TOBACCO should be classified as a crime against humanity!
Believe me.. no other consumer product in the history of the world has even come close to inflicting this amount of damage on mankind. If anything else of this magnitude was to pose the same threat to life, whether it was human induced or naturally occurring – be it war, terrorist attack, genocide, ethnic cleansing, natural disaster or disease, it would as a rule command immediate international intervention!
Think about the current ‘war on terror’. So why isn’t it?
You would have learnt how to smoke from that very first cigarette, as you most certainly practised the draw-back and other styles of smoking until you finally achieved that great smokers status.
If you and I were born to be a smokers then maybe our noses would be upside down (like a chimney) with a little umbrella over it to keep the rain out! Firemen wouldn’t need any breathing apparatus would they? We don't have a built-in filtration system for the Carbon Monoxide that's in the smoke.
Seriously now, you wouldn’t pour toxic chemicals in to the fuel tank of your car, truck, motor home or bike – would you? So why is it we can suck in over 4000 toxic chemicals with every cigarette and not really think anything of it (until it’s too late). Your life has got to be more valuable than your car or truck.
There are dozens of what I call 'Smoker Myths' associated with nicotine addiction, some of them are like this....
Myth#1. "I enjoy cigarette smoking, it makes me feel good" ever said something like that, or what about….
Myth#2. "I really enjoy the flavour of tobacco" are you kidding me!!!(Dog vomit would taste better)
Myth#3. "I'm just soooo stressed out, I need a cigarette"
These Smoker Myths become apart of the smoking culture or belief system. How many times do you think a non-smoker would make these statements?
NEVER!!
I take enormous pleasure at being a non-smoker (normal) and I’m proud of it. You don’t lose anything when you quit smoking, as a matter of fact you gain life,health and money. Did you know that you can quit smoking anytime you choose to?
So How Do You Quit Smoking?
You simply LEARN NOT TO SMOKE, or you simply LEARN TO THINK as a
non-smoker "easy for you", you might be saying but the truth is just that EASY! Remember, you learnt to use tobacco in the first place – right! I know that are thinking that “this sounds too simple” and you’re right, except it took me over 20 years to work it out!
Hi my name is Colin Williams and I passionately want to teach you how to destroy the nicotine addiction… forever. I was addicted to nicotine for 35 years. I lost count of how many times I tried to quit smoking. So I know where you’re at and I know how you think as a smoker or tobacco user.
That’s why I can teach you about….
Your Body...the health issues and scientific information you need to know.
Your Victory... know your enemy and how to kill the world’s greatest deception.
Your Bank...the $$$ cost of smoking to you, and who's making the profit?
Your Past...how to bury the memory.
The bottom line is this – the nicotine addiction IS NOT your friend, it's a lying parasite that basically wants to kill you. Maybe you should kill it first.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Unknown facts of the cigarette history
Marlboro's brand is among the most popular ones. But not many people know that these cigarettes were only for women at the very beginning. And the main idea was in the saying "Mild as May". To hide the impress of the lipstick the filters were specially made of pink color. But by the beginning of World War Two Marlboro's were removed from production because profit from them was low. Marlboro brand managed reanimation in the 1955. To give new cigarettes "male" accent was necessary a "real man" character. To make a new character was chosen a cowboy. Today it is one of the most familiar appearances.
Camel cigarettes were put on the market in 1913 by company founded by R. J. Reynolds. In 20-30s "Camel" was "number one cigarettes brand" in the USA. In the 60s R. J. Reynolds Company made a decision to do the redesign of Camel. The packing was altered. Two of three pyramids were removed and was made the whole modification of external look. After whole modernization profit from the cigarettes selling was low. When the experiment failed the company made a decision to restore the ex-appearance of the box. Since that time pack of Camel remains invariable. Old Joe is the most famous camel.
By the way R. J. Reynolds Company is well-known as the first one that used American blending in Winston cigarettes. But by surprising coincidence in the same year Philip Morris Company started using tobacco medley similar to Winston one. Anyway we still don't know whether it was espionage or a concurrence.
In this medley is present a rare kind of tobacco "Burley". One of the distinctive peculiarities is amazing aroma. It grows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio states. Among its components we can find sugar, high content of nicotine. Burley also has rich nut taste. Winston is one of the most wide spread cigarette brand in the world now.
Camel cigarettes were put on the market in 1913 by company founded by R. J. Reynolds. In 20-30s "Camel" was "number one cigarettes brand" in the USA. In the 60s R. J. Reynolds Company made a decision to do the redesign of Camel. The packing was altered. Two of three pyramids were removed and was made the whole modification of external look. After whole modernization profit from the cigarettes selling was low. When the experiment failed the company made a decision to restore the ex-appearance of the box. Since that time pack of Camel remains invariable. Old Joe is the most famous camel.
By the way R. J. Reynolds Company is well-known as the first one that used American blending in Winston cigarettes. But by surprising coincidence in the same year Philip Morris Company started using tobacco medley similar to Winston one. Anyway we still don't know whether it was espionage or a concurrence.
