Doctors of Ontario urge smokers to quit smoking in 2008

Ontario's doctors are encouraging those who smoke to make 2008 the year they quit.

Doctors and other primary care providers have been working with patients to help them develop a plan to quit smoking and can help increase the chances of success.

"Doctors understand that smoking is a serious addiction and we want to provide patients with the support they need to become smoke-free," said Dr. Ken Arnold, President-elect of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA).
"The beginning of a new year is always a good time to renew your commitment to improving your health and to make the decision to quit smoking for good."

The OMA is offering the following tips for individuals who are looking to quit smoking:

• If you smoke, avoid exposing others (especially children) to second hand smoke
• Never smoke in a car with children present
• Nicotine Replacement Therapies, like nicotine gum and the patch, will help you deal with the cravings. Keep nicotine gum with you at all times. It's available over the counter at pharmacies
• Remove ALL cigarettes and ashtrays in your home and car
• Regular exercise can help calm you down and relieve tension
• Make an appointment to see your doctor to discuss how they can help
• Make a resolution that you're going to have a healthy and smoke-free 2008

Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in Canada.
One in every four deaths from heart attacks and strokes in Canada is caused by smoking, and tobacco use causes about 30 percent of all cancers in Canada and more than 85 percent of lung cancers.
In Ontario and each year 16,000 patients die prematurely because of smoking.

"Make a commitment to be smoke-free in the New Year to keep you, and those around you, healthier in 2008," said Dr. Arnold.

"Everyday doctors treat patients whose health is compromised from smoking, which is why we have been advocating so strongly to protect Ontarians from tobacco use and second-hand smoke."

Editor's opinion:

"Does anyone know anyone who quit smoking with the 'help' of nicotine patches or gum?
You could get addicted to those instead and they don't solve the problem anyways.

Nicotine, the main addictive substance in tobacco products, is processed by the human body in a few hours, hence the need to light up a new one after approximately and averagely an hour.

If a smoker quits smoking cigarettes their body is in complete control.
Many smokers quit smoking cigarettes daily but they never experience any physical problems.

Even chain smokers hardly ever wake up in the middle of the night to 're-fuel', unlike a Heroin or Cocaine addict who often wake up at night to feed the addiction.

A smoker can simply spend a couple of hours watching a movie in a theater or being on an airplane, without having a cigarette and without shaking, screaming and sweating.
This shows clearly that smoking cigarettes is not at all a physical addiction!

There are always smokers who claim that they cannot sit for such long hours without cigarette while I'm sure they never even tried it or are simply lying about it, it's called addictive behavior.
This, in my opinion, only tells us that smoking is a mental addiction.

Therefore quitting smoking doesn't require products that only prevent your body to be in a state of total nicotine neutralness as a starting point to deal with the more important job: the bending of the lies your telling yourself in your mind why you shouldn't quit or just not yet.

Take it from an extreme, 2-packets-a-day, EX-smoker since 7 or 8 years (don't really remember!).
There is another painless, effortless, inexpensive and effective way to quit, since it deals with the mental and not the physical part of the addiction.

Believe it or not, it only requires to read a very amusing book, written by Allen Carr, called "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking"

It was the most valuable, yet in-expensive present I ever gave myself."

Source: CNW Group

Benefactress to Canadian Health Care Beryl Ivey dies

Beryl Ivey, an iconic philanthropist who for decades supported education, health care and the arts across Ontario and beyond, died on Christmas day at the age of 82.

Ms. Ivey suffered a heart attack Sunday and was hospitalized in Toronto.

She died there Christmas morning, three days shy of her 83rd birthday.

Ms. Ivey's son Richard said that his mother was in "vintage form" right up until her death.

As news of the death slowly spread, praise poured in for Ms. Ivey, who, along with her husband, donated an estimated $150-million to various causes through the Ivey Foundation.

"This city and province and country has lost a great Canadian," said Tony Dagnone, former chief executive of the London Health Sciences Centre.

