Dear Health Conscious Friend,

We all know that smoking is bad for us. It can cause lung disease, cancer, mouth sores and emphysema just to name a few hazards. But now research links smoking to another scary disease.

Dr Inglis tells what it is.

On a lighter note (no pun intended), I wish you a wonderful, safe and peaceful festive season and a marvellous New Year. You’ll find your next edition of Health Bytes in your inbox on 7 January 2010.

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. We like to answer as many of our reader’s questions as possible. This week supply Dr Wright answers a readers concern about excessive sweating.

Are you puffing your way to Alzheimer's Disease?
Dr Alan Inglis
Editor of House Calls

I'm going to call this edition of Health Bytes the "vice issue". Because there's some new research you must pay attention to that shows how a common vice – smoking – can create even more health problems than we already thought.

Most of the research on smoking has focused on its link to cancer and heart disease. But here's something you might not have heard – a recent study has demonstrated that older adults who smoke run a much greater risk of getting Alzheimer's disease.

How much greater? Well, researchers from Imperial College in London analysed more than two dozen studies and calculated that smokers had a 79% greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease.

As shocking as that may sound, it makes total sense. Smoking causes oxidative stress in your blood, producing free radicals that could damage your body. An increase in oxidative stress can lead to Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Also, because smoking does harm to your heart – by restricting blood flow while damaging blood vessels - your brain may not be getting all the blood it needs.

In one encouraging note, the researchers found no elevated risk of Alzheimer's disease for former smokers.

That means… quit now. It's never too late, and your lungs, heart, brain (and just about every other part of your body) will thank you. And with New Year's just around the corner, what better time than to make your resolution now...

Stop excessive sweating

Q: I have a friend who is desperate to find an answer for continuous sweating on her abdomen and arms. What can she do to stop it?

Dr Wright: A number of factors can cause excessive sweating. Regardless of the cause, there's one spice that should be able to dam up the flow. Sage is the traditional treatment for hot flushes and sweating that comes with menopause. But in a number of clinical studies, the spice also reduced sweat production in patients with hyperhidrosis, the medical term for excessive sweating. Try taking 1,000 to 1,500mg per day.

What is... hyperhidrosis?

Sweating is an involuntary function regulated by the hypothalamus in the brain, part of the autonomic nervous system. Excessive sweating, known as hyperhidrosis, can occur in response to stress, emotion, exercise or for no apparent reason at all. It can affect one or more parts of the body, the most common areas being the hands, armpits or feet. The exact cause of this condition is still unknown.