Research

The effects of waterpipe tobacco smoking on health outcomes: A systematic review
A new study has found that smoking tobacco with a waterpipe is associated with several negative health outcomes. Researchers performed a systematic review including 24 studies, rating the quality of evidence in each, to determine the health outcomes associated with waterpipe smoking. The results showed that waterpipe smoking significantly increased the odds of developing several health conditions: lung cancer, respiratory illness, low birth weight, and periodontal disease. The researchers note that the quality of the studies was generally low, and that higher quality studies need to be completed to better understand the health effects of waterpipe smoking. Click here to read the study abstract, which was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Snuff just as addictive as cigarettes
Research shows that people who use smokeless tobacco are just as addicted to nicotine as cigarette smokers. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden surveyed over 800 adolescent users of cigarettes, snus, or both to investigate the prevalence of nine symptoms of nicotine dependence, such as using tobacco right after waking up in the morning, using tobacco while sick, and being unable to quit. The study found that seven of the symptoms were more common among snus users than smokers, and all nine were more common among those that used both snus and cigarettes, compared to those who used cigarettes only. Read more here, or read the abstract of the study, published in Addiction.

Cigarette smoking may raise prostate cancer risk
A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health shows that smoking is associated with prostate cancer incidence and mortality. A meta-analysis of 24 cohort studies involving over 21,500 prostate cancer patients was performed to calculate the pooled risk of prostate cancer among smokers. Overall, current smokers are not at an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, compared to nonsmokers. However, when the data were stratified by amount smoked, the heaviest smokers had a 24% to 30% greater risk of death from prostate cancer than nonsmokers. The researchers note that the risk may have been underestimated because of differences in how the studies classified smokers, and that more research should be done to clarify the relationship. Click here to read more, or click here to read the study abstract.

Genetic variant greatly increases lung cancer risk for light smokers
A research team at the University of Cincinnati has found that people with a certain genetic susceptibility to lung cancer are at increased risk of the disease, even if they are only a light smoker. The researchers collected data from families affected by lung cancer regarding smoking status (never, light, moderate, and heavy smokers) and the presence of a genetic haplotype (portion of a chromosome containing genes that are usually inherited together) associated with lung cancer. In people without the haplotype associated with lung cancer, the risk of disease increased with level of smoking; in those with the haplotype, even light smoking greatly increased the risk of developing lung cancer. Increases in level of smoking after that only slightly increased the risk of developing lung cancer. Click here to read more, or read the abstract, published in Cancer Research.

Smoking tied to lung cancer in women with HIV
A new study shows that HIV-infected women and women at high risk of becoming HIV-infected are more likely to develop lung cancer, possibly because they are more likely to smoke than the general population. Investigators trying to determine the roles of HIV infection and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in lung cancer development found significantly more cases of lung cancer in infected and at-risk women than what is expected in the general population. Further analysis showed that two-thirds of the infected or at-risk women smoked, and all of those who developed lung cancer were smokers, indicating that smoking history was significantly associated with lung cancer in this population. The researchers point out that these findings demonstrate the need for smoking prevention and cessation services for at-risk and HIV-infected people. Read more here; read the abstract published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology here.

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