The amount of nicotine in most cigarettes rose an average of almost 10 percent between 1998 and 2004, with brands most popular with young people and minorities registering the biggest increases and highest nicotine content, according to a new study. Nicotine is highly addictive, and while no one has studied the effect of the increases on smokers, the higher levels theoretically could make new smokers more easily addicted as well as make it harder for established smokers to quit. The trend was discovered by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which requires that tobacco companies measure the nicotine content of cigarettes each year and report the results. Using a method that mimics actual smoking, the nicotine delivered per cigarette — the ‘yield’ — rose 9.9 percent from 1998 to 2004 — from 1.72 milligrams to 1.89 milligrams. The total nicotine content increased an average of 16.6 percent in that period, and the amount of nicotine per gram of tobacco increased 11.3 percent. The study, first reported by the Boston Globe, found that 92 of 116 brands tested had higher nicotine yield in 2004 than in 1998, and 52 had increases of more than 10 percent. […]
Older men who regularly take aspirin or a similar painkiller may help keep prostate enlargement at bay, a new study finds. The common condition, called benign prostatic hyperplasia, typically affects one of every four men ages 40 to 50 and almost half of those over 70, experts say. Enlarged prostate can lead to frequent urination and other bothersome effects. However, men who regularly took a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) ‘had a reduction of 50 percent in enlargement and a 35 percent reduction in moderate to severe urinary problems,’ said Jenny St. Sauver, a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist who led the study, which was reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology. It didn’t matter which NSAID a man was taking: aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen (Aleve) or a more expensive cox-2 inhibitor such as Celebrex, St. Sauver said. ‘Eighty percent were taking daily aspirin,’ she said. ‘We did look at the other drugs, but the differences were not statistically significant.’ The study was prompted by several earlier studies that suggested a decreased risk of prostate cancer for men who took NSAIDs regularly. This study included nearly 2,500 men living in the neighborhood of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Data on […]
California lawmakers and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reached an agreement to make the state the first in the U.S. to impose a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. Under the accord, companies such as PG&E Corp. and Edison International, the state’s two largest utilities, as well as oil refinery operators including BP Plc and Chevron Corp., must cut 25 percent of gas emissions that contribute to global warming over the next 14 years. The bill includes so-called cap-and- trade rules, backed by Schwarzenegger, that will let businesses buy pollution credits from companies that reduce emissions. ‘We can now move forward with developing a market-based system that makes California a world leader in the effort to reduce carbon emissions,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. California is the world’s 12th-largest source of greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere and generally are considered by scientists to be a cause of a rise in global temperatures. California has already passed rules, since challenged by carmakers in court, that would force cuts in carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, the state’s single largest source of the emissions. ‘This is a much more significant bill than I thought we could get through and […]
WASHINGTON — State Department investigators have found that the head of the agency overseeing most government broadcasts to foreign countries has used his office to run a ‘horse racing operation’ and that he improperly put a friend on the payroll, according to a summary of a report made public on Tuesday by a Democratic lawmaker. The report said that the official, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, had repeatedly used government employees to perform personal errands and that he billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit. The summary of the report, prepared by the State Department inspector general, said the United States attorney’s office here had been given the report and decided not to conduct a criminal inquiry. The summary said the Justice Department was pursuing a civil inquiry focusing on the contract for Mr. Tomlinson’s friend. Through his lawyer, James Hamilton, Mr. Tomlinson issued a statement denying that he had done anything improper. The office of the State Department inspector general presented the findings from its yearlong inquiry last week to the White House and on Monday to some members of Congress. Three Democratic lawmakers, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut […]
SAN FRANCISCO — Even though the number of Americans living in poverty leveled off last year, the number of those without health insurance rose to more than 46 million in 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday. Because of population growth, both the number of people without health insurance and the number of those with coverage grew between 2004 and 2005. The number of Americans without health insurance for those full 12 months rose by 1.3 million to 46.6 million, according to the survey of 100,000 households. The percentage of people without it increased to 15.9% last year from 15.6% in 2004. At the same time, the number who had coverage for the entire year increased by 1.4 million to 247.3 million in 2005. But the rise wasn’t enough to keep the percentage with insurance from falling to 84.1% from 84.4% during that period. The nation’s population expanded to 293.8 million last year from 291.2 million in 2004, according to Census estimates. Of particular concern is the continued erosion of employer-sponsored insurance and an uptick in the number of uninsured children, some health-care analysts said. The portion of Americans covered by job-based coverage slipped to 59.5% from […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
