Brand Awareness and Access to Cigarettes among Children 8-12 Years Old in the Czech Republic.

Objective: The aim of the study is to assess smoking behaviour, knowledge of cigarette brands and access to cigarettes among children 8-12 years old in the Czech Republic.

Method: Between 2009 and 2012, a cross sectional survey was conducted among 4,439 children aged 8-12 years attending 51 primary schools in Prague and Central Bohemia, Czech Republic. Data including age, gender, ever smoking, parental and sibling smoking, knowledge of cigarette brands, sources of cigarettes, and smoking frequency were collected.

[Centres for Tobacco-Dependent in the Czech Republic in 2012: overview and economy].

Background: Since 2005, in the Czech Republic the Centres for Tobacco-Dependent are being established at hospitals.

Methods: Evaluation of the activity of these 37 centres in 2012, economic analysis of treatment costs and assessment of the cost of life year gained (LYG).

Results: Most of the centres (26 of 37) are based at pulmonary clinics with opening hours for smokers: on average 7 hours/week.

Smokers with intracranial aneurysms who underwent neurosurgical or endovascular treatment have not stopped smoking one year after surgery.

Smoking increases the risk of forming, growing, and rupture of intracranial aneurysms. We retrospectively reviewed patients with intracranial aneurysms treated by neurosurgical or endovascular treatment--154 patients (45 men, 109 women, 15 to 62 years, average 46.3 years, CI +/- 1.

Ecological and human health risk aspects of burning arsenic-rich coal.

The subject of the study was the ecological and human health consequences of environmental pollution from emissions arising from burning local coal with an arsenic content ranging from 900 to 1,500 g/tonne of dry substance. The first indication of environmental pollution by arsenic-containing emissions was the mass extinction of honeybee colonies. The neurotoxic and carcinogenic aspects of arsenic exposure were followed.