ScienceDaily for January 24, 2011 reported on smoking and breast cancer.
"Smoking before menopause was positively associated with breast cancer risk, and there were hints from our results that smoking after menopause might be associated with a slightly decreased breast cancer risk," the authors write. "This difference suggests an antiestrogenic effect of smoking among postmenopausal women that may further reduce their already low endogenous estrogen levels."
ScienceDaily for January 18, 2011 reported on smoking and death.
The reasons why women have been outliving men in developed European countries since the mid to late 18th century, in some cases, have been hotly contested.
ScienceDaily for January 17, 2011 reported on the genetic effects of smoking.
Stephen S. Hecht, Ph.D., and colleagues point out in the report that lung cancer claims a global toll of 3,000 lives each day, largely as a result of cigarette smoking. Smoking also is linked to at least 18 other types of cancer. Evidence indicates that harmful substances in tobacco smoke termed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, are one of the culprits in causing lung cancer. Until now, however, scientists had not detailed the specific way in which the PAHs in cigarette smoke cause DNA damage in humans.
ScienceDaily for January 14, 2011 reported on second-hand smoke in automobiles.
While trying to determine the risks involved, the authors first looked at the mixture of chemicals that make up second-hand smoke and its concentration in cars under different conditions such as volume, speed and ventilation. Second, they looked at how long a person would be in the car. Third, they observed how long a person would be exposed to the second-hand smoke. Fourth, the extent of difference between how second-hand smoke affects children compared to adults was added to the risk equation and finally, the authors looked at the health impact, which is hard to determine because of all the different chemicals and toxins a person is exposed to in their lifetime.
ScienceDaily for January 12, 2011 reported on health hazzards from 3rd-hand tobacco smoke.
Scientists are reporting that so-called "thirdhand smoke" -- the invisible remains of cigarette smoke that deposits on carpeting, clothing, furniture and other surfaces -- may be even more of a health hazard than previously believed. The study, published in ACS' journal, Environmental Science & Technology, extends the known health risks of tobacco among people who do not smoke but encounter the smoke exhaled by smokers or released by smoldering cigarette butts.
ScienceDaily for January 11, 2011 reported on second-hand smoke and young children.
"The prevention of adult diseases like stroke or heart attack begins during childhood," said Giacomo D. Simonetti, M.D., first author of the study at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and currently assistant professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of the University of Berne in Switzerland. "Parental smoking is not only negative for children's lung function, but poses a risk for their future cardiovascular health."
ScienceDaily for December 22, 2010 reported on smoking and cancer.
The relationship between smoking and cancer is well established. In a study published in the January 2011 issue of Pain, researchers report evidence to suggest that cancer patients who continue to smoke despite their diagnosis experience greater pain than nonsmokers. They found that for a wide range of cancer types and for cancers in stages I to IV, smoking was associated with increased pain severity and the extent to which pain interfered with a patient's daily routine.
ScienceDaily for December 16, 2010 reported on eCigarettes.
The review, which will be published online ahead of print this month in the Journal of Public Health Policy, is the first to comprehensively examine scientific evidence about the safety and effectiveness of electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, said Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences at BUSPH. The battery-powered devices provide tobacco-less doses of nicotine in a vaporized solution.
ScienceDaily for October 20, 2010 reported on the harmful effects of "safer" cigarettes.
"Harm reduction products are not necessarily safer than their conventional counterparts," said Prue Talbot, the director of UC Riverside's Stem Cell Center and the research team leader. "Our analyses show there is significant toxicity in harm reduction products, and our data show that reduction of carcinogens in harm reduction mainstream smoke does not necessarily reduce the toxicity of unfiltered sidestream smoke."
ScienceDaily for October 1, 2010 reported on research to reduce the nicotine in tobacco.
According to this new report, reducing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels could have a significant public health impact on prevention and smoking cessation. Over time, the move could dramatically reduce the number of annual deaths related to cigarette smoking by decreasing adolescent experimentation with cigarettes preventing a progression to addiction, and by reducing dependence on tobacco among currently addicted smokers of all ages.
ScienceDaily for September 23, 2010 reported on smoking by pregnant women and the motor control of their children.
"Moreover, we discovered that boys' abilities may be affected to a greater extent than those of girls," says Professor Scott Montgomery at Örebro University.
"There is a link between nicotine and testosterone. Nicotine can influence development of the brain and interacts with testosterone particularly during the foetal stage, and this could make boys extra susceptible to foetal nicotine exposure," says Matz Larsson, researcher in medicine and consultant physician at Örebro University Hospital.
ScienceDaily for September 2, 2010 reported on the effect of premature stopping of smoking.
Their findings published online in the journal Addiction suggest that current treatment theories that maintain any smoking after the planned target quit day predicts treatment failure need to be expanded to take into account a more dynamic quitting process. The team's analysis points to two types of successful quitters: those who quit immediately and remain abstinent through the end of treatment and those who are "delayed" in attaining abstinence but achieve success by the end of treatment.
ScienceDaily for September 1, 2010 reported on veggies and cancer.
"Fruits and vegetables contain many different bioactive compounds, and it makes sense to assume that it is important that you not only eat the recommended amounts, but also consume a rich mix of these bioactive compounds by consuming a large variety," he said.
ScienceDaily for August 25, 2010 reported on detection
of chemicals in cigarette smoke.
A test for one of the thousands of chemicals in cigarette smoke has the potential for more accurately estimating smokers' mouth level exposure and may have applications for developing custom-tailored quitting approaches for the more than 43 million people in the United States who still smoke, and hundreds of millions elsewhere, scientists say.
ScienceDaily for August 27, 2010 reported on secondhand smoke.
Second-hand smoke is associated with a number of diseases and conditions, including cancer,
heart disease, and emphysema. It is an irritant to lung tissue and blood vessels, but the processes through which the body reacts to second-hand smoke comprise a mystery scientists are only beginning to unravel.
ScienceDaily for August 27, 2010 reported on smoking by teenagers and depression.
While some teenagers may puff on cigarettes to 'self-medicate' against the blues, scientists at the University of Toronto and the University of Montreal have found that smoking may actually increase depressive symptoms in some adolescents. Published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, the findings are part of the long-term Nicotine Dependence in Teens (NDIT) study based at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre.
ScienceDaily for August 27, 2010 reported on a method of determining if a mother smoked or inhaled secondary smoke during her pregnancy.
Meconium, the dark and tarry stools passed by a baby during the first few days after birth, can be used to determine how much the mother smoked, or if she was exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy.
ScienceDaily for August 24, 2010 reported on vitamin D and our health.
While smoking is a well-known risk factor for a broad range of cancer types, non-nicotine components of tobacco have generally been thought to be the carcinogens, so little is known about how nicotine acts on cells to promote cancer cell growth. For breast cancer in particular, some large epidemiological studies have suggested that smoking is related to increased breast cancer risk, but they have not been accompanied by molecular biology studies on how that actually works.
ScienceDaily for August 20, 2010 reported on effects of cigarette smoke on our lungs.
"The genetic effect is much lower than those who are regular smokers, but this does not mean that there are no health consequences," says Dr. Crystal. "Certain genes within the cells lining the airways are very sensitive to tobacco smoke, and changes in the function of these genes are the first evidence of 'biological disease' in the lungs or individuals."
ScienceDaily for August 19, 2010 reported on health of teenagers.
Teens who are overweight, get little exercise or who smoke may be more likely to have frequent headaches and migraines than teens with none of these factors, according to a study published in the August 18, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
