!  In an attempt to woo the business of smokers, Ryanair announced that they are launching a new line of smokeless cigarettes that will let passengers get their need nicotine fix without lighting up onboard.
The Similar Smokeless Cigarettes have the look and feel of a real cigarette, but have no flame, so they are a way around the smoking ban.  They’ll deliver a small bit of nicotine through inhaling, satisfying the craving of smokers, but will not emit toxins to other …read more

If you’re a fan of the television series Desperate Housewives, you know Kathryn Joosten; she plays neighbor Mrs. McClusky. You may also know of her as Mrs. Landingham, President Bartlett’s no-nonsense secretary in the popular show West Wing.
According to People Magazine, the two-time Emmy winner (for her acting on DH) announced that she is fighting her second battle with lung cancer. She was diagnosed the first time in 2001. Ms Joosten was a heavy smoker until that diagnosis, when she quit smoking.
Lung cancer used to be thought of as a man’s disease and is still often thought of that way. …read more

Many ex-smokers notice how different food and drinks taste after they’ve quit smoking. It used to be thought that smoking just kind of dulled the taste buds, but research has found that smokers actually do have fewer and flatter taste buds than do non-smokers. The research was published in the most recent issue of the online journal, BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders.
Researchers in Greece tested both smokers and non-smokers, using electrical stimulation to cause a metallic taste. They found that the smokers didn’t taste nearly as well as the non-smokers.
To follow up, the taste buds of both groups were …read more

If you’ve been considering switching to the so-called electronic cigarettes to keep your smoking habit but lower your health risk, save your money. Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes are no safer than the traditional tobacco ones, says the FDA.
According to the website E-Cigarettes Choice ,
While cigarettes emit about 4,000 identifiable chemicals as they are smoked and 69 are known to cause cancer, e-cigarettes contain less than 10 to 20 chemicals on average, depending on the brand or strength purchased.  No more tar blackening your lungs and no more carcinogens.
But the FDA says:
The FDA’s Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis analyzed the ingredients in …read more

If you’re rolling your own cigarettes in an effort to reduce the harmful effects of smoking, you’re not making any difference, say researchers in the United Kingdom.
Rolling your own cigarettes is something that gives you a bit of control, you may think, and it may save money as the end result can be less expensive while limiting the amount of extra stuff added by the cigarette companies. But the researchers discovered that although the rolled cigarettes may be cheaper, they aren’t any safer.
According to this article, Roll-your-own Cigarettes As Deadly As Ready Mades ,
There were no differences in the …read more

At RealAge.com you log on and take a test about your exercise, eating habits, vitamins and supplements, social habits, diseases or illnesses and vices like smoking and drinking.
I updated my Real Age this week and I’ve gotten SEVEN YEARS YOUNGER as a result of my lifestyle changes in the last two years. Since last year I’ve reduced my Real Age by nearly THREE years.
Chronologically I am 35.4 years old, yet my Real Age is only 32.5.
When I began my dramatic lifestyle change two years ago, I took the Real Age test. I was 33 at the time, …read more