At the University of Western Ontario, whose business school now bears the Ivey name, the effects of her generosity cannot be overstated, UWO president Paul Davenport said.
A private funeral will take place in London on Friday and a memorial will be held at a later date.

Born Beryl Nurse in 1924 in Chatham, Ontario, she was a celebrated track star when she arrived at UWO in 1943.
She married Dick Ivey, whom she met two months into her first year at UWO.

Dick's father, Richard G. Ivey, incorporated the Ivey Foundation in 1947.
Beryl, however, is credited with the businesslike approach to philanthropy the family adopted in the 1970s.

In June, she was named to the Order of Canada.

Her friend Bill Brady, who called Ms. Ivey "a remarkable force" - said she was "no pushover" when it came to cash.

"You had to make a strong case for financial support.
You had to prove it was worthwhile. I can't think of another philanthropic family who did the kind of research they did."

Globe and Mail

GlaxoSmithKline Inc. prescribes restricted use of diabetes drug Avandia

GlaxoSmithKline Inc., the manufacturer of a drug for treating Type 2 diabetes has placed new restrictions on use of the medication based on a Health Canada review of clinical data pointing to an increased risk of heart-related problems in some patients.

In consultation with Health Canada, Glaxo is updating prescribing information on products made from or containing the drug rosiglitazone: Avandia, Avandamet and AvandarylTM.

Once touted as the gold standard for preventing Type 2 diabetes in high-risk patients, rosiglitazone lost its glitter after a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May showed Avandia significantly raised the risk of heart attack and possible death.

The NEJM analysis of 42 studies revealed a 43 percent higher risk of heart attack for those taking rosiglitazone compared to people taking other diabetes drugs or no diabetes medication at all.

Glaxo said patients taking rosiglitazone and especially those with underlying heart disease or with a high risk of heart attack or heart failure should talk to their doctor about the benefits and risks of continuing the drug.

Important restrictions for patients are:

• Rosiglitazone should not be used in patients with any stage of heart failure
  
• Rosiglitazone should not be taken if insulin is also being used.
• Rosiglitazone should not be used as part of a "triple therapy" in combination with metformin and a sulfonylurea drug.

Rosiglitazone can cause the body to retain fluid, which can worsen some heart problems and lead to heart failure, swelling and weight gain.

Several lawsuits have been launched in Canada and the United States over the medication's adverse effects, and drug safety regulators in both countries have been investigating its safety.

CBC

The Holidays: Don't ignore cardio health!

Be extra careful during the holidays: risks of a heart attack are higher and hospitals are short-staffed!

Why are risks of a heart attack higher during the holidays?

Here are some factors to consider:

• Busy revellers tend to skip their medications, forget them when travelling or be unable to get refills far from home.
• What dieter can resist holiday goodies? The few extra pounds so many people gain will haunt you long term. Right away, a particularly heavy meal, especially a high-fat one, stresses the heart as it is digested. Blood pressure and heart rate increase. There's even evidence that the lining of arteries becomes temporarily more clot prone.
• Too much salt has an even more immediate effect, causing fluid retention that in turn makes the heart have to pump harder.
• Alcohol in moderation is considered heart healthy. But if a round of holiday parties leaves you tipsy, that, too, makes your heart pump harder to get blood to peripheral arteries.
• Worse is something called "holiday heart syndrome," where alcohol literally irritates the heart muscle to trigger an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation. If atrial fibrillation goes unchecked for too long, it in turn can cause a stroke.
• People say they're too busy to exercise, especially as it gets cold and darkness falls earlier. It can take months to build back up to pre-holiday exercise habits.
• As for cold weather, it can constrict blood vessels, and the extra exertion of snow shovelling can cause a heart attack. The usual winter rise in respiratory diseases is another risk, adding further burden to a stressed heart: another reason to get a flu shot.

"Moderation is the key to almost everything. Happy Holidays!"