Hair dyes and smoking increase risk of liver cirrhosis.

When it comes to primary liver cirrhosis, using hair dyes increased the risk by 25-30%. By comparison, smoking cigarettes is associated with a 60% increase in risk. These were the two most significant environmental risk factors found by British researchers in a large case-control study.

PositiveTip: Leave your hair its natural color and avoid smoking to help reduce your risk of developing liver cirrhosis.

Sexual dysfunction associated with poor health habits

Danish researchers found that certain lifestyle habits were associated with sexual inactivity and sexual dysfunction. Women experienced increased risk of sexual inactivity when they were overweight and smoked tobacco; sexual dysfunction when they used hashish.  Risk for sexual dysfunction in men was associated with being underweight or obese, a large waist circumference, physical inactivity, high alcohol intake, tobacco smoking, and use of hard drugs (800% increase).

PositiveTip:  Avoid high-risk lifestyle habits to enhance every aspect of life.

Maternal cigarette smoking is a high risk for fetal deformaties

Not smoking and eating a good diet can slow even hereditary macular degeneration.

Tufts University researchers have found that hereditary macular degeneration in identical twins progresses faster with increased smoking and is slowed by a good healthy diet.  The lead author said, "Eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, and that can make a difference - even if you have a genetic susceptibility to macular degeneration...and, if course, don't smoke."

Teen lifestyle habits increase chronic headaches.

Researchers in Norway found that teenage lifestyle habits are associated with recurring headaches. Lack of physical activity, smoking, and having excess weight significantly increased the incidence of headaches. Risk was even higher if a teen had more than one of these habits.

PositiveTip: Exercising, not smoking, and keeping weight in the normal range can help prevent headaches.

One-and-a-half million Americans die prematurely from preventable diseases.

Nearly 2.5 million Americans die each year.  Researchers determined that tobacco smoking is responsible for 467,000 of those, followed by high blood pressure contributing 395,000 deaths, overweight-obesity, physical inactivity and high blood glucose levels each accounting for between 190,000 to 216,000 each.  

PositiveTip: How are you doing with your lifestyle choices? Each of these diseases results in large part from the choices people make.

Children born to mothers who smoke may have 10-15% higher risk of CHD.

Australian researchers have found that 8 year old youngsters of women who smoked during pregnancy had below normal levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). This kind of cholesterol is often called the "good" cholesterol. Because cholesterol levels tend to track from childhood through adulthood, this difference could result in a 10-15% higher risk of coronary heart disease compare to those born with non-smoking mothers.

PositiveTip: If you are an expectant mother that smokes, do your child a huge favor and stop smoking now!

Smokers diagnosed with prostate cancer have higher risk of recurrence.

Men who are currently smoking at the time of being diagnosed with prostate cancer have significantly higher risks for recurrence than those who have never smoked. This is also true for those who had smoked at least one pack a day for more than 20 years, even though they had quit by the time of diagnosis.

PositiveTip: There's no better time to quit smoking than now!

Second-hand smoke causes 3400 lung cancer deaths each year in non-smokers.

This last decade has yielded significant progress toward eliminating smoking in the workplace, restaurants, and bars. Each year in the U.S. 46,000 deaths from heart disease occur in non-smokers from second-hand smoke according to CDC researchers. There are still seven states with no smoke-free laws: Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

PositiveTip: Completely banning smoking in all public areas is the only way to fully protect non-smokers. Do your part in this effort by supporting smoke-free laws.