Smoking Ban Benefits Children By Reducing Secondhand Smoke Exposure

A new study shows the increasingly popular smoking ban benefits children by reducing secondhand smoke exposure.

The Harvard School of Public Health researchers have found that children living in non smoking homes in counties with laws promoting smoke free public places have significantly lower levels of secondhand smoke exposure than those living in counties with no smoke free laws.

The prevalence of cotinine in the blood, an indicator of tobacco smoke exposure, was 39% lower in children living in non smoking homes in U.S counties with smoke free laws. Unfortunately, children living in homes with smokers exhibited little or no benefit from the smoking bans.

Children are more susceptible to the toxic compounds in secondhand smoke because they have higher breathing rates and their lungs are still developing. Exposing a child to secondhand smoke can irritate the lungs, and can trigger an asthma attack in children with asthma.  Secondhand smoke has also been linked to respiratory illnesses and middle ear disease.

The researchers noted approximately 20 percent of the youth in the Harvard School of Public Health study lived with a smoker in the home. These children had the highest cotinine levels and could benefit the most from an intervention to reduce exposure, regardless of smoke free laws that might be in place.

Senior author of the paper, Gregory N. Connolly, said, “One way to reduce or prevent adults from smoking around children is for physicians to counsel parents to stop smoking.”

The study showing an enforced smoking ban benefits children by reducing secondhand smoke is in the June 7, 2910 advance online edition of the journal Pediatrics.

To Avoid Diabetes Enjoy a Good Cup of Joe

To avoid diabetes, enjoy a good cup of  joe! That is the finding established in the first animal study to determine the link between caffeine and diabetes.

The study, led by Japanese researchers from the Nagoya University in Japan, appears in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

Other studies of people have found a correlation between coffee consumption and a reduced risk of diabetes. This new study was conducted to see if there was a direct link between coffee and diabetes.

The researchers gave mice diluted black coffee instead of water. The coffee drinking mice were then compared to a group of water drinking mice. It was found the coffee given the caffeine drinking mice stopped the increase of high blood sugar and also increased insulin sensitivity in the mice which caused the reduction in diabetes.

Next, the researchers did another experiment comparing plain water with caffeinated water. Again, the caffeine drinking mice wound up with less fat than the other mice. The caffeine group also had a lower concentration of blood glucose.

The researchers noted the findings “suggest that coffee consumption may help to prevent type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome”.

Millions of Americans have type 2 diabetes and millions more are at risk of developing it. Diet and exercise are important factors in warding off diabetes and according to this new study, to avoid diabetes, enjoy a good cup of joe!

Bryan Gaynor Robot Video on So You Think You Can Dance – Wow

I just thought this young man, Bryan Gaynor “Robot” on So You Think You Can Dance was very inspirational. Bryan is 23 and lives in Kennesaw, GA. He has the disease scoliosis which affects the curvature of the spine and is very painful. Still he performed this lovely dance to the song “Fireflies” in the style of the “robot” and was able to “wow” the judges. I hope Bryan Gaynor gets all of the success he wishes for and is able to dance for a long long time. Here is the robot video…

Bryan Gaynor on So You Think You Can Dance

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