The Asian Independent - January 2019

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
HEALTH
E-cigarette usage nearly
doubles in US high schools
LOS ANGELES : The percentage
of high school seniors
who used e-cigarettes in the
last 30 days nearly doubled to
20.9 percent from last year,
results of a survey released by
the National Institute on Drug
Abuse showed on Monday. The
increase in vaping by 10th and
12th graders was the largest
year-over-year jump for any
substance ever measured by the
survey, which started 44 years
ago.
The annual survey, which
also measures use of other substances
including marijuana,
alcohol and opioids, questioned
more than 44,000 students
from 8th, 10th and 12th
grades in US public and private
schools.
The percentage of high known as e-cigarettes, has
school students who used nicotine-based
vaping devices, year, the survey
risen by a third over the past
showed.
Colleagues' rudeness
can affect your sleep
NEW YORK : Blame your co-worker who is rude, uses sarcastic
comments and demeaning language. According to a study,
workplace uncivilities can not only affect an employee's sleep but
also their partner's. The study
found that when a person experiences
rude, discourteous, impolite
colleagues at workplace, they tend
to ruminate more about work at
home. They also face trouble
Unable to sleep
properly?
falling asleep or may wake up in the middle of the night. This also
affects the spouse or partner, only when the couple works in the
same company or occupation, the researchers said. It is "because
work-linked couples have a better idea of what's going on in each
other's work, they can be better supporters", said Charlotte Fritz,
Associate Professor from the Portland State University in the US.
"They probably know more about the context of the uncivil act and
might be more pulled into the venting or problem-solving process,"
she added, in the paper detailed in the journal Occupational Health
Science. While organisations do everything in their power to create
a culture of civility by imposing zero-tolerance policies or offering
civility training, uncivilities at workplace are not completely
avoidable. However, mentally detaching from work during nonwork
hours by spending time with family and friends or enjoying
hobbies, and practising meditation at work and home are important,
and can help both the employees and their spouses, according
to Fritz. "They can talk about work, vent about it, discuss it, but
then they should make an explicit attempt to unwind together and
create good conditions for sleep," she noted.
For the study, the team involved 305 couples in a variety of jobs.
E-cigarettes have been a
divisive topic in the public
health community. Some focus
on the potential benefit of shifting
lifelong smokers to less
harmful nicotine products,
while others fear it will create a
new generation addicted to
nicotine.
Last month, the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration, facing
mounting pressure to act on
the rising popularity of vaping
devices, announced sweeping
new restrictions on flavoured
tobacco products, including e-
cigarettes. The one-year rise in
vaping were mirrored by
changes in the perception of
availability of e-cigarretes, the
WASHINGTON : People who drink lots
of sugar-sweetened drinks and soda may be
putting themselves at a greater risk of chronic
kidney disease, according to a study.
The findings, published in the Clinical
Journal of the American Society of
Nephrology (CJASN), contribute to the
growing body of evidence pointing to the
negative health consequences of consuming
sugar-sweetened beverages.
Certain beverages may affect kidney
health, but study results have been inconsistent.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health in the
US studied 3,003 African-American men and
women with normal kidney function. "There
is a lack of comprehensive information on
the health implications of the wide range of
beverage options that are available in the
food supply," said Casey Rebholz from the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health. "In particular, there is limited information
on which types of beverages and patterns
of beverages are associated with kidney
disease risk in particular," Rebholz said. The
researchers assessed beverage intake through
a food frequency questionnaire administered
at the start of the study in 2000-04, and they
followed participants until 2009-13. Among
the 3,003 participants, 185 (6 per cent)
institute said in its report, with
more 8th and 10th graders
reporting that vaping devices
and e-liquids containing nicotine
were easier to obtain in
2018 than in 2017. E-cigarette
makers, including San
Francisco-based Juul Labs Inc,
have also faced scrutiny from
the FDA amid the increase in
teenage use of the devices,
which look like a USB flash
drive and vaporize a flavoured
liquid containing nicotine.
Juul said in November it
would pull popular flavours
such as mango, cucumber and
fruit from many retail store
shelves to reduce teenage use
of its products.
developed chronic kidney disease (CKD)
over a median follow-up of 8 years.
Consuming a beverage pattern consisting
of soda, sweetened fruit drinks, and water
was associated with a higher risk of developing
CKD. Participants in the top tertile for
consumption of this beverage pattern were
61 per cent more likely to develop CKD than
January 2019
13
Heart attack, stroke may
predict cancer risk
New York : Heart attack or stroke may be an early sign of cancers,
especially in older adults, say researchers.
The findings showed that the risk of having a heart attack and
stroke jumped by 70 per cent in the year before cancer diagnosis.
The risk was most acute in the month immediately before cancer
diagnosis. Lung and colon cancers, as well as advanced-staged cancers,
appear to be most strongly associated with an elevated risk of
heart attack and stroke caused by blood clots in the arteries, according
to a report published in the journal Blood.
“Our data shows there is an associated risk of ischemic stroke
and heart attack that begins to increase in the five months before the
cancer is officially diagnosed and peaks in the month just before,”
said lead author Babak Navi, Associate Professor at Cornell
University in the US.
“These results suggest that cancer’s effect on the clotting system
may be what’s predominantly driving the associated risk of heart
attacks and stroke,” Navi added.
Cancers can take months and sometimes years to develop and be
diagnosed, and some cancers may be exerting biological effects on
the body, especially thromboembolic activity, before they come to
medical attention, he explained.
For the study, the team included 748,662 people (67 years and
older) and looked at the risk of heart attack and stroke in those
newly diagnosed with breast, lung, prostate, colorectal, bladder,
non-Hodgkin lymphoma, uterine, pancreatic, and gastric cancers.
When analysed separately, both heart attack and stroke risk were
increased in the months before cancer diagnosis, although heart
attack events were slightly more common than strokes.
“If someone has a heart attack or stroke and there are any concerning
signs for an undiagnosed malignancy, such as weight loss
or unexplained anaemia, then perhaps a cancer screening should be
considered,” Navi said.
Drinking soda, sweetened drinks
may up chronic kidney disease
those in the bottom tertile. The researchers
were surprised to see that water was a component
of this beverage pattern that was
linked with a higher risk of CKD. They noted
that study participants may have reported
their consumption of a wide variety of types
of water, including flavoured and sweetened
water.