Suffolk Digest

What is
Smoke Free Suffolk?

Part of a national network of alliances partly funded by the Department of Health, the
Smoke Free Suffolk Alliance is a collaborative body comprising representatives of thirteen different local agencies pursuing a set of agreed goals for tobacco control in Suffolk.

Smoke Free Suffolk's main aims include reducing the prevalence and uptake of tobacco use, and thereby the incidence of smoking-related diseases.

Smoke Free Suffolk is involved in raising awareness of the dangers of smoking, participating in annual campaigns such as No Smoking Day and Cancer Prevention Week.

Smoke Free Suffolk meets regularly to exchange information and plan future tobacco control activities in Suffolk.

Smoke Free Suffolk - 01473 770140

Suffolk Digest

Smoking when pregnant affects thyroid for both mother and child

Here's another thing that smoking while pregnant can do -- it can damage both the mother's and the baby's thyroid function, British researchers reported on Tuesday. Cigarette smoke has been shown to cause babies to be born smaller, to make newborns more likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome, and even to affect the rates of cleft lips, heart defects and other problems Bijay Vaidya of Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and colleagues found smoking can also affect the thyroids of both mothers and babies. "We studied the influence of cigarette smoking on thyroid function of two groups of women at different stages of pregnancy -- one in the first trimester and the other in the third trimester," Vaidya said in a statement. "In both groups we found that smoking during pregnancy is associated with changes in the mothers' thyroid hormone levels."

Source: Reuters Health, 14 January 2009

Link: http://tiny.cc/yoIiM