Research

Smoking may worsen pain for cancer patients
Research presented in the journal Pain indicates that cancer patients who smoke experience more severe pain compared to those who do not smoke. To assess the association between smoking and pain among cancer patients, researchers analyzed self-reported data from 224 cancer patients on pain severity, pain-related distress, pain-related interference with daily routines, demographic information, and smoking status. The data showed that those who continued to smoke after being diagnosed with cancer experienced more severe pain, and were more likely to report having pain that interfered with their everyday life, compared to never smokers. Additionally, pain severity among former smokers decreased with the number of years they had quit smoking, signifying that quitting smoking can reduce levels of pain over time. The findings emphasize the importance of promoting cessation among cancer patients to improve quality of life. Click here to read more or read the abstract of the study.

Smoking tied to miscarriage risk
A new Japanese study shows that smoking is linked to an increased risk of miscarriage in the first trimester. Researchers reviewed the medical records of 430 women experiencing early spontaneous abortion and 860 women who had a full term delivery in order to determine risk factors associated with miscarriage. After controlling for several known risk factors for miscarriage, the results showed that women who smoked heavily (20 or more cigarettes per day) were 2.39 times more likely to experience a spontaneous abortion than nonsmokers. The study also found that past history of spontaneous abortions and being employed were associated with increased risk of miscarriage. The researchers suggest that interventions targeting women who smoke could help reduce the rate of miscarriage in Japan. Click here to read more, or read the abstract of the study, published in Human Reproduction.

Smoking linked to earlier male deaths
A study published in Tobacco Control indicates that up to 60% of the difference in mortality between men and women in Europe is due to tobacco-related illness. Researchers used World Health Organization data on all-cause mortality, smoking-related mortality, and alcohol-related mortality from thirty European countries to calculate the proportion of the gender gap in mortality attributable to smoking and alcohol. They estimated that smoking-related deaths accounted for the largest proportion of the gender difference at 40-60%, with alcohol accounting for about 20-30%. The results reflect gender differences in smoking prevalence. It may take many years for smoking patterns to change before the gender gap in mortality is narrowed. Click here to read more, or click here to view the study abstract.

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