In this medley is present a rare kind of tobacco "Burley". One of the distinctive peculiarities is amazing aroma. It grows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio states. Among its components we can find sugar, high content of nicotine. Burley also has rich nut taste. Winston is one of the most wide spread cigarette brand in the world now.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Facts from cigarette history
Tobacco and smoking has a long and checkered history dating. The tobacco plant is believed to be widely spread in America since the 1st Century. Pictorial records of smoking date back to the 11th century. Below is a synopsis of the history of smoking. cigarettes, cigars and tobacco.
1492:- Columbus Discovers Tobacco; "Certain Dried Leaves" Are Received as Gifts, and Thrown Away
1518:- Juan De Grijalva lands in Yucatan, observes cigarette smoking by natives
1527:- Tobacco recorded as addictive by Bartolomé de Las Casas.
1531:- Santo Domingo: European cultivation of tobacco begins.
1556-1558:- Tobacco introduced to France, Spain and Portugal.
1564-1565:- Tobacco introduced to England
1600:- Sir Walter Raleigh persuades Queen Elizabeth to try smoking.
1614:- First sale of native Virginia tobacco in England; Virginia colony enters world tobacco market, under English protection
1683:- Massachusetts passes the nation's first no-smoking law. It forbids the smoking of tobacco outdoors, because of the fire danger. Soon after, Philadelphia lawmakers approve a ban on "smoking seegars on the street." Fines are used to buy fire-fighting equipment.
1762:- General Israel Putnam introduces cigar-smoking to the US.
1770:- Demuth Tobacco shop, the oldest tobacco shop in the nation is established by Christopher Demuth at 114 E. King St., Lancaster, PA
1794:- The U.S. Congress passes the first federal excise tax on tobacco products.
1805-1807:- CERIOLI isolates nicotine, the "essential oil" or "essence of tobacco"
1809:- Louis Nicolas Vanquelin isolates nicotine from tobacco smoke.
1827:- First friction match invented. Chemist John Walker calls his invention "Congreves," after the rocket maker. Later they became known as "lucifers", then "matches
1830:- First organized anti-tobacco movement in US begins as adjunct to the temperance movement
1832:- The cigarette is invented by an Egyptian artilleryman during the siege of Acre. the Egyptian's cannon crew had improved their rate of fire by rolling the gunpowder in paper tubes. For this, he and his crew were rewarded with a pound of tobacco.Their only pipe was broken, so they took to rolling the pipe tobacco in the paper tubes.
1852:- The first matches are introduced, making smoking more convenient
1860:- Manufactured cigarettes first appear in the United States. A popular early brand, Bull Durham, commanded 90% of the market.
1861-1865:- Tobacco is given with rations to Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, and many Northerners are introduced to tobacco this way. During Sherman's march, Union soldiers raided warehouses in search of the mild, sweet "bright" tobacco of the South. Bright tobacco becomes the rage in the North and eventually replaces the heavier Turkish tobacco in cigarettes.
1864:- First American cigarette factory opens and produces almost 20 million cigarettes annually.
1875:- Allen & Ginter cigarette brands, Richmond Straight Cut No. 1 and Pet, begin using picture cards to stiffen the pack and protect the cigarettes. The cards, with photos of actresses, baseball players, Indian Chiefs, and boxers are enormously successful and represent the first modern promotion scheme for a manufactured product.
1880:- Mssrs. Richard Benson and William Hedges open a tobacconist shop near Philip Morris in London.
1886:- JB Duke targets women with "Cameo" brand.
1898:- Tennessee Supreme Court upholds a total ban on cigarettes, ruling they are "not legitimate articles of commerce, being wholly noxious and deleterious to health. Their use is always harmful."
1900:- Washington, Iowa, Tennessee and North Dakota outlaw the sale of cigarettes.
1901:- Strong anti-cigarette activity now exists in 43 of the 45 states.
1901:- 3.5 billion cigarettes and 6 billion cigars are sold. Four in five American men smoke at least one cigar a day.
1902:- Tiny Philip Morris sets up a corporation in New York to sell its British brands, including Philip Morris, Blues, Cambridge, Derby, and a cigarette named after Marlborough Street, where its London factory is located. Marlboro is one of the earliest woman's cigarette, featuring a red tip to hide lipstick marks. It does not catch on with the public.
1909:- Baseball great Honus Wagner orders American Tobacco Company take his picture off their Sweet Caporal cigarette packs, fearing it will lead children to smoke. The resulting shortage makes the Honus Wagner card the most valuable baseball card of all time, currently worth close to $500,000.
1910:- Most popular brands: Pall Mall, Sweet Caporals, Piedmont, Helmar and Fatima.
1913:- RJ Reynolds introduces Camel, considered by historians as the first 'modern' cigarette.
1917:- There are now 3 national brands of cigarettes on the US market: Lucky Strike, Camel and Chesterfield.
1921:- RJ Reynolds spends $8 million in advertising, mostly on Camel. Inaugurates the highly successful "I'd Walk a Mile for a Camel" slogan.
1923:- Camel captures 45% of the US market.
1924:- Philip Morris re-introduces Marlboro with the slogan "Mild as May," targeting "decent, respectable" women. "Has smoking any more to do with a woman's morals than has the color of her hair?" the advertisement reads. "Marlboros now ride in so many limousines, attend so many bridge parties, and repose in so many handbags."
1927:- A sensation is created when George Washington Hill blatantly aims Lucky Strike advertising campaign at women, urging them to "reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet." Smoking initiation rates among adolescent females triple between 1925-1935, and Lucky Strike captures 38% of the American market.
