A recent NY Times article pointed out that many hospitals are no longer considering smokers as appropriate job applicants for their businesses. The article states that job applications have been changed to provide warnings which outline their "smoke-free hiring" practices. In fact, they go on to say that employees caught smoking or having positive laboratory tests for nicotine, will face termination. Apparently, the job of maintaining a smoke-free workplace is challenging for these entities.
From my own experience, my former hospital became a smoke-free campus. This required employees to clock-out and walk off campus to smoke. When this occurs, their services are no longer available for their job of taking care of patients. I was always troubled by the potential for a poor response time to a patient's need because their nurse, tech or therapist was off campus smoking. As a manager, I was also troubled by the fact that many of the employees did not clock-out to smoke their cigarettes off campus.
As a result of this new hospital policy, many of the smoking employees simply found little hideaways on campus to do their business. So, I can see why some hospitals would move on to the next level, which is to not even hire employees who smoke.
However, does this cause hiring discrimination. After all, tobacco is not a banned substance. It is not an illegal narcotic that will put you behind bars. I would think these policies will be vetted out in the courts. But it does lead to a good question, which is "Why are some drugs illegal, while others are legal?".
Lets look at illicit drugs. Why are they illegal? Is it because they kill people and cause great physical and mental harm? Sure, probably. Is it because they cause great financial harm to people and society? Again, probably.
Okay then, lets look at tobacco. Does it kill people and cause great physical and mental harm? You bet. I would argue it creates even more than all the illicit drugs put together. Does tobacco cause great financial harm to people and society? Again, the answer is absolutely yes! The healthcare costs are in the billions every year. Not to mention all the lost productivity due to illness.
So can someone explain to me why tobacco is a legal substance? Don't worry, I already know the answer. It has been grandfathered into our culture because it was a primary cash crop when our country was founded. So it gets a free ride. If we were to follow the example of alcohol and prohibition, we can see what would possibly happen if it were made illegal. There would be an explosive black market and crime would likely increase more than one hundred-fold.
So, we're left with a less than perfect system of lost productivity, disease and financial strain on our economy - all thanks to our founding fathers.
Showing posts with label disease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disease. Show all posts
Mediterranean Diet Benefits for Smokers
My family and I are mood eaters. We usually only eat food that we're in the mood for. However, every once and a while, we'll plan a month long menu and be fanatical about following it. It's nice because it takes the guess work out of dinner which, let's face it, can be a monotonous undertaking. Without the menu, my wife and I are always asking each other what the other one wants for dinner. Before we realize it, it's 7:00 and we're just then sitting down to eat with the kids.
So when we plan out our menu, we like to add a little variety. For several months, we looked at the Mediterranean Meal Plan. My entire family enjoys this part of our menu planning because we know it's healthier and it tastes really good (as a general rule).
Well, there is some belief that the Mediterranean Diet may be beneficial for people who smoke. The diet is rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants; so the supposition is that many of these chemicals and nutrients may provide a protection against the physiological and biochemical tissue changes that occur in smoking related illnesses like lung cancer and cardiopulmonary/vascular disease.
Vardavas, et al from the university of Crete in Greece published an article in Public Health (2011 Jan. 27) called "Does adherence to the Mediterranean diet have a protective effect against active and passive smoking?". In the study, they conclude that there is evidence in the literature which indicates at least a partial relationship between the health benefits found in the Mediterranean diet and smoking morbidity/mortality. Ultimately though, they state further research is necessary before any conclusive statements about this relationship can be adopted by the medical community.
What it comes down to though, is adopting a healthy lifestyle, which includes smoking independence and making healthy food choices. I do not think the author is proposing "continue smoking, as long as you eat healthy". Rather, there is an obvious connection between disease and smoking that comes through as clear as crystal in their article.
So when we plan out our menu, we like to add a little variety. For several months, we looked at the Mediterranean Meal Plan. My entire family enjoys this part of our menu planning because we know it's healthier and it tastes really good (as a general rule).
Well, there is some belief that the Mediterranean Diet may be beneficial for people who smoke. The diet is rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants; so the supposition is that many of these chemicals and nutrients may provide a protection against the physiological and biochemical tissue changes that occur in smoking related illnesses like lung cancer and cardiopulmonary/vascular disease.
