Category: Science

  • Natural selection end-game

    Natural selection end-game

    Researchers report they have spotted signs that human DNA is still evolving, and such evolution could eventually reduce smoking, according to a HealthDay story citing a new study.

    “It’s a subtle signal, but we find genetic evidence that natural selection is happening in modern human populations,” said study co-author Joseph Pickrell, an evolutionary geneticist at Columbia University and the New York Genome Center.

    Pickrell and his colleagues explored the genomes of ‘60,000 people of European descent from California and 150,000 from Great Britain’. The researchers looked for signs of mutations that are linked to longer life spans.

    The researchers found that a genetic variation linked to Alzheimer’s appears to be fading in older women, possibly because women who have it tend to die earlier.

    They also found similar evidence that a genetic variation linked to heavy smoking in men is becoming less common.

    “It may be that men who don’t carry these harmful mutations can have more children, or that men and women who live longer can help with their grandchildren, improving their chance of survival,” said co-author Molly Przeworski in a Columbia news release. She is an evolutionary biologist at the university.

    The study was published on September 5 in the journal PLOS Biology.

    The HealthDay story is at: https://consumer.healthday.com/general-health-information-16/evolution-anthropology-972/evolution-not-over-for-humans-726038.html.

  • E-cigarettes are “fun”

    E-cigarettes are “fun”

    Former smokers are nearly three times more likely to abstain from cigarette smoking if they puff on an electronic cigarette two out of every three days a month, according to a story by Dennis Thompson for HealthDay, citing a new study that analysed a US federal survey on smoking.

    The study was published on August 31 in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

    “E-cigarettes are an effective way to get cigarette smokers to quit, but you really need to use those e-cigarettes,” said lead researcher Professor David Levy.

    “Using them a couple days a month isn’t going to be anywhere near as effective as if you use them most, if not all, days in a month.”

    The odds of a smoker successfully quitting increases by 10 percent with each additional day of e-cigarette use, said Levy, a professor with Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Washington, D.C.

    However, pulmonologist Dr. Louis De Palo was said to be concerned that e-cigarettes did too good a job replacing traditional tobacco cigarettes.

    “People don’t get addicted to the other forms of nicotine replacement because they aren’t fun,” said De Palo, who’s an associate professor of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

    “Gum doesn’t taste very good. The nose inhaler burns a little bit. The patches are irritating. And none of them give you the psychological satisfaction of holding something in your hand and smoking,” he explained.

    “E-cigarettes are highly addictive, easy to use, and fun,” De Palo continued. “This study doesn’t address the strategy for eventually weaning people off e-cigarettes.”

    For this study, Levy and his colleagues reviewed data from more than 24,000 participants in the 2014/2015 Tobacco Use Supplement-Current Population Survey, a regular survey on smoking administered by the US Census Bureau.

    The full text of Thompson’s piece is at: https://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/electronic-cigarettes-970/e-cigs-may-help-smokers-quit-but-hellip-726072.html.

  • Vaping provides no gateway

    Vaping provides no gateway

    A major study conducted across the UK has concluded that regular use of electronic cigarettes among people 11–16 years of age ‘remains very low, at three percent or less, and remains largely confined to regular smokers’.

    The study, led by professor Linda Bauld of the University of Stirling and the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, examined data from five large scale surveys with different designs and sampling strategies conducted between 2015 and 2017: The Youth Tobacco Policy Survey; the Schools Health Research Network Wales survey; two Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Smokefree Great Britain-Youth Surveys; and the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey. Cumulatively these surveys were said to have collected data from more than 60,000 young people.

    In their conclusion, the researchers said that their paper highlighted the current rates of e-cigarette use among young people in the UK, where e-cigarettes formed a part of a tobacco harm reduction policy landscape.

    While it was estimated that there were 2.9 million e-cigarette current users among adults in Great Britain, regular use among people 11–16 years of age remained at three percent or lower, and remained largely confined to regular smokers.

    Regular e-cigarette use among never smokers was very rare.

    These low rates of regular use suggested that youth experimentation was not currently leading to greater frequency of use; however, comparing youth e-cigarette data and trends across surveys and countries was crucial to better understand youth trends.

    Survey measures had to be designed to assess frequency of use, rather than just ever- or past-30-day use.

    The full study is available at: http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/9/973/htm.

