Heart link to chewing tobacco

Indian cardiologists have produced what they say is the first evidence to show that chewing tobacco can constrict the blood vessels of the heart within minutes and possibly raise the risk of heart attacks.

Their study on men who volunteered to chew a single gram of tobacco while having their hearts monitored has revealed significant reductions in the diameters of coronary arteries within 10 minutes after they began chewing.

The cardiologists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, say their findings highlight the rapidity with which a habit long associated with mouth cancer can also put the heart in danger by constricting coronary arteries.

Reynolds American 1Q Profit Soars But Volumes Continue To Fall

Reynolds American Inc.'s (RAI) first-quarter earnings more than quadrupled from a year-ago period weighed by a settlement with the Canadian government, and higher product pricing and operational cost cuts continued to offset cigarette volume declines.

Revenue missed analyst expectations, but earnings came in ahead.

Reynolds, whose brands include Camel cigarettes and Grizzly moist snuff, has shifted its focus in the face of changing demand for cigarettes. The company has diversified into smokeless tobacco, cut production costs by shutting plants and put its energy into a few key brands. Last month, the company sold its Lane Ltd. roll-your-own and pipe tobacco unit to Denmark's Scandinavian Tobacco Group AS for $205 million.

Senators call for baseball chewing tobacco ban

Two U.S. senators have urged the heads of Major League Baseball and the players union to ban the use of smokeless tobacco products on the field and in the dugout and the locker room.

A similar ban on chewing tobacco has been in place in baseball's minor leagues for decades. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, both Democrats, said it was time for the major leagues to follow suit.

"We now know conclusively that smokeless tobacco endangers the health of baseball players who use it, but it also affects millions of young people who watch baseball," Durbin and Lautenberg wrote in a letter to baseball commissioner Bud Selig, which was made available to news organizations on Tuesday.

In the letter, they cited a survey that found use of smokeless tobacco products by high school boys has increased by 36 percent since 2003.