1930:- Most popular brands: Lucky Strike, Camel, Chesterfield, Old Gold and Raleigh.
1933:- The Journal of the American Medical Association publishes its first cigarette ad, a practice that would continue for 20 years.
1936:- Brown and Williamson introduces Viceroy, the first national brand to feature a filter of cellulose acetate. Advertising increases the use of physicians to counter the claims that cigarettes are a major health problem.
1940:- Most popular brands: Camel, Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, Raleigh and Old Gold.
1940:- Adult Americans smoke 2,558 cigarettes per capita a year, nearly twice the consumption of 1930
1942:- Brown and Williamson claims that Kools keep the head clear and give extra protection against colds. Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, and Camels all promote the health benefits of their cigarettes, including the prominent display of physicians. This practice continues into the 1950s, when it is abandoned in favor of silence on health issues.
1950:- Most popular brands: Camel, Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, Commander and Old Gold.
1952:- Kent introduces the 'Micronite' filter, which Lorillard claims "offers the greatest health protection in cigarette history." It turns out to be made of asbestos. Kent discontinues use of the Micronite filter four years later.
1954:- RJ Reynolds:- introduces:- Winston:- filter cigarettes, but promotes the taste benefit, not health. Winston dominates the US market for the next 15 years.
1954:- Marlboro advertising taken over by the Chicago ad agency Leo Burnett. "Delivers the Goods on Flavor" ran the new slogan in newspaper ads. Design of the campaign, which features 'Marlboro Men,' is credited to John Landry of Philip Morris. Prior to initiating this campaign, Marlboro had <1%>$400 million per year.
1988:- After a 15 year decline, the incidence of teenage smoking increases.
1989:- During the 93-minute broadcast of the Marlboro Grand Prix, the Marlboro name appeared on the television screen 5,933 times for a total of 46 minutes. Sponsorship of televised sporting events becomes the principal means by which cigarette companies subvert the 1971 ban on TV advertising.
1990:- Most popular brands: Marlboro, Winston, Salem, Kool and Newport. However, Marlboro actually outsells Winston by a 3 to 1 margin.
1990:- The US realizes a $4.2 billion trade surplus from tobacco products. Despite 2.5 million deaths worldwide due to smoking, Vice President Quayle remarks, "We ought to think about opening up markets."
1992:- Dying of lung cancer, 'Marlboro Man' Wayne McLaren appears at Philip Morris' annual shareholders meeting in Richmond, Virginia, and asks the company to voluntarily limit its advertising. Chairman Michael Miles responds, "We're certainly sorry to hear about your medical problem. Without knowing your medical history, I don't think I can comment any further." The Marlboro Man died of lung cancer three months later.
1993:- Cigarette promotional expenditures reach $6.03 billion, an increase of 15.4 percent over 1992.
1995:- Marlboro cowboy, David McLean, dies of lung cancer at 73.
1997:- In response to pressure by the Federal Trade Commission, RJ Reynolds abandons the 'Joe Camel' ad campaign.
1998:- Camel, Winston and Kool introduce youth-oriented ads, many of which mock the anti-smoking movement.
1999:- About 10 million Americans smoke cigars.
1999:- Britain's royal family orders the removal of its seal of approval from Gallaher's Benson and Hedges cigarettes
1999:- Philip Morris acknowledges scientific consensus on smoking. "There is an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other serious diseases in smokers".
2002:- CDC estimates smoking health and productivity costs reach $150 billion a year, according to a new study published in this week's WMMR. CDC estimated the total cost of smoking at $3,391 a year for every smoker, and even itemized the per-pack health/productivity costs at $7.18/pack. Further, it estimated the smoking-related medical costs at $3.45 per pack, and job productivity lost because of premature death from smoking at $3.73 per pack.
1492:- Columbus Discovers Tobacco; "Certain Dried Leaves" Are Received as Gifts, and Thrown Away
1518:- Juan De Grijalva lands in Yucatan, observes cigarette smoking by natives
1527:- Tobacco recorded as addictive by Bartolomé de Las Casas.
1531:- Santo Domingo: European cultivation of tobacco begins.
1556-1558:- Tobacco introduced to France, Spain and Portugal.
1564-1565:- Tobacco introduced to England
1600:- Sir Walter Raleigh persuades Queen Elizabeth to try smoking.
1614:- First sale of native Virginia tobacco in England; Virginia colony enters world tobacco market, under English protection
1683:- Massachusetts passes the nation's first no-smoking law. It forbids the smoking of tobacco outdoors, because of the fire danger. Soon after, Philadelphia lawmakers approve a ban on "smoking seegars on the street." Fines are used to buy fire-fighting equipment.
1762:- General Israel Putnam introduces cigar-smoking to the US.
1770:- Demuth Tobacco shop, the oldest tobacco shop in the nation is established by Christopher Demuth at 114 E. King St., Lancaster, PA
1794:- The U.S. Congress passes the first federal excise tax on tobacco products.
1805-1807:- CERIOLI isolates nicotine, the "essential oil" or "essence of tobacco"
1809:- Louis Nicolas Vanquelin isolates nicotine from tobacco smoke.