  • A positive role for nicotine

    A positive role for nicotine

    Lung experts at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are testing whether nicotine can help people with a chronic inflammatory lung disease called sarcoidosis, according to a story on news-medical.net.

    Why nicotine? “Around 2000, we learned two things,” said Dr. Elliott Crouser, a pulmonologist specializing in sarcoidosis.

    “There was new evidence that nicotine is an anti-inflammatory, and from other studies we discovered smokers were less likely to get sarcoidosis.

    “So we’re testing whether nicotine can be a solution. We hope people will actually get a secondary benefit – not only will their lung disease get better, but they’ll feel more energized and have better quality of life.”

    Crouser described sarcoidosis as “tricky” because it mimicked other diseases. “It’s frequently misdiagnosed,” he said. “Sarcoidosis can look like lung nodules, pneumonia, scar tissue, even lung cancer. It can involve other vital organs, and it differs from one person to the next.”

    Left untreated, sarcoidosis can cause severe lung damage and even death. And unlike in the case of most lung diseases, the main symptom isn’t shortness of breath, but debilitating fatigue.

    Current treatments such as steroids often have side effects harsher than the symptoms of the disease itself. “We can’t use the medications for very long before these side effects occur,” said Crouser. “They can be severe, such as the development of osteoporosis, cataracts, diabetes or high blood pressure and complications related to those.

    “We need better, more tolerable options.”

    So Crouser is leading a clinical trial at the Wexner Medical Center to test nicotine patches as a potential treatment for sarcoidosis.

    The full story is at: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20170828/Lung-experts-test-nicotine-patches-as-potential-treatment-for-sarcoidosis.aspx.

  • Risk continuum quantified

    The use of electronic cigarettes carries much less cancer risk than does tobacco smoking, though the use of some types of e-cigarettes is more-risky than the use of others, according to a story by Iqra Mumal on lungdiseasenews.com quoting a new study.

    The research, entitled, Comparing the cancer potencies of emissions from vaporized nicotine products including e-cigarettes with those of tobacco smoke, was published in the journal Tobacco Control.

    The story said that both the scientific community and the public had been divided over the health risks associated with vaporized nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn devices.

    Studies had shown that vaporized nicotine products, or VNPs, could expose people to cancer-causing agents, but the question was how much cancer risk they posed.

    Dr. William E. Stephens of the University of St. Andrews, the UK, led a team that sought to determine the cancer risk of the individual compounds in VNPs, and then calculate an overall VNP cancer risk.

    They looked at published analyses of emissions to generate cancer-risk figures for a number of nicotine-delivering products, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, and medicinal nicotine inhalers.

    Each of the products were found to have different cancer potencies. Cigarette smoke had the highest. potency, while most e-cigarettes had cancer potencies that were less than one percent of cigarette smoke, though a small minority had much higher potencies than did others.

    This minority of e-cigarettes was associated with high levels of carbonyls – or carbon compounds – that the products generated when a lot of power was applied to their atomizer coils.

    Another finding was that heat-not-burn devices had lower cancer potency than did cigarette smoke but much higher potency than most e-cigarettes had.

    The team concluded that cigarettes posed the highest lifetime cancer risk, and that they were followed on the cancer-risk scale by heat-not-burn devices, then e-cigarettes and medicinal nicotine inhalers.

    Mumal’s story is at: https://lungdiseasenews.com/2017/08/25/study-finds-that-cancer-risk-of-e-cigarettes-is-much-lower-than-that-of-cigarette-smoke/

  • Judge IQOS on science

    Judge IQOS on science

    The chief operating officer at the Truth Initiative, Dave Dobbins, has said the US Food and Drug Administration should review Philip Morris International’s toxicology tests and replicate them before approving its IQOS heated-tobacco system, according to a story by Lydia Wheeler for The Hill.

    PMI has two applications before the FDA. One is a Premarket Tobacco Application that was submitted on March 31 for its IQOS system with Marlboro Heatsticks, Marlboro Smooth Menthol Heatsticks and Marlboro Fresh Menthol Heatsticks; the Heatsticks comprising the consumable item. The FDA must approve the application before the products can be legally marketed and sold in the US.

    The other is a Modified Risk Tobacco Product application that was submitted in December to market the products as lower-risk.

    Dobbins said the tobacco industry had a history of questionable scientific practices over the years.

    “For example, the tobacco industry knew for years tobacco was addictive and deadly before they would admit it,” Wheeler quoted him as saying. It’s not impossible they could do something good; I’m more saying it’s important to verify their data.”

