Research

Halving your smoking quota won’t help you live longer
A new study released in the journal Tobacco Control found that although reducing consumption may have a place in smoking cessation efforts, the only way to live a healthy life is to quit smoking altogether. The study assessed cardiovascular risk factors for never smokers, ex smokers, quitters, moderate smokers, reducers, and heavy smokers over a 10 year period. Overall, deaths from lung cancer and cancers associated with smoking were not significantly lower in those who had cut back compared with heavy smokers. For women, those who cut back actually had higher death rates from all causes combined than heavy smokers. For more information, click here.

Maternal exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke and pregnancy outcome among couples undergoing assisted reproduction
New research released in the journal Human Reproduction suggests that female exposure to second-hand smoke as a child or in-utero may be associated with an increased risk for having a spontaneous abortion in adulthood. The study of 921 women undergoing assisted reproductive technologies asked about women’s parental smoking habits and measured current exposure to second hand smoke. Click here for the article abstract.

Future smokers may be programmed in womb
Scientists in Australia have discovered that the children of women who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to become smokers than their non-maternal smoking counterparts. They suggest that nicotine from cigarettes may pass through the placenta to act directly on the developing brain of the unborn child. The study examined the smoking patterns of more than 3,000 mothers and their children and found that children of the 1,000 women who had smoked during pregnancy were three times more likely to start smoking by age 14 and twice as likely to start after that when compared to other children. The results are consistent with other research in the field. Click here to read more.

HPV and smoking a risky combo for women
New research reveals that women who smoke and carry human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) are at a greater risk for cervical cancer confined to the surface layer of the cervix than women with only one of the two factors. The two factors interact, causing current smokers positive for HPV-16 to be 14 times more likely to have this type of cervical cancer than HPV-16 negative smokers. Those who are HPV-16 positive and non-smokers increase the risk of cancer just over 5 fold. Click here to read more.

Smoking, drinking lower odds of surviving cancer
In a study released in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, South Korean researchers followed over 14,000 male cancer patients for nine years. Overall, men who had been smokers were at an increased risk for dying from any type of cancer than non-smokers. Additionally, smokers were less likely to undergo cancer screening tests, causing them to begin treatment at a later stage than non-smokers. For more information, click here.

Bladder cancer early smoking link
Research in the United Kingdom reveals that smoking while underage or being exposed to second-hand smoke as a child increases the risk of developing bladder cancer later in life. The study, following nearly 430,000 people across Europe, found that those individuals who smoked before the age of 15 were three times more likely to develop bladder cancer. Those exposed to second-hand smoke as a child were 40% more likely to develop bladder cancer. The study was published in the International Journal of Cancer. Click here to read more.

Regular smoking substantially increase risk of asthma in adolescents
The latest results of the Children’s Health Study show that adolescents who regularly smoke cigarettes have an increased risk of developing asthma when compared to their non-smoking peers. The prospective study followed over 2,600 children for a period of five to eight years. Overall, children who reported smoking 300 or more cigarettes per year had a four-fold increase in the risk for onset of asthma. The adolescents most at risk for developing asthma were those whose mothers’ smoked while pregnant and then became regular smokers. To read the press release, click here.

New risk for smokers: Survey show they’re more prone to losing teeth
New research from Japan reveals that smokers are at a greater risk of periodontal disease and teeth loss than nonsmokers. The survey, administered to 6,805 people, revealed that smokers over age 60 have on average four teeth fewer than nonsmokers, even after taking into consideration other factors such as tooth brushing and obesity. For more information, click here.

Smoking changes brain chemistry
German scientists reveal data that suggest that chronic smoking affects nerve cells and alters the chemical makeup of the brain. The study is the first imaging study to focus on the relationship between brain metabolites and nicotine dependence. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed on 21 men and 22 women in a smoking cessation program, two weeks after they had quit smoking and again six months later. When compared to healthy controls, nicotine-dependent patients had decreased concentrations of the amino acid N-acetylaspartate in a region of the brain that processes pleasure and pain. The decreased levels were present whether or not the subject was using the nicotine patch and correlated directly with how many years the subject had smoked. For the press release, click here.

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