Tag: smoking

  • Study: One Cigarette Decreases Life Expectancy by 20 Minutes

    Study: One Cigarette Decreases Life Expectancy by 20 Minutes

    Photo: Nopphon

    A new study in Addiction shows that smoking a single cigarette decreases life expectancy by an average of 20 minutes, reports CNN Health. The study is based off British smokers and was commissioned by the U.K. Department for Health and Social Care.

    The research, which came out of University College London, estimated that the loss of life expectancy for men was about 17 minutes and for women was about 22 minutes.

    According to Sarah Jackson, lead author of the paper and a principal research fellow in the UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group, “20 cigarettes at 20 minutes per cigarette works out to be almost seven hours of life lost per pack.”

    “The time they’re losing is time that they could be spending with their loved ones in fairly good health,” Jackson said. “With smoking, it doesn’t eat into the later period of your life that tends to be lived in poorer health. Rather, it seems to erode some relatively healthier section in the middle of life. So when we’re talking about loss of life expectancy, life expectancy would tend to be lived relatively good health.”

    The research used mortality data from the British Doctors Study and the Million Women Study, showing that people who smoked throughout their lives lost, on average, around 10 years of life compared to nonsmokers. Life expectancy is similar in the U.S. for smokers versus nonsmokers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    The amount of life expectancy that can be recovered by quitting smoking can depend on several factors, according to the new research.

    “In terms of regaining this life lost, it’s complicated,” said Jackson. “These studies have shown that people who quit at a very young age—so by their 20s or early 30s—tend to have a similar life expectancy to people who have never smoked. But as you get older, you progressively lose a little bit more that you can’t regain by quitting.

    “But no matter how old you are when you quit, you will always have a longer life expectancy than if you had continued to smoke. So, in effect, while you may not be reversing the life lost already, you’re preventing further loss of life expectancy.”

  • Similar DNA Changes in Smokers and Vapers

    Similar DNA Changes in Smokers and Vapers

    Image: tonaquatic

    A new study from University College London (UCL) and the University of Innsbruck shows that e-cigarette users with limited smoking history have similar DNA changes to specific cheek cells as smokers, reports Medical Xpress.

    The study was published in Cancer Research. It analyzed epigenetic effects of tobacco and e-cigarettes on DNA methylation in more than 3,500 samples to determine the impact on cells directly exposed to tobacco (e.g., cells in the mouth) and cells that are not directly exposed to tobacco (e.g., blood cells or cervical cells).

    Data showed that epithelial cells in the mouth had substantial epigenomic changes in smokers. Similar epigenetic changes were seen in epithelial cells in the mouths of e-cigarette users who had smoked fewer than 100 tobacco cigarettes in their lifetime.

    “This is the first study to investigate the impact of smoking and vaping on different kinds of cells—rather than just blood—and we’ve also strived to consider the longer term health implications of using e-cigarettes,” said Chiara Herzog, first author of the study. 

    “We cannot say that e-cigarettes cause cancer based on our study, but we do observe e-cigarette users exhibit some similar epigenetic changes in buccal cells as smokers, and these changes are associated with future lung cancer development in smokers,” Herzog said. “Further studies will be required to investigate whether these features could be used to individually predict cancer in smokers and e-cigarette users.”

    “While the scientific consensus is that e-cigarettes are safer than smoking tobacco, we cannot assume they are completely safe to use, and it is important to explore their potential long-term risks and links to cancer,” said Herzog. “We hope this study may help form part of a wider discussion into e-cigarette usage—especially in people who have never previously smoked tobacco.”

    The study also showed that some smoking-related epigenetic changes remained more stable than others after quitting smoking, including smoking-related epigenetic changes in cervical samples.

    “The epigenome allows us, on one side, to look back,” said Martin Widschwendter, senior author of the study. “It tells us about how our body responded to a previous environmental exposure like smoking. Likewise, exploring the epigenome may also enable us to predict future health and disease. Changes that are observed in lung cancer tissue can also be measured in cheek cells from smokers who have not (yet) developed a cancer.