Vardavas, et al from the university of Crete in Greece published an article in Public Health (2011 Jan. 27) called "Does adherence to the Mediterranean diet have a protective effect against active and passive smoking?". In the study, they conclude that there is evidence in the literature which indicates at least a partial relationship between the health benefits found in the Mediterranean diet and smoking morbidity/mortality. Ultimately though, they state further research is necessary before any conclusive statements about this relationship can be adopted by the medical community.
What it comes down to though, is adopting a healthy lifestyle, which includes smoking independence and making healthy food choices. I do not think the author is proposing "continue smoking, as long as you eat healthy". Rather, there is an obvious connection between disease and smoking that comes through as clear as crystal in their article.
Smoking and Women
The World Health Organization (WHO) is wanting to draw our attention to smoking prevalence in women. Smoking rates in women have climbed over the last couple of decades, adding to the already epidemic status of smoking around the world. There are roughly 200 million women smokers worldwide. It is estimated just over 17% of the women in the US are smokers.
Everyone knows that smoking is related to such horrible diseases such as lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and emphysema. Few know that smoking is a common risk factor for many other diseases as well, many of which apply strictly to women. Examples would include placental abruption during pregnancy, miscarriage, prematurity of infants, nursing difficulties and cervical cancer. As you might expect by looking at this abbreviated list, smoking has been linked to many health problems facing women. It is reported that cigarette smoking kills over 170,000 women in the US each year, alone.
Most smokers want to quit smoking and hope to quit before getting married, becoming pregnant, or some other life changing event. Unfortunately, most smokers try to quit smoking up to 7 times, before actually quitting. This is why smoking is viewed clinically as a chronic addictive condition. Of course at the root of this addiction is nicotine.
Many people try to quit smoking as casually as they picked up the habit. Healthcare providers and smoking cessation counselors will tell you this will only lead the smoker into a cycle of disappointment and relapse. Very few smokers even try one of the many stop smoking aids that are currently available in the marketplace today. This is why it is so important to visit your physician or other healthcare professional to discuss the many options available to the smoker. There is no shame in this, as smoking has been compared to cocaine and opium in regards to its addictive properties.
Quitting cold turkey only offers about a 3-5% success rate, while most of the current stop smoking aids will double that chance of success. When adding some kind of counseling or behavior modification program, the success rate jumps into the 20% range.
Many of the health related risks associated with smoking can be mitigated once the habit has been broken. The risks related to an adverse outcome during pregnancy are dramatically reduced. Fertility challenges can also be decreased in the absence of smoking. Of course, the lessened risk to the unborn children are also a wonderful benefit to stopping smoking. Then, there are the long term benefits seen in the usual form of improved cardiovascular and pulmonary health.
So go ahead and get some stop smoking help. It's not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of how powerful the nicotine addiction can be.
Everyone knows that smoking is related to such horrible diseases such as lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and emphysema. Few know that smoking is a common risk factor for many other diseases as well, many of which apply strictly to women. Examples would include placental abruption during pregnancy, miscarriage, prematurity of infants, nursing difficulties and cervical cancer. As you might expect by looking at this abbreviated list, smoking has been linked to many health problems facing women. It is reported that cigarette smoking kills over 170,000 women in the US each year, alone.
Most smokers want to quit smoking and hope to quit before getting married, becoming pregnant, or some other life changing event. Unfortunately, most smokers try to quit smoking up to 7 times, before actually quitting. This is why smoking is viewed clinically as a chronic addictive condition. Of course at the root of this addiction is nicotine.
Many people try to quit smoking as casually as they picked up the habit. Healthcare providers and smoking cessation counselors will tell you this will only lead the smoker into a cycle of disappointment and relapse. Very few smokers even try one of the many stop smoking aids that are currently available in the marketplace today. This is why it is so important to visit your physician or other healthcare professional to discuss the many options available to the smoker. There is no shame in this, as smoking has been compared to cocaine and opium in regards to its addictive properties.
Quitting cold turkey only offers about a 3-5% success rate, while most of the current stop smoking aids will double that chance of success. When adding some kind of counseling or behavior modification program, the success rate jumps into the 20% range.
Many of the health related risks associated with smoking can be mitigated once the habit has been broken. The risks related to an adverse outcome during pregnancy are dramatically reduced. Fertility challenges can also be decreased in the absence of smoking. Of course, the lessened risk to the unborn children are also a wonderful benefit to stopping smoking. Then, there are the long term benefits seen in the usual form of improved cardiovascular and pulmonary health.
So go ahead and get some stop smoking help. It's not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of how powerful the nicotine addiction can be.
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