Research

Swedish snus much safer than smoking, but linked to pancreatic cancer
Two studies, soon to be published in Lancet, compared the effects of snus use and smoking on health status. The first study concerned the population effects of snus in Australia, where researchers estimated differences in life expectancy between people who had never smoked and people with varying levels of tobacco use. Little difference in life expectancy was found between former smokers who no longer used any tobacco products and former smokers who switched to snus. The second study was a twenty-six year longitudinal study of 280,000 Swedish construction workers, where researchers tracked the workers’ tobacco use for the first fourteen years and then tracked their health status for the next twelve. Compared to never-smokers, participants that used snus were no more likely to develop lung or oral cancers, but were twice as likely to develop pancreatic cancer. Click here to read more.

Cigarette use may explain asthma epidemic in children, study suggests
Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health have demonstrated an association between cigarette smoking in adults and prevalence of asthma in children. Study data suggest a corresponding increase in childhood asthma and adult cigarette smoking in the last century. This association is most likely explained by increased exposure to secondhand smoke, which has a higher concentration of some toxins than smoke inhaled by the smoker. Click here to read more.

Smoking in during pregnancy can increase risk of ADHD in child
New research suggests that prenatal smoking, in conjunction with genetic factors, increases the risk of ADHD development in children. Researchers at Washington University examined male and female twin pairs to assess the link between genetic variations, in utero substance exposure and forms of ADHD. They observed a strong connection between prenatal smoking, two forms of dopamine pathway genes, and incidence of ADHD. To read more about the study, which will be published in the June 15th edition of Biological Psychiatry, click here.

‘Light’ cigarettes take heavy toll on blood flow
This study compared the effects of smoking ‘light’ cigarettes and regular cigarettes on coronary blood flow. Researchers measured coronary flow velocity response (CFVR), which measures the dilation capacity of coronary arteries in response to increased blood flow, in 62 people in their mid-twenties with no history of heart disease. Roughly one-third smoked light cigarettes, one-third smoked regular cigarettes, and one-third were non-smokers. CFVR was initially lower in both groups of smokers compared to non-smokers, and then fell even further in both groups after smoking a cigarette. To read more, click here.

Smoking in pregnancy has long-lasting impact
This study examined the effects of prenatal exposure to smoking on later heart health in laboratory rat offspring. Researchers exposed rats to nicotine during pregnancy and up to ten days after birth and then assessed cardiac function of the offspring three months later. Both male and exposed female rats exposed to nicotine were significantly more susceptible to cardiac injury and female rats experienced a significant decrease in blood flow to the heart. To read more about the research, click here.

Tobacco and alcohol use independently increase risk of head and neck cancer
This study examined the independent effects of tobacco and alcohol on the incidence of head and neck cancer. Researchers combined data from 15 case-control studies, which gave them a total of 10,244 cancer patients and 15,227 cancer-free controls. Both smoking cigarettes among never-drinkers and drinking three or more drinks per day among never-smokers were associated with increased risk for head and neck cancer. Approximately 24% of these cancers were attributable to smoking, while about 7% were due to drinking alcohol. Click here to read more about the study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Assessment model based on medical history gauges lung cancer risk
Researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed a tool to predict which smokers are at higher risk of lung cancer. The tool will help clinicians generate a score for patients based on a variety of epidemiological factors including smoking habit, secondhand smoke exposure, and family history of cancer. To read more, click here.

top

Back to Table of Contents