1827:- First friction match invented. Chemist John Walker calls his invention "Congreves," after the rocket maker. Later they became known as "lucifers", then "matches
1830:- First organized anti-tobacco movement in US begins as adjunct to the temperance movement
1832:- The cigarette is invented by an Egyptian artilleryman during the siege of Acre. the Egyptian's cannon crew had improved their rate of fire by rolling the gunpowder in paper tubes. For this, he and his crew were rewarded with a pound of tobacco.Their only pipe was broken, so they took to rolling the pipe tobacco in the paper tubes.
1852:- The first matches are introduced, making smoking more convenient
1860:- Manufactured cigarettes first appear in the United States. A popular early brand, Bull Durham, commanded 90% of the market.
1861-1865:- Tobacco is given with rations to Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, and many Northerners are introduced to tobacco this way. During Sherman's march, Union soldiers raided warehouses in search of the mild, sweet "bright" tobacco of the South. Bright tobacco becomes the rage in the North and eventually replaces the heavier Turkish tobacco in cigarettes.
1864:- First American cigarette factory opens and produces almost 20 million cigarettes annually.
1875:- Allen & Ginter cigarette brands, Richmond Straight Cut No. 1 and Pet, begin using picture cards to stiffen the pack and protect the cigarettes. The cards, with photos of actresses, baseball players, Indian Chiefs, and boxers are enormously successful and represent the first modern promotion scheme for a manufactured product.
1880:- Mssrs. Richard Benson and William Hedges open a tobacconist shop near Philip Morris in London.
1886:- JB Duke targets women with "Cameo" brand.
1898:- Tennessee Supreme Court upholds a total ban on cigarettes, ruling they are "not legitimate articles of commerce, being wholly noxious and deleterious to health. Their use is always harmful."
1900:- Washington, Iowa, Tennessee and North Dakota outlaw the sale of cigarettes.
1901:- Strong anti-cigarette activity now exists in 43 of the 45 states.
1901:- 3.5 billion cigarettes and 6 billion cigars are sold. Four in five American men smoke at least one cigar a day.
1902:- Tiny Philip Morris sets up a corporation in New York to sell its British brands, including Philip Morris, Blues, Cambridge, Derby, and a cigarette named after Marlborough Street, where its London factory is located. Marlboro is one of the earliest woman's cigarette, featuring a red tip to hide lipstick marks. It does not catch on with the public.
1909:- Baseball great Honus Wagner orders American Tobacco Company take his picture off their Sweet Caporal cigarette packs, fearing it will lead children to smoke. The resulting shortage makes the Honus Wagner card the most valuable baseball card of all time, currently worth close to $500,000.
1910:- Most popular brands: Pall Mall, Sweet Caporals, Piedmont, Helmar and Fatima.
1913:- RJ Reynolds introduces Camel, considered by historians as the first 'modern' cigarette.
1917:- There are now 3 national brands of cigarettes on the US market: Lucky Strike, Camel and Chesterfield.
1921:- RJ Reynolds spends $8 million in advertising, mostly on Camel. Inaugurates the highly successful "I'd Walk a Mile for a Camel" slogan.
1923:- Camel captures 45% of the US market.
1924:- Philip Morris re-introduces Marlboro with the slogan "Mild as May," targeting "decent, respectable" women. "Has smoking any more to do with a woman's morals than has the color of her hair?" the advertisement reads. "Marlboros now ride in so many limousines, attend so many bridge parties, and repose in so many handbags."
1927:- A sensation is created when George Washington Hill blatantly aims Lucky Strike advertising campaign at women, urging them to "reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet." Smoking initiation rates among adolescent females triple between 1925-1935, and Lucky Strike captures 38% of the American market.
1930:- Most popular brands: Lucky Strike, Camel, Chesterfield, Old Gold and Raleigh.
1933:- The Journal of the American Medical Association publishes its first cigarette ad, a practice that would continue for 20 years.
1936:- Brown and Williamson introduces Viceroy, the first national brand to feature a filter of cellulose acetate. Advertising increases the use of physicians to counter the claims that cigarettes are a major health problem.
1940:- Most popular brands: Camel, Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, Raleigh and Old Gold.
1940:- Adult Americans smoke 2,558 cigarettes per capita a year, nearly twice the consumption of 1930
1942:- Brown and Williamson claims that Kools keep the head clear and give extra protection against colds. Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, and Camels all promote the health benefits of their cigarettes, including the prominent display of physicians. This practice continues into the 1950s, when it is abandoned in favor of silence on health issues.
1950:- Most popular brands: Camel, Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, Commander and Old Gold.
1952:- Kent introduces the 'Micronite' filter, which Lorillard claims "offers the greatest health protection in cigarette history." It turns out to be made of asbestos. Kent discontinues use of the Micronite filter four years later.
1954:- RJ Reynolds:- introduces:- Winston:- filter cigarettes, but promotes the taste benefit, not health. Winston dominates the US market for the next 15 years.
1954:- Marlboro advertising taken over by the Chicago ad agency Leo Burnett. "Delivers the Goods on Flavor" ran the new slogan in newspaper ads. Design of the campaign, which features 'Marlboro Men,' is credited to John Landry of Philip Morris. Prior to initiating this campaign, Marlboro had <1%>$400 million per year.
1988:- After a 15 year decline, the incidence of teenage smoking increases.
