Heavy smoking in pregnancy linked to crime in offspring

Women who smoke during pregnancy may lower the level of 'good' cholesterol in their children, with some negative impacts showing up later in life, according to a study released Tuesday.HDL -- or high-density lipoprotein -- cholesterol helps protect against heart disease as one gets older.The research, published in the European Heart Journal, showed that by age eight children born to mothers who smoked while pregnant had HDL cholesterol levels about 10 percent below normal, once other factors were taken into account.

Cyprus will ring in the New Year on Thursday night with the introduction of a blanket ban on indoor smoking in pubs, clubs and cafes that is among the toughest in Europe.Cyprus has its fair share of heavy smokers but 2010 will see them having to follow in the footsteps of the French, Irish and Italians and puff outside as the authorities impose a new anti-smoking law from January 1.Proprietors and offenders face a maximum 2,000 euro (2,870 dollar) fine if they break the law by smoking in a closed public space.

OTTAWA — Researchers at the Royal Ottawa are helping to sketch out a hormonal profile of sex abusers who re-offend. Their study, published recently in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry & the Law, links hormone levels with criminal recidivism.

Smokers who wish to quit commonly use electronic cigarettes to help them, despite the lack of evidence that the devices work, a new study finds.

Hookah smoking is worse for you than smoking a half a pack of cigarettes a day, a new study suggests. The study was published in March in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Quebec’s aboriginal women are having twice as many late-pregnancy stillbirths as the general population, suggests a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. In an analysis of more than two million births in Quebec from 1981 to 2009, researchers found that the prospective rate of stillbirth for pregnancies at 37 weeks and beyond was three per 1,000 births for Inuit and First Nations women. By comparison, non-aboriginal women had a prospective stillbirth rate of 1.4 for every 1,000 births.

When Uzoamaka Nwankpa visits first-time mothers living in poverty in Tucson, Ariz., she’s more than just a nurse. She’s a therapist, helping a pregnant, recovering heroin user understand how her addiction traces back to her own childhood trauma. She’s a life coach, helping a mom with a two-month-old baby set goals to finish college. But perhaps most surprisingly, she’s also a data collector, amassing thousands of points of information about the women and children she works with to not only help her clients, but to improve the effectiveness of the nonprofit organization she works with.

Regularly eating lots of strawberries and blueberries may be good for women's hearts, a new study suggests.