    “Importantly, our research points to the fact that e-cigarette users exhibit the same changes, and these devices might not be as harmless as originally thought. Long-term studies of e-cigarettes are needed. We are grateful for the support the European Commission has provided to obtain these data.”

    In response to the study, the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) released a statement.

    “While the study data—which one leading academic has described as ‘crude’—implies a link to changes in cheek cells, which could potentially cause cancer, the study authors said their findings did not prove that e-cigarettes caused cancer,” the statement read.

    “The study authors said their findings showed that vapes ‘might not be as harmless as originally thought,’ but it is important to make clear that nobody in the vape industry ever said that vaping was harmless. There are risks from vaping, but they are tiny compared to smoking,” the UKVIA said.

    “This latest study,” the UKVIA statement said, “is also questioned by leading experts such as Peter Shields, an emeritus professor of medical oncology at Ohio State University. He states that critical pieces of information are missing and calls the smoking and vaping data that they are working from as ‘crude.’ He points to the fact that there is no biochemical verification that the vapers are actually not also smokers. He concludes that ‘researchers are still a far distance from being able to show causality, and the data looks like vapers are actually more like never smokers—implying their risk of cancer is not increasing by vaping.”

  • As Smoking Declines, More Adults Switching

    As Smoking Declines, More Adults Switching

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    U.S. cigarette smoking dropped to another all-time low last year, with one in 9 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released April 27. Meanwhile, electronic cigarette use rose, to about one in 17 adults.

    The preliminary findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are based on survey responses from more than 27,000 adults.

    Last year, the percentage of adult smokers dropped to about 11 percent, down from about 12.5 percent in 2020 and 2021. The survey findings are sometimes revised after further analysis, and the CDC is expected to release final 2021 data soon.

    E-cigarette use rose to nearly 6 percent last year, from about 4.5 percent the year before, according to survey data.

  • ‘Cancer Moonshot’ Takes Aim at Smoking

    ‘Cancer Moonshot’ Takes Aim at Smoking

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    U.S. President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address stated that cutting smoking rates in order to prevent cancer deaths is a main goal of his “Cancer Moonshot” program.

    According to Biden, the administration’s goal is to cut cancer deaths by half in the next 25 years. In order to do so, one of the aims is to “help people avoid smoking in the first place and support Americans who want to quit.” He noted that “While we have made progress, tobacco products still hook too many young people at an early age and take control away from individual Americans to make the decision not to smoke. The administration is working to put that control back in the hands of Americans.”

    “We’re going to continue to focus on prevention,” said Danielle Carnival, the White House “Cancer Moonshot” coordinator. “We’re committed to continuing to use authorities and programs to keep making progress.”

    Prior to the State of the Union, some conservative commentators had complained about a “war on cigarettes.” After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its plan to ban menthol cigarettes, Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed that nicotine “frees your mind,” according to Business Insider. Biden first launched the “Cancer Moonshot” program in 2015 while he served as vice president. He renewed the program last year.

  • Study: Vape Bans Lead to More Smoking

    Study: Vape Bans Lead to More Smoking

    Photo: motortion

    A new study in Value in Health shows that local vape bans are leading to higher rates of combustible cigarette smoking, according to Filter.

    The study used state-level cigarette sales data, showing that Massachusetts had 7.5 percent higher than expected per capita cigarette sales following a full ban on nicotine vapor products. Rhode Island and Washington, which both enacted nontobacco-flavored nicotine vape bans, showed an average estimate of 4.6 percent higher than expected per capita cigarette sales.

    Researchers suggested that an additional 3.4 million cigarette packs were sold through convenience stores in those states during the three-month study period.

    The study was funded by Juul Labs.

  • Study recommends raising tobacco purchase age

    A study presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on March 12 supports the theory that raising the tobacco purchase age to 21 from 18 will substantially reduce the number of 15- to 17-year-olds who start smoking and decrease the number of early deaths and low birth weights due to smoking.