1989:- During the 93-minute broadcast of the Marlboro Grand Prix, the Marlboro name appeared on the television screen 5,933 times for a total of 46 minutes. Sponsorship of televised sporting events becomes the principal means by which cigarette companies subvert the 1971 ban on TV advertising.
1990:- Most popular brands: Marlboro, Winston, Salem, Kool and Newport. However, Marlboro actually outsells Winston by a 3 to 1 margin.
1990:- The US realizes a $4.2 billion trade surplus from tobacco products. Despite 2.5 million deaths worldwide due to smoking, Vice President Quayle remarks, "We ought to think about opening up markets."
1992:- Dying of lung cancer, 'Marlboro Man' Wayne McLaren appears at Philip Morris' annual shareholders meeting in Richmond, Virginia, and asks the company to voluntarily limit its advertising. Chairman Michael Miles responds, "We're certainly sorry to hear about your medical problem. Without knowing your medical history, I don't think I can comment any further." The Marlboro Man died of lung cancer three months later.
1993:- Cigarette promotional expenditures reach $6.03 billion, an increase of 15.4 percent over 1992.
1995:- Marlboro cowboy, David McLean, dies of lung cancer at 73.
1997:- In response to pressure by the Federal Trade Commission, RJ Reynolds abandons the 'Joe Camel' ad campaign.
1998:- Camel, Winston and Kool introduce youth-oriented ads, many of which mock the anti-smoking movement.
1999:- About 10 million Americans smoke cigars.
1999:- Britain's royal family orders the removal of its seal of approval from Gallaher's Benson and Hedges cigarettes
1999:- Philip Morris acknowledges scientific consensus on smoking. "There is an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other serious diseases in smokers".
2002:- CDC estimates smoking health and productivity costs reach $150 billion a year, according to a new study published in this week's WMMR. CDC estimated the total cost of smoking at $3,391 a year for every smoker, and even itemized the per-pack health/productivity costs at $7.18/pack. Further, it estimated the smoking-related medical costs at $3.45 per pack, and job productivity lost because of premature death from smoking at $3.73 per pack.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Electronic cigarette
No longer will you need to smoke 'outside' or in 'reserved' smoking areas.
The small white stick, which looks just like a proper cigarette, contains a chamber that vapourises pure liquid nicotine into a puff of steam. Smokers can inhale the vapours as they would a cigarette smoke and still get the buzz - without taking in any harmful substances.
The Electric Cigarette is a three-part unit comprised of a battery, vapouriser and mouthpiece. The specially designed, rechargeable battery powers the vapouriser which draws nicotine from a cartridge within the mouthpiece when you take a puff. The nicotine is then delivered straight to the blood stream when a smoker inhales, giving you instant relief from cravings.
Every cartridge is equivalent to 25 cigarettes and is available in two flavours: Regular and Mint. They also come in four strengths (0 mg, 6 mg, 11 mg and 16 mg) which means smokers can vary the nicotine content while smoking.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
People Stay Silent to Smoking
The management and treatment of cancer is one of the most important – and expensive – duties of the NHS. But did you know that of the £1 billion spent on providing chemotherapy every year, half goes straight down the drain?The reason is that our medical techniques are essentially based on guesswork. Often, doctors prescribe drugs that have no benefit. They cannot kill the tumour’s cells because they are not targeted at its specific genetic profile.
Yet now the revolution in genetic science offers the chance to have treatments tailored to our personal DNA, and could soon identify those at least and greatest risk of certain diseases, such as smoking-related lung cancer. The consequences are not entirely benign, however; one leading oncologist goes so far as to claim that the tobacco industry could use such techniques to engineer a resurgence in smoking, and that it is just a matter of time before it succeeds in doing so.
The story starts eight years ago, when the 25,000 or so genes in human DNA were first identified by the Human Genome Project. Since then, a large chunk of the scientific community has been racing to work out what each one is for and how it behaves. Every week, press releases announce a new discovery that could transform our health; for example, we can now screen for dangerous mutations of the tumour-suppressing BRAC-2 gene as a matter of routine.
The impact of genetic testing in treating cancer, rather than predicting and preventing it, is growing. For example, breast cancer sufferers who develop early-stage hormone-sensitive cancer – roughly 50 per cent of patients – usually begin their treatment with the surgical removal of their tumour. They then face the dilemma of whether to have chemotherapy as an insurance measure, just in case the cancer spreads. In Britain, about 40 per cent opt for chemo – but very few gain any extra lifespan from it.
But we need not take such a scattergun approach. At the Christie hospital in Manchester, Dr Greg Wilson, a cancer surgeon, now conducts a gene test by the name of Oncotype DX on his patients. Cells collected during their tumour surgery are packed in a paraffin block and sent to a firm called Genomic Health in Redwood City, California, which examines 21 genes known to have a role in cancer survival.
A few days later, Dr Wilson receives the results, a set of graphs indicating how likely that individual’s cancer is to spread, and how likely it is to respond to chemotherapy. “The test allows me to give a much more accurate briefing to the patient,” he says. “Previously, I might have said, 'Chemo will give you five to 10 per cent better chance of being alive in 10 years’, but with Oncotype DX, I can give a more precise figure, for example eight per cent – and that’s not based on statistics from the general population, but on the genes from the patient’s tumour.”
