I can always tell when a parent of a child I'm treating is a smoker. The examination room is just filled with smoke - not too different from the experience you'd have if you walked into a bar or restaurant that still allows smoking. My style is to ignore it until the very end of the visit - sneaky, I know! I just forge ahead trying to not inhale too much air. I have to admit, there have been times I've had to find excuses to leave the room to get a few smoke-free breathes of air!!

(HealthDay News) -- In the days before surgery, it's important to make sure that you are physically healthy, and that your mind is relaxed and prepared.

Here are suggestions from the National Women's Health Resource Center on what to do before your operation:

* Maintain a healthy, balanced diet. Be sure to get enough vitamin C, which will help your body heal.
* Quit smoking and avoid alcohol.
* Get regular exercise.

MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Living a healthy lifestyle can cut your risk of stroke by about 80 percent, new research suggests.

FRIDAY, Aug. 8 (HealthDay News) -- A gene variant that may influence a person's initial response to smoking and lifetime smoking habits has been identified by a team of researchers.

The finding about the variant in the CHRNA5 nicotine receptor gene may help explain how someone goes from trying their first cigarette to becoming a long-term smoker.

Previous studies have inked variations in the same genetic region to a smoker's level of nicotine dependence, to the number of cigarettes smoker per day, and to an increased risk of lung cancer.

(HealthDay News) -- If you have trouble falling or staying asleep, it's important to understand the reasons for your insomnia.

Here's a list of possible reasons for your sleepless nights, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:

* Discomfort or illness.
* Depression.
* Stress or anxiety.
* Drinking caffeine or alcohol, smoking, or taking certain medications or illicit drugs.
* An inappropriate sleep environment, including one that's too bright or too noisy.
* Related activities that affect your sleep, such as taking naps or going to bed too early.

TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) -- New insight into how the brain processes the rewarding and addictive properties of nicotine sheds light on why some people seem to become addicted once they have their first cigarette, say Canadian researchers.

TUESDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- Despite high levels of smoking, Japanese men are far less likely to have dangerous plaque build-up in their blood vessels than white or Japanese-American men, a difference that researchers believe stems from a lifelong, near-daily consumption of fish.

As we celebrate the anniversary of women's right to vote on August 26th, Women's Equality Day, we need to draw attention to the effect of tobacco-related diseases on women.

Lung cancer has surpassed breast cancer as a leading killer of women. Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease, which kills one of three women in the United States. Babies born to women who smoke and babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are at greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma, and other chronic lung diseases.

THURSDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Community-based health programs aimed at diet, exercise, smoking prevention and other known risk factors for chronic diseases could cut health-care costs in the United States by $16 billion a year, a new report says.

"We worked with economists at the Urban Institute who looked at health-care costs associated with these chronic diseases," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Washington-based Trust for America's Health, which issued the report. "They estimated a 5 percent reduction in these chronic diseases to derive these savings."

THURSDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- People with certain common genetic variations that affect their nicotine receptors seem to be at higher risk for becoming life-long nicotine addicts if they begin smoking before they turn 17, a new study says.