"Health & Medical News"

A study by a British market-research firm found that people in their 30s and 40s were more likely to admit drinking too much alcohol than those in their 20s, the BBC reported Dec. 20.

The YouGov survey found that one in three people ages 30-50 said that they had a night ruined by excessive drinking within the past year, and 44 percent said they still don’t make a habit of following moderate-drinking recommendations. The former finding may partly be explained by the fact that the body copes more poorly with alcohol consumption as it ages.

Popularity: unranked [?]

The average Canadian youth smokes their first cigarette at age 12, takes their first drink at 13, and tries illicit drugs at age 14, according to the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse (CCSA).

The CanWest News Service reported Sept. 5 that a report entitled Substance Abuse in Canada: Youth in Focus also found that 83 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds either were current drinkers or had consumed alcohol within the previous year.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Britain has decided to use very graphic pictures on cigarette packs, I am guessing this will work much better than written warnings. The below wording is part of press release which I find partly amusing because they say “words failed to stamp out smoking”. I find it hard to believe they thought words would actually deter smoking. If they did, all I can say is that is very very scary. Perhaps other countries and regions will follow suit, but that is not likely. Up to 160 million smokers in Asia could be dead by 2050 and 1 billion smoking related deaths by the end of the century, so this is a massive problem (see the following - here, here and here).

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 3% [?]