Usually, the Oncotype DX test serves to avert unnecessary chemotherapy for patients whose cancer will not return. Although Genomic Health charges $3,820 (£2,586) per patient, in such cases it pays for itself many times over, sparing the patient needless side-effects, worry and loss of earnings. On the other hand, it is sometimes used to recommend chemotherapy for patients who have incorrectly been given the all-clear – or to identify those who are likely to see their cancer return, but will find that chemotherapy is of no use. For them, hormone therapy and the healing power of their own immune system, which might otherwise have been knocked flat by superfluous toxic drugs, could be the better option.
The buzzword for this approach – which can also help avoid needless chemotherapy for lung, ovarian and colorectal cancer patients – is “personalised medicine”, and according to Professor Karol Sikora, formerly the head of the World Health Organisation’s cancer programme and professor of cancer medicine at Imperial College, “it’s transforming oncology”.
But while a breakthrough this significant is usually trumpeted by the pharmaceutical industry, Oncotype DX has crept on to the medical scene by stealth. Even though Dr Wilson has been using the test for four years, as have many other oncologists around Britain, it has attracted less than 100 words of coverage in national newspapers.
One way to explain this deafening silence is the business model used by the drugs industry. “These predictive tests tell us who not to treat,” says Dr Justin Stebbing, of Imperial College London. “But drug companies have never wanted to narrow the field of patients taking drugs.”
Dr Julian Cole, head of medical affairs at Roche, denies this: “We are committed to identifying which patients will benefit most from which treatments. One example is Herceptin, which is suitable for less than a quarter of all patients with breast cancer.”
Prof Sikora forecasts that, over the next five years, there will be a flood of new gene tests, developed by any of 50 or so specialist diagnostics companies, most of which have no ties to the large pharmaceutical firms. “The result will be that the proportion of patients who are prescribed chemotherapy will halve,” he says. “Drug company bosses know that if their product only works on half the patients and an independent company devises a test for it, their pricing model becomes unsustainable. They’re worried.”
The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry disagrees. “Better diagnostics leads to better prescribing, which we believe is a good thing,” says a spokesman.
At the moment, the chemotherapy business is set to be worth $64 billion in terms of annual sales by 2017, according to Dr Tom Gray, of the industry watchers Datamonitor. He estimates that of the 24 new drugs in the pipeline, some will be lucrative “blockbusters”, even though they are of “modest efficacy” and carry a price tag of up to £70,000 for one year’s treatment.
However, the Datamonitor numbers do not take into account any of the anticipated new gene tests. Dr Gray concedes that many of the blockbusters “make a great target” for a company such as Genomic Health.
But while such tests may help patients as much as they harm drug firms’ profits, there is another potential winner – the tobacco industry. Prof Sikora says it is just a matter of time before the hundreds of scientists working in that industry identify which genes trigger cancer in smokers. “It’s safe to assume they have been looking for several years,” he says. “It’s the obvious thing to do.”
The self-evident place to start would have been the genes known to metabolise tobacco, but as that has not yet borne fruit, the search will have to be broadened. “They will have to study the entire genome of large groups of people, which could take them five years. But the end result could be a gene-testing kit cheap enough to give as an 18th birthday present, so your children can find out how safe it is for them to start smoking.”
The reason this would make sense for the tobacco companies is that, while the Government likes to tell smokers to quit or die, at least 80 per cent of them do not get lung cancer, and the precise mechanisms that link smoking and cancer are not well understood. Dr Alexandre Akoulitchev, of the diagnostics company Oxford BioDynamics, points out that the Japanese have the longest life expectancy in the world, yet “smoke like chimneys”. Until a few years ago, he says, 50 per cent of Japanese men smoked, but their health services are not overwhelmed by lung cancer. “Their big problem is colorectal cancer, which may have a dietary connection, perhaps with fermented seafood. If they don’t die of colorectal cancer, they live a long life, smoking all the way through.”
Of course, the tobacco industry will never be able to claim outright that smoking could be made safe. Since 1998, when it was forced by a US court to cough up a quarter of a trillion dollars for the treatment of smoking-related diseases, it has been choosing its words carefully. Yet Dr David O’Reilly, the head of public health and scientific affairs at British American Tobacco, still foresees a day when BAT might sell online cigarettes no more harmful than going out in the sun.
But will it give the same pleasure? “It’s hard to speculate until we have it in our hands. But history shows consumers will adapt if they’re aware of a reduced risk. Our vision of the future is that they will have a choice of products along a continuum of risk, so those who want to smoke should be allowed to do so.”
In other words, just as we are now seeing personalised drugs tailored to our DNA in order to cure cancer, we can look forward to personalised cigarettes to help us avoid it.
The Smoking History
It is thought that tobacco growing started in the region of Central America around 6000 BC.
It wasn't until 5000 years later, around 1000 BC that the Mayan civilisation began to chew and smoke the leaves of the tobacco plant, as well as mix the leaves together with herbs and plants and administer the mixture to the wounds of the sick.
As the Mayans dispersed and populated different areas, such as North and South America, they took with them their precious tobacco leaves and plants.
Hundreds of years later during the time of some of the world's greatest European explorers, tobacco was discovered and later brought back to the new world.
Columbus was probably the first European to see tobacco leaves although he did not smoke them himself.
