|
HEALTH WATCH: SMOKING
No Ifs Or Butts
Haven't been able to give up smoking? A new drug
can help you kick the habit.
 Take
a random survey of resolutions made but never kept. Quitting smoking is
likely to score high. A third of smokers cannot survive more than two
days without a puff, while only one in 25 can manage without a cigarette
for a whole year. Now there's hope-Zyban, the first non-nicotine anti-smoking
drug, has just been launched in India.
Every tobacco puff spews around 4,000 noxious
chemicals into the lungs and blood and claims around nine lakh lives in
India annually. The smoke damages but the lure is nicotine, which is more
addictive than heroin, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine and marijuana. Nicotine
compels Indians to spend Rs 18,000 crore on 9,000 crore cigarettes every
year. "I quit once, then started again because smoking gives such
a comforting feeling," says Arindam De, 28, a librarian.
Nicotine fires two main chemicals into the brain.
One stimulates feelings of pleasure and elation. The other enhances alertness
and increases energy-the reason why so many professionals feel they function
best with a cigarette in hand. But when the chemical activity drops, irritability,
frustration and anger set in, so the smoker lights yet another one to
keep going.
Anti-smoking therapies like nicotine gums and
skin patches provide nicotine without the smoke. But the body remains
hooked. to it. Zyban mimics its effects in the brain, reducing nicotine-induced
craving in smokers. The single most effective anti-smoking drug in the
US, it is prescribed twice daily for seven weeks. Priced at Rs 40 per
tablet, it can be a bestseller in India. "India has 184 million tobacco
users, of which 40 million smoke cigarettes. It's a huge market,"
says Shailesh Ayyangar, Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, GlaxoSmithKline,
India.
But Zyban is no magic solution. Statistics reveal
that it is only successful only in a third of cases. Subodh Chandra, a
former chain smoker and a cardiologist at Noida's Kailash Hospital, feels
counselling and motivation are equally important.
The time is ripe for Zyban. The Government is
working with the WHO to launch 10 countrywide "smoking cessation"
centres. Children are being targeted to persuade adults to quit smoking.
A combination of drugs, will-power and emotion may be the ultimate weapon
in the war against tobacco.
--Supriya Bezbaruah
IN SMALL DOSES
 Heart
and Head: The two risk factors for heart attacks, high blood
pressure and high cholesterol levels in midlife, are also risk factors
for Alzheimer's disease in later life. This was the conclusion of a 20-year
study of 1,449 people reported in the British Medical Journal. Even after
other factors like age, alcohol consumption and smoking status were taken
into account, these two factors showed a higher risk. Those with both
these conditions were at a greater risk than those with only one of them.
Exercise to control blood pressure and cholesterol is not good for the
heart, it could also save the brain.
Vitamin C:
Hero or Villain? So is it good or is it bad? Vitamin C, abundant in fresh
fruits and vegetables, was the ultimate health supplement. It helps tissue
grow, repairs blood vessels, wards off colds. But it is now portrayed
as a health villain. A Science report reveals that in test tubes it also
releases DNA-damaging agents that can cause cancer. Only human trials
will provide a definite answer. But it shows no supplement can be a substitute
for a good diet.
 Fit
with Fish: Fond of fish? That could be in good taste. A report
in the medical journal Lancet says that eating fatty fish like mackerel,
salmon or herring could significantly reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
The conclusion is based on a 30-year study of 6,300 men by Finnish researchers
in Sweden. Those who did not eat fish faced a two to three fold higher
risk of prostate cancer than those who ate moderate to high amounts. The
magic molecule is a fatty acid called Omega-3 found in fish. It provides
double protection-against cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer. Fish
could well be in fashion.
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