    Conducted by an Institute of Medicine committee, the study—titled “Public health implications of raising the minimum age of legal access to tobacco products”—reviewed existing information about tobacco use initiation as well as developmental biology and psychology.

    Results of the study indicated that, if the minimum age of legal access to tobacco products were increased to 19, smoking prevalence would decrease by an estimated 3 percent by the time today’s teenage users become adults. Additionally, the study found that a 12 percent decrease would occur if the minimum age of legal access were raised to 21, and a decrease of 16 percent would take place should the minimum age be raised to 25.

    The committee that conducted the study was chaired by Richard Bonnie, a law professor at the University of Virginia, and researchers used the SimSmoke and CisNet cigarette smoking models to gather information. Researchers also concluded that increasing the minimum age of legal access to 21 would result in 45,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer, 249,000 fewer premature deaths, 438,000 fewer babies born with a low birth weight, 286,000 fewer pre-term births, and 4.2 million fewer years of life lost among those born between 2000 and 2019.

  • Sticky story: 3rd-hand smoke gives guests gooey fingers

    Anyone who has ever walked into a “non-smoking” hotel room and caught the distinct odor of cigarette smoke will not be surprised by the findings of a new study: When a hotel allows smoking in any of its rooms, the smoke gets into all of its rooms, the study suggests, according to a story in USA Today.

    Nicotine residues and other chemical traces “don’t stay in the smoking rooms,” says Georg Matt, a psychologist from San Diego State University who led the study, published Monday in the journal Tobacco Control. “They end up in the hallways and in other rooms, including non-smoking rooms.”

    The study found smoke residue on surfaces and in the air of both smoking and non-smoking rooms in 30 California hotels where smoking was allowed. Levels were highest in the smoking rooms, but levels in non-smoking rooms were much higher than those found at 10 smoke-free hotels.

    Volunteers who stayed overnight in the smoking hotels also ended up with sticky nicotine residues on their fingers, whether they stayed in smoking rooms or not. Urine tests found additional evidence of nicotine exposure in those who stayed in smoking rooms, but not those who stayed in the non-smoking rooms.

  • Diggers reject mine sites smoking ban

    A call by the Cancer Council for smoking to be banned at all West Australian (WA) mines sites has been rejected, according to an Australian Associated Press report.

    The Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) has said that a ban would cause resentment.

    WA’s Department of Mines and Petroleum data show smoking rates in the mining sector are almost double the national average.

    The CME’s manager of occupational health and safety, Richard Wilson, was quoted as saying that public health campaigners needed to design strategies to improve the health of the whole population, not target specific industries.

    “Singling out one sector above others just causes resentment amongst people in that industry and fails to improve health outcomes across the population,” Wilson said.

  • E-cigarette firm FIN appoints sales VP

    The e-cigarette company, FIN Branding Group, has appointed Rick Torgalski as vice president of sales, a role in which he will be responsible for “leading, developing, and growing” the company’s national sales, distribution and promotional efforts.
    Before joining FIN, Torgalski served as director of convenience channels at Hostess Brands.

    And prior to that he spent 10 years with The Hershey Company, where he held a number of positions, including national account manager and marketing manager.

    “Rick’s varied experiences working on national account development is very important for our organization at this juncture,” said FIN chairman and CEO Elliot B. Maisel.

  • Smoking on the up in Gulf states

    The six member countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) are home to about four million smokers, a number that is increasing by 150,000 a year, according to a story by Habib Toumi for the Gulf News.

    Smokers within the GCC, which comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, consume about 50 billion cigarettes annually.

    And, according to Arabi Atta Allah and Majdi Ashoor, who were described as experts with the Qatar Supreme Health Council, this consumption level meant that the GCC incurred annual health care costs of $500 million.

    “According to one study, up to 50 percent of the GCC students aged between 14 and 18 smoke regularly,” they said as they gave a lecture in the Qatari capital, Doha. “Around 25 percent started puffing at cigarettes when they were between 10 and 15 years old.”

    “In the Arab world, the number of smokers has been steadily increasing, reaching 70 percent among males and 25 percent among females.”