A fellow explorer, Rodrigo de Jerez, shortly after, landed in Cuba and observed some of the inhabitants smoking the tobacco leaves. He then proceeded to partake in the smoking act himself.
On his return to Spain, laden with heaps of tobacco, Jerez startled his fellow countrymen by smoking in front of them. Never in their lives had they seen a man with smoke coming out of his mouth and nose. People thought that he was possessed by the devil and members of the Spanish Inquisition imprisoned him for several years. During his imprisonment, smoking actually became quite popular in Spain.
In the 1530's a number of Europeans saw the potential money making in tobacco and they decided to cash in and make their wealth from the cultivation of this popular plant. They began to colonize areas of the Caribbean and established large tobacco growing areas, from which they exported all the tobacco back to Europe.
It is said that Sir Francis Drake was the first man to bring back a consignment of tobacco into the UK in 1573, although Sir Walter Raleigh later went on to make tobacco smoking popular in the court of Queen Elizabeth I.
During the year 1586 Sir Walter Raleigh embarked on a trip to the Americas where he met Ralph Lane, who at the time was Governor of Virginia. Lane introduced Raleigh to the pleasures of smoking a clay pipe, which was popular there in that era.
A year later a number of colonists who had previously left England to settle in Virginia, returned to their homeland and introduced the fashion of smoking clay pipes into English society. Over the years many English families travelled to Virginia to settle in order to try and make a wealthy living from growing tobacco in the plantations there.
Pipe smoking was also gradually becoming extremely popular in several other European countries, including Spain and France. spr
At the beginning of the 17th Century, tobacco was just starting to be regularly imported into the UK, with amounts of 25,000 pounds being shipped from the Americas. By the turn of the century this amount had increased to a figure nearing 38 million pounds and the competitive marketing and tobacco production on a large scale began to get underway.
Pipe smoking and snuff had become popular in London during the 17th Century and later smoking cigars became the trend but it wasn't until the mid 1800's that the cigarette as we know it was manufactured.
With the introduction of cigarette making machines, which at the time produced about 200 cigarettes a minute, the tobacco industry began to grow and grow.
As cigarettes were now being mass-produced, they became more easily available and affordable to a wider range of people.
At first it was mainly the soldiers who were fighting in the wars who became hooked on smoking. Sometimes with long periods of inactivity, the soldiers became low in morale, so they were given cigarettes to smoke in order to keep up their spirits.
At the start of the Second World War, American president Roosevelt made tobacco a protected crop. There were shortages of tobacco in America and England, as packets and packets of cigarettes were sent to the troops fighting in the war.
This is the time, during both World Wars, that smoking cigarettes became immensely popular. After the war the soldiers went back home and introduced cigarettes to their families, therefore strengthening the trend.
Back then, medical research into the effects of smoking was in its infancy and it wasn't until the 1950's that the first warning signals were being sound, as links between smoking and lung cancer were suddenly being reported. spr
At that time tobacco companies had become multi million pound industries and they could not afford to have bad publicity.
In 1964, the US Surgeon General reported that smoking cigarettes caused lung cancer. Following this, advertising tobacco was banned from television and radio and tobacco companies were made to print health warnings on the packets of their cigarette brand.
In 1973, the first restrictions on smoking in public were put into place in the US. All airline companies were made to separate smoking areas from non-smoking areas on their planes and in 1987 all smoking was prohibited on flights of less than two hours duration.
In 1988 the US Surgeon General concluded after extensive research that nicotine is an addictive drug.
By 1990 there were more restrictions on smoking on public modes of transport and Vermont became the first state in the USA to ban smoking in all indoor public places.
Big tobacco bosses swore in Congress 1994 that nicotine wasn't addictive and that they did not in any way control the levels of nicotine found in cigarettes. However only three years later they reappeared before Congress to testify that nicotine was in fact addictive and that smoking could cause cancer.
More and more tobacco companies in the US were being prosecuted by individuals wanting compensation for the death of their relatives or for their own ill health, which they claimed had been caused by smoking. Claimants became more successful in winning their cases as time went on and an increasing number of tobacco companies were demanded to pay out huge amounts of money in damages.
Advertising online cigarette brands in the media has now been banned in many countries in order to try and prevent more and more people taking up the habit and there are smoking restrictions in all indoor public places and all workplaces in several cities and countries including New York, California, Florida, Norway, England, Ireland and Spain.
It wasn't until 5000 years later, around 1000 BC that the Mayan civilisation began to chew and smoke the leaves of the tobacco plant, as well as mix the leaves together with herbs and plants and administer the mixture to the wounds of the sick.
As the Mayans dispersed and populated different areas, such as North and South America, they took with them their precious tobacco leaves and plants.
Hundreds of years later during the time of some of the world's greatest European explorers, tobacco was discovered and later brought back to the new world.
Columbus was probably the first European to see tobacco leaves although he did not smoke them himself.
A fellow explorer, Rodrigo de Jerez, shortly after, landed in Cuba and observed some of the inhabitants smoking the tobacco leaves. He then proceeded to partake in the smoking act himself.
On his return to Spain, laden with heaps of tobacco, Jerez startled his fellow countrymen by smoking in front of them. Never in their lives had they seen a man with smoke coming out of his mouth and nose. People thought that he was possessed by the devil and members of the Spanish Inquisition imprisoned him for several years. During his imprisonment, smoking actually became quite popular in Spain.