    Meanwhile, Corey Henry, a spokesman for PMI, said in an e-mail to The Hill that his company welcomed scrutiny of the product.

    ‘You don’t have to trust or believe us,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to take our word for it. But what we ask is that people have an open mind.’

    Wheeler’s piece is at: http://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/347546-tobacco-giant-asks-the-fda-to-approve-less-risky-cigarette.

  • Asthma, COPD treatable

    Asthma, COPD treatable

    Although the number of cases of asthma has increased worldwide since 1990, fewer people are dying from the condition, according to an IrishHealth.com story citing a new Global Burden of Disease study that looked at the impact of the two most common respiratory diseases worldwide, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, between 1990 and 2015.

    The study found that while the number of cases of asthma increased by 12 percent during this period, from 318 million in 1990 to 358 million in 2015, the number of deaths from the disease fell during the same period by just more than 26 percent, from 550,000 to 400,000.

    Asthma is the world’s most common chronic respiratory disease, followed by COPD. However, while there are twice as many cases of asthma as there are of COPD, the death rate from COPD is eight times higher than the death rate from asthma.

    COPD is an umbrella term for chronic lung disorders, including bronchitis and emphysema. It is a progressive, disabling condition caused by a narrowing of the airways.

    The study found that the number of cases of COPD increased by 44 percent between 1990 and 2015, while the number of deaths increased by more than 11 percent, from 2.8 million deaths in 1990 to 3.2 million in 2015.

    The researchers said that many cases of both conditions continued to be left undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or under-treated, even though both conditions could often be treated or prevented with affordable interventions.

    The researchers said the main risk factors for COPD were smoking and air pollution, followed by household air pollution, occupational risk (such as asbestos and diesel fumes), ozone and second-hand smoke.

    They said there needed to be more public health interventions to reduce air pollution and further reduce global smoking rates.

    Meanwhile, the study said that while the causes of asthma were less clear, they included smoking and asthma-causing allergens experienced in the workplace.

    The researchers called for more studies into both conditions and said that both needed clearer definitions.

    The full story is at: http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=25882.

  • CORESTA reporting

    CORESTA reporting

    The CORESTA Secretariat has given details of the documents that it has published and the projects that it has launched since May.

    The following documents have been published and can be downloaded from the CORESTA website at www.coresta.org under the Documents section.

    • Method No. 83 “Determination of Ammonia in Mainstream Cigarette Smoke by Ion Chromatography May 2017” (second edition) (2017-05-04)
    • Report “3rd Proficiency Test (2017) on Diffusion Capacity of Cigarette Papers” (2017-05-18)
    • Method No. 84 “Determination of Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Water, and Nicotine in the Aerosol of E-Cigarettes by Gas Chromatographic Analysis” (second edition) (2017-06-13)
    • Report “2017 Collaborative Study on TSNA, pH, and Moisture (Oven Volatiles)” (2017-07-03)
    • Report “2017 Collaborative Study on Benzo[a]pyrene in Tobacco Products” (2017-07-04)
    • Method No. 82 “Determination of Benzo[a]pyrene in Tobacco Products by GC-MS” (third edition) (2017-07-04)
    • Method No. 72 “Determination of Tobacco Specific Nitrosamines in Tobacco and Tobacco Products by LC-MS/MS” (fourth edition) (2017-07-12)
    • Report “Determination of Nitrite and Nitrate in Smokeless Tobacco Products by IC and CFA – 2016 Collaborative Study” (2017-07-20)
    • Method No. 76 “Determination of Moisture Content (Oven Volatiles) of Tobacco and Tobacco Products” (second edition) (2017-07-20)
    • Method No. 69 “Determination of pH in Tobacco and Tobacco Products” (second edition) (2017-07-20)
    • Report “2017 Metals Proficiency Study” (2017-07-24)

    In addition, the following new projects were launched since May. A full list of active projects is available on the CORESTA website at www.coresta.org under the Study Groups/Active Projects section:

    • Project 149: CORESTA Presentation at TMA Annual Meeting & Conference
    • Project 150: TTPA SG – Ammonia and B[a]P Collaborative Study
    • Project 151: TBO TF – Biotechnology and Omics Scientific Literature Review and Nomenclature Definition
    • Project 152: PTM SG – 5th Round Robin Test on Air Permeability Calibration Standards
    • Project 153: SMA SG – Revision of CRM74 in line with development of ISO21160 (Selected Carbonyls)
    • Project 154: EVAP SG – Presentation at Next Generation Nicotine Delivery 2017 Conference in London, November 2017.
  • Qualified support for FDA

    Qualified support for FDA

    A US senator has decried the electronic-cigarette provisions of the Food and Drug Administration’s Comprehensive Plan for Tobacco and Nicotine Regulation, which was announced on Friday.

    “The tobacco industry produces products that kill thousands of Americans each year, and sustains itself by recruiting ‘replacement smokers’ by marketing to young adults,” Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing the FDA, said in a statement posted on his website. “That’s why we were hoping to hear a strong plan from the FDA today [Friday].

    “Unfortunately, the FDA instead announced that it will allow e-cigarette products, largely aimed at children, to remain on the market for five more years with very little regulation.

    “According to the CDC’s [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] latest data, 20 percent of high school students, and seven percent of middle school students – 12 and 13 year old kids – use e-cigarettes. And they use it [sic] because they have names like ‘cotton candy’, ‘froot loops’ and ‘gummy bear’. These are not products targeted towards adults. “While the FDA’s goal of reducing the level of nicotine in traditional cigarettes is an important and admirable goal, it does nothing to address the growing threat of e-cigarette usage. Thousands more children will become addicted during this time, and everyone who cares about America’s youth should be deeply concerned by this decision.”

    Meanwhile, the American Heart Association (AHA) has said that while the FDA’s move to lower nicotine and examine flavoring comprise a promising step, the Deeming Rule delay is disappointing. It is concerned, also, that the FDA has raised the possibility of exempting premium cigars in the future.

    “FDA’s move today to lower nicotine levels and take a harder look at how flavored tobacco products attract the young is to be commended,” said AHA CEO Nancy Brown.

    “However, the Association is disappointed with the agency’s decision to delay certain e-cigarette and cigar compliance deadlines. Altering the deadline for FDA review of e-cigarettes and cigars is a troubling step and one that we will closely monitor.

    “We are also concerned that the FDA has raised the possibility of exempting premium cigars in the future. Tobacco in any form presents risk. That’s why we have advocated for – and will continue to insist – that FDA oversight of all tobacco products is absolutely essential. Premium cigars are no different. Cigars are a concern because high school-aged males now smoke them at a higher rate than [they smoke] cigarettes. As we have seen in recent Senate legislation, often the definition for ‘premium cigars’ creates a loophole that allows the flavored and cheap cigars that attract youth to qualify as ‘premium’. Weakening the deeming rule in any way could lead to an increasing number of Americans at risk for heart disease, stroke or even an early death due to tobacco use.

    “As the FDA carries out its new nicotine and tobacco plan, we urge the agency to remember that protecting public health, particularly the health of young people in this country, should be at the very top of its priority list. While we look forward to agency actions that can lower the number of Americans exposed to the harms of combustible tobacco, the FDA must advance all tobacco regulation. We must not take two steps forward and then one step back.”

    The 22nd Century Group welcomed the FDA’s announcement. The group said that it was ‘uniquely positioned to deliver on the new product standards’ given that its proprietary “Very Low Nicotine” cigarettes contained less than 0.6 mg nicotine per piece and yielded less than 0.05 mg nicotine per piece. These levels represented a nicotine reduction of at least 95 percent relative to the levels of other cigarette brands.

    The group said its tobacco was grown on ‘independently-owned farms in US, and was not subjected to any ‘artificial extraction or chemical processes’.

    It was the only company globally that was capable of growing tobacco with non-addictive levels of nicotine.

    The cigarettes produced from this tobacco, it added, had the ‘taste and sensory characteristics of conventional cigarettes’.

  • CORESTA registration open

    CORESTA registration open

    The registration websites for CORESTA’s 2017 Joint Study Group meetings are both open, according to a note from the organization’s secretariat.

    The Smoke Science and Product Technology (SSPT2017) meeting is due to be held at Kitzbühel, Austria, on October 8-12.

    The SSPT2017 website is at www.sspt2017.org, where the ‘early registration’ deadline is August 1.

    Meanwhile, the Agronomy & Leaf Integrity and Phytopathology & Genetics meeting (AP2017) is scheduled to be held at Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil, on October 22-26.

    The AP2017 website is at www.corestabrazil.com, where the ‘early registration’ deadline is July 31.