Friday, January 30, 2009

Healthy Replacements of Tobacco

There are many quit smoking options that are available for mom's that are pregnant but they do not include Nicotine Replacment Theraphy such as the patch or Nicotine Gum or Chantix. Check with your Doctor about medical options for you but remember there are MANY other Healthy Replacement options that are available to you when you are pregnant.
Low calorie foods for snacking like fresh vegetables, pretzel sticks or even lollipops are great options when cravings hit. Exercise is another healthy option that has many benefits including seratonen which puts your head in a different more positive place.
This is a fun time to try some relaxing and breathing exercises that help with cravings and are a healthy stress reliever which can replace cigarettes.
Drinking water is another way to cleanes your body of toxins from cigarettes and is a healthy alternative to smoking. Does anyone else have Healthy Replacements of Tobacco that have been helpful to you that you would share?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

study links Secondhand smoke exposure to Pregnancy Problems

New research from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute suggests that women exposed to secondhand smoke early in life are more likely to have problems getting pregnant and have more miscarriages than those who were not exposed.

Researchers led by Luke Peppone of the University of Rochester interviewed cancer patients regarding their past pregnancies, pregnancy attempts, miscarriages, and history of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

Almost half (40 percent) of women studied reported pregnancy difficulty", according to the researchers, with 11 percent of women saying they had difficulty getting pregnant and more than 30 percent losing one or more babies.

But women who had parents who smoked and recalled breathing in smoke as children or young adults were 26 percent more likely to have difficulties getting pregnant, and women with any secondhand smoke exposure were 39 percent more likely to have had miscarriage.

Cigarette-smoke toxins may have permanently damaged the women's bodies, the researchers said, possibly affecting the cervix and hormonal activity involved in pregnancy.


November 27, 2008, Tobacco Control , summarized by Join Together, (http://www.jointogether.org/) December 9, 2008

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Third Hand Smoke

Recently you might have heard the term Third Hand Smoke. A description of thirdand smoke is, "toxic dust from smoking which settles on surfaces and dangerous volatile compounds disperse in the air, posing a risk to children and others". It is the residue from tobacco smoke and it is especially dangerous to children. Everytime someone smokes, even if they don't smoke around children but are around children and babies afterwards, expose children by the thirdhand smoke on their body. This exposure comes from particles and vapors in a smoking persons' hair, on their clothes and skin. If someone smokes in a car, building or home, even if no one else is present, they are exposing others to thirdhand smoke from all the surfaces that are touched by secondhand smoke and that people might at a later time come into contact with. Exposure to thirdhand smoke is especially hard on crawling babies, children that play on the floor and babies that are held alot.

This exposure is measured by measuring the amount of cotinine found in childrens bloodstream. Cotinine is a "metabolite" or breakdown product of nicotine and is found in the blood of those that are exposed to second or thirdhand smoke. Cotinine forms in the body when a person is exposed to nicotine. It has been found that inside the homes, the tobacco-toxicity levels were up to eight times higher than homes where parents smoked outside. But even in homes where parents smoked outside, the levels of tobacco contaminants were still seven times higher than in houses with non-smoking parents. This exposure could put children at risk for numerous smoking related illnesses, including asthma and sudden infant death syndrome. Check out the January 2009 issue of Pediatrics, and the February 2004 issue of the journal Tobacco Control to learn more.