Smoking, obesity top health issues

Jefferson County remains in the bottom half of Tennessee counties in the latest health rankings from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin.
The adult smoking and obesity rates have dropped slightly within the county, but still remain near or above the state average. The county ranked 53rd in the state in total health outcomes, a drop from last year’s 41st ranking.

The “County Health Rankings and Roadmaps,” released annually, measure health outcomes (premature death and morbidity), as well as health factors such as behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. Release of the statistics is timed to coincide with National Public Health Week April 7-11.

Twenty-six percent of Jefferson County residents smoke (as compared with 30 percent in last year’s survey), and 28 percent are obese, according to the statistics. The obesity rate is lower than the state average of 32 percent, and the smoking rate is greater than the state average of 23 percent. Only 28 percent of Jefferson County residents reported that they feel they have adequate access to exercise opportunities, far below the state average of 60 percent.

Instances of premature death (before age 75) have increased only slightly during the past three years in Jefferson County, but residents’ opinions of their own physical and mental health continue to deteriorate. Twenty-six percent of Jefferson County residents surveyed report they are in “poor or fair” health, more than the state average of 19 percent.

Asked by the survey to think of the last 30 days, respondents reported feeling mentally unhealthy an average of 6.4 days of that period. The state average was 3.4 days. Respondents reported feeling physically unhealthy an average of 4.7 days, above the state average of 4.3

The premature death rate in Jefferson County is figured at 9,453 per 100,000 in population, above the state rate of 8,790, but down from last year.

“These health rankings are a valuable source of data,” said Sherry Montgomery, Director of the Jefferson County Health Department. “They don’t give the total picture, but they give a good overview of actual health in the county.”

Keith and Debra Shultz, who operate the local substance abuse prevention group Rescue 180, believe total tobacco use is actually closer to 40 percent locally. Keith Shultz is the East Tennessee advocate for Middle Tennessee State University’s Anti-Tobacco Initiative.

“Jefferson County is very high in under age use of tobacco,” Debra Shults said. “It appears to start around age 11.”

Keith Shults travels to health fairs, seminars, schools, and other places with an anti-tobacco use message.

The health department promotes annual “Kick Butts Day,” held last month, and directs tobacco-users to the “Quit Now” line (1-800-784-8669), which helps tobacco users kick the habit by assigning a “coach” to them.

Smoking isn’t the only factor negatively affecting health in Jefferson County, according to the survey. Physical inactivity is also slightly above the state average, and environmental factors (air pollution ozone days, access to recreational facilities, limited access to health foods, and prevalence of fast food restaurants) are also slightly higher here than across the state.

Regarding healthy foods, the Jefferson County Health Council has been working on an initiative to teach residents how to build their own raised bed gardens.

The rankings show Jefferson County improved overall in health behaviors, moving from 40th to 12th. Sexually transmitted disease instances were less than half the state average.

Access to clinical care in the county fell from a ranking of 26th to 42nd.

Social and economic factors, such as education, unemployment, children in poverty, single parent households, and violent crime rate, also dropped from a ranking of 35th to 38th. The violent crime rate here is less than half the state average.

Liver damage form passive smoking

Although regular smokers rationalize their habit by saying, "It only hurts me”, scientists insist that second-hand smoke exhaled by smokers is hazardous, posing a major threat to people who are around them. Now, in a new study, scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have linked exposure to second hand tobacco smoke with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

NAFLD can lead to chronic liver injury wherein fat builds up in the liver of people who abstain or drink little alcohol. At its severest form, it can lead to liver failure. Manuela Martins-Green, a professor of cell biology, who led the study stated, “Until our study, second hand smoking had not been linked to NAFLD development.”

Two key regulators of fat the focus of study
The focus of the study was how second-hand smoke affects two key regulators of fat synthesis on the molecular level. These are SREBP (sterol regulatory element-binding protein) that stimulates synthesis of fatty acids in the liver and AMPK (adenosine monophosphate kinase) that turns SREBP on and off. These two essential regulators of lipid (fat) metabolism are found in many human cells.

The researchers conducted an experiment on mice and exposed them to second-hand cigarette smoke in a lab. After a year, the scientists examined the fat build-up in the liver cells of the rodents exposed to passive smoke, a sign of NAFLD that causes liver dysfunction.

Observations by researchers
The researchers found that mice exposed to second-hand smoke amassed excess fat in their liver cells as opposed to the rodents exposed to smoke-free air.

The researchers state that NAFLD is generated by second-hand smoke. Manuela Martins-Green said, "Our study provides compelling experimental evidence in support of tobacco smoke exposure playing a major role in NAFLD development."

The researchers concluded that smoke exposure inhibits the activity of AMPK, which in turn prompts the activity of SREBP to stimulate synthesis of fatty acids in the liver.

Martins-Green further added, "Our work points to SREBP and AMPK as new molecular targets for drug therapy that can reverse NAFLD development resulting from second-hand smoke. Drugs could now be developed that stimulate AMPK activity, and thereby inhibit SREBP, leading to reduced fatty acid production in the liver."

Passive smoking and its effects on human health
Passive smoking is secondhand smoking which entails inhaling the smoke of the cigarette without actually smoking it.

Some immediate health problems associated with passive smoking are eye irritation, headache, sore throat, dizziness and nausea. Everybody who is in the vicinity of a smoker stands a chance of inhaling both the "side stream" and "mainstream" smoke, which means a person is breathing in what the smoker is exhaling out, and what is burning off the cigarette.

Just try and pay more attention to your lifestyle.