Tale of two epidemics

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Nicotine in the News

  • Harry`s Blog 31: Very low nicotine cigarettes or shit without the hit

    Harry Shapiro Director DrugWise

    There is a new Holy Grail within the world of tobacco control – the reduced nicotine cigarette which proponents claim will make cigarettes so unattractive that smoking tobacco will be eliminated. This was the thrust of a recent commentary from Scott Gottlieb and Mitch Zeller in the New England Journal of Medicine http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1707409#t=article and is likely to become a major tobacco control policy goal internationally. Scientific evidence is being presented that this works; the Gottlieb commentary cited the FDA-funded study by Eric Donny which has been challenged by Dr Brad Rodhu. No doubt ‘methodologies at dawn’ will be played out in the medical press in the coming months.

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Blog Highlights

  • Banning e-cigarettes is no solution to the huge health burden of tobacco use in India

    Scientists appeal for conducting India centric research before deciding on any hasty move

    India has the second largest cigarette smoking population in the world. Added to which is a large population consuming tobacco in other forms such as the local non-cigarette alternatives including bidi, hukkah and chilam, and tobacco/Areca nut based chewing products. These products have been proven to be major causes of oral, oropharyngeal and lung cancers, as well as other health issues. For an overview of tobacco use in India see here.

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  • Health officials at odds over the safety of e-cigarettes, as TV ads launched

    New TV adverts encouraging the use of E-cigarettes to quit smoking are to be launched by Public Health England - just as other health officials warn there is little evidence they are safe. The new campaign, due to start next month, is the first time that the NHS has thrown its weight behind vaping on national television.
    2017-09-21 | telegraph.co.uk

    • E Cigarettes
    • Smoking

  • Over 7 million deaths from smoking in 2016

    The latest Global Burden of Disease study has calculated that 7.1 million people (7,131,380) died from smoking globally in 2016. This included 884,000 deaths due to second-hand smoke. The number of smoking-related deaths has increased by 4% over the last 10 years. The commonest causes of death from smoking were ischaemic heart disease (heart attacks), COPD (emphysema), Lung and airways cancer and stroke.
    2017-09-21 | colinmendelsohn.com.au

    • Smoking
    • Study

  • NHS Health Scotland: E-cigs 'definitely' less harmful than smoking

    E-cigarettes are "definitely" less harmful than smoking tobacco, health bodies in Scotland have stated for the first time. NHS Health Scotland said it wanted