In the 1530's a number of Europeans saw the potential money making in tobacco and they decided to cash in and make their wealth from the cultivation of this popular plant. They began to colonize areas of the Caribbean and established large tobacco growing areas, from which they exported all the tobacco back to Europe.
It is said that Sir Francis Drake was the first man to bring back a consignment of tobacco into the UK in 1573, although Sir Walter Raleigh later went on to make tobacco smoking popular in the court of Queen Elizabeth I.
During the year 1586 Sir Walter Raleigh embarked on a trip to the Americas where he met Ralph Lane, who at the time was Governor of Virginia. Lane introduced Raleigh to the pleasures of smoking a clay pipe, which was popular there in that era.
A year later a number of colonists who had previously left England to settle in Virginia, returned to their homeland and introduced the fashion of smoking clay pipes into English society. Over the years many English families travelled to Virginia to settle in order to try and make a wealthy living from growing tobacco in the plantations there.
Pipe smoking was also gradually becoming extremely popular in several other European countries, including Spain and France. spr
At the beginning of the 17th Century, tobacco was just starting to be regularly imported into the UK, with amounts of 25,000 pounds being shipped from the Americas. By the turn of the century this amount had increased to a figure nearing 38 million pounds and the competitive marketing and tobacco production on a large scale began to get underway.
Pipe smoking and snuff had become popular in London during the 17th Century and later smoking cigars became the trend but it wasn't until the mid 1800's that the cigarette as we know it was manufactured.
With the introduction of cigarette making machines, which at the time produced about 200 cigarettes a minute, the tobacco industry began to grow and grow.
As cigarettes were now being mass-produced, they became more easily available and affordable to a wider range of people.
At first it was mainly the soldiers who were fighting in the wars who became hooked on smoking. Sometimes with long periods of inactivity, the soldiers became low in morale, so they were given cigarettes to smoke in order to keep up their spirits.
At the start of the Second World War, American president Roosevelt made tobacco a protected crop. There were shortages of tobacco in America and England, as packets and packets of cigarettes were sent to the troops fighting in the war.
This is the time, during both World Wars, that smoking cigarettes became immensely popular. After the war the soldiers went back home and introduced cigarettes to their families, therefore strengthening the trend.
Back then, medical research into the effects of smoking was in its infancy and it wasn't until the 1950's that the first warning signals were being sound, as links between smoking and lung cancer were suddenly being reported. spr
At that time tobacco companies had become multi million pound industries and they could not afford to have bad publicity.
In 1964, the US Surgeon General reported that smoking cigarettes caused lung cancer. Following this, advertising tobacco was banned from television and radio and tobacco companies were made to print health warnings on the packets of their cigarette brand.
In 1973, the first restrictions on smoking in public were put into place in the US. All airline companies were made to separate smoking areas from non-smoking areas on their planes and in 1987 all smoking was prohibited on flights of less than two hours duration.
In 1988 the US Surgeon General concluded after extensive research that nicotine is an addictive drug.
By 1990 there were more restrictions on smoking on public modes of transport and Vermont became the first state in the USA to ban smoking in all indoor public places.
Big tobacco bosses swore in Congress 1994 that nicotine wasn't addictive and that they did not in any way control the levels of nicotine found in cigarettes. However only three years later they reappeared before Congress to testify that nicotine was in fact addictive and that smoking could cause cancer.
More and more tobacco companies in the US were being prosecuted by individuals wanting compensation for the death of their relatives or for their own ill health, which they claimed had been caused by smoking. Claimants became more successful in winning their cases as time went on and an increasing number of tobacco companies were demanded to pay out huge amounts of money in damages.
Advertising online cigarette brands in the media has now been banned in many countries in order to try and prevent more and more people taking up the habit and there are smoking restrictions in all indoor public places and all workplaces in several cities and countries including New York, California, Florida, Norway, England, Ireland and Spain.
Tobacco Leaf
The dried and cured leaves of the plant, Nicotiana tabacum
Why is it in cigarettes?
* Nicotine occurs naturally in tobacco leaves
* Burning tobacco releases nicotine particles in the cigarette smoke, providing a way to deliver nicotine to people.
What does it mean?
* The level of nicotine in a cigarette can be engineered exactly by choosing tobacco leaf mix and processing methods.
"Cigarette tobacco is blended from two main leaf varieties: yellowish 'bright', also known as Virginia where it was originally grown, contains 2.5-3% nicotine; and 'burley' tobacco which has a higher nicotine content (3.5-4%). US blends also contain up to 10% of imported oriental tobacco which is aromatic but relatively low (less than 2%) in nicotine.
In addition to these varieties, at least one strain of tobacco has been developed with super-high nicotine levels, over 6%.
Although high-nicotine varieties are too harsh when smoked directly, processing methods for the tobacco leaf change how the nicotine becomes available to the smoker.This method, producing "expanded tobacco", involves "heating shreds of cured tobacco with liquid carbon dioxide in a chamber. The carbon dioxide turns to vapor and puffs the dry tobacco up like Rice Krispies. This means it takes less tobaco to fill the tobacco rod, and with a high-nicotine tobacco leaf, releases the nicotine more smoothly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
