Most Children from Rural Areas Exposed to Secondhand Smoke

Researchers from University of Kentucky say that secondhand smoke is main cause of a number of diseases in children, especially in rural areas, According to one of authors of the research Ellen Hahn, who is a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy, told

Children more exposed to secondhand smoke in U.S. rural areas

Secondhand smoke is the leading cause of childhood illness and premature death, especially in rural areas, University of Kentucky researchers say. Study co-author Ellen Hahn, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy, said elimination of the source of tobacco smoke is the only way to completely protect non-smokers, including children, from secondhand smoke.

Hahn said the study used data from an Internet-based panel survey administered to 400 to 500 Kentucky residents per year from 2007 to 2012. Most of the participants were women ages 35 to 54 with at least some college education. Almost half of the participants lived in a county with a comprehensive smoke-free law -- all workplaces and public places totally smoke-free -- and 14 percent of the participants lived in a county with a moderate or weak law, with some places excluded from the law.

The study, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research Journal, found respondents living in urban counties were nearly two times more likely to report a smoke-free home than rural dwellers. Controlling for smoking status and other personal characteristics, those who responded to the survey in the last two years of the study were more likely to have a smoke-free home compared to those in 2007, the study said.

"The good news is that more and more Kentuckians have made their homes smoke-free since 2007," Hahn said in a statement.

"The bad news is that having children at home does not necessarily mean the home is smoke-free. Our local health departments are in desperate need of funding to promote smoke-free homes especially in rural areas, with smokers, and those with less education. Otherwise, the next generation of Kentuckians is doomed to a life of early death and disease."

New Jersey Has Worst Results in Anti-Smoking Funding

American Lung Association in its latest report “State of Tobacco Control” writes that New Jersey is failing in funding quit smoking and tobacco prevention programs. Each year, the American Lung Association releases such an report which contains information on implementation of state policies regarding tobacco use, cessation, prevention, taxation, and for each state gives grades.

50 years later, fewer smokers in Kentucky

Half a century after the U.S. surgeon general’s historic report outlining the deadly health dangers of smoking, fewer Kentuckians smoke, but the state remains at the top of the list nationally for the number of smokers. Currently 27 percent of adults in Kentucky smoke, said Amy Jeffers, director of Pathways Regional Prevention Center and manager of the Kentucky Tobacco Prevention Enhancement site.

Nationally, 18 percent of adults smoke, according to the 2014 report, which was released Friday. That is dramatically down from the 42 percent of adults who smoked in 1964, when the first report was issued, Jeffers said. Deaths attributable to smoking also have decreased since the first report, she said. The most current statistics show 7,800 adults die in Kentucky from smoking-related illnesses each year.

The outlook for children is sobering: about 107,000 children alive today will die prematurely if current rates continue, she said. However, that figure has decreased. When Jeffers first began monitoring the statistic 13 years ago, it was 115,000. With above-average cancer rates, Kentucky could see a dramatic reduction in cancer deaths if everyone in the state stopped smoking: 90 percent of lung cancer cases are related to smoking. “If we could eliminate smoking, we could almost eliminate lung cancer,” she said.

Another significant issue in Kentucky is second-hand smoke, especially exposure by children in the home. It leads to more cases of asthma and middle-ear infections, among others. Among the consequences are children missing more days of school. Smoking has even been linked to cavities. “There is no part of the body that is not impacted,” Jeffers said.

Findings in the report indicate that, while fewer people are smoking, there are more dangers from smoking than was believed half a century ago. In fact, the cigarettes they puff on may be more dangerous than the butts in 1964.

The typical cigarette contains more than 7,000 chemicals, some 70 of which are carcinogenic. Some cigarettes today are more addictive because chemical additives convey the nicotine to the brain quicker. One of every three deaths could be smoke-related, the report indicates, and nearly all lung cancer is related to smoking.

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Smoking During Pregnancy May Make Daughter Dependent on Nicotine

Researchers say that women’s smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of her daughter becoming hooked on nicotine in adult age. In the journal Biological Psychiatry recently there were published results of a study that found that females who smoke during their pregnancy are at higher risks of their daughters becoming addicted to smoking later in

Smoking During Pregnancy Can Hike Daughter’s Risk of Nicotine Addiction

Experts have warned that tobacco smoking by pregnant women may adversely affect the developing fetus. Smoking during pregnancy is linked to numerous negative outcomes, including low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, and increased risk for attention deficit disorder, conduct disorder, and nicotine use in offspring.

Nevertheless, it is estimated that 13 percent -30 percent of women in the United States continue to smoke while pregnant. A new 40-year study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, provides additional evidence that prenatal exposure to maternal stress hormones predicts nicotine dependence later in life.

The new findings, however, suggests the nicotine dependence occurs only for daughters. It also confirms previous research that babies born to moms who smoked when pregnant have an increased risk of nicotine addiction in adulthood.

“While maternal smoking during pregnancy has been shown to be an independent risk factor for nicotine dependence, we didn’t really know which pathways or mechanisms were responsible. Most prior research involving biological mechanisms had been conducted in animals not humans,” said Dr. Laura Stroud, the first author on this study.

“Our study suggests that maternal smoking and high stress hormones represent a ‘double-hit’ in terms of increasing an offspring’s risk for nicotine addiction as an adult.“Because mothers who smoke are often more stressed and living in adverse conditions — these findings represent a major public health concern.”

To conduct the study, Stroud and her colleagues used data from a large, national, long-term project that began in 1959 and enrolled over 50,000 pregnant women. The offspring of those women were ultimately followed by researchers for 40 years.

For this particular project, 1,086 mothers participated, where their hormone levels (cortisol and testosterone) were measured during pregnancy and their smoking status was recorded. Their children, 649 of whom were daughters and 437 of whom were sons, were interviewed as adults and their smoking status was also recorded.

The findings revealed that in female but not male offspring, elevated prenatal cortisol exposure and exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy were associated with increased rates of nicotine dependence as adults. No links were found between elevated prenatal testosterone exposure and adult nicotine dependence. There were also no findings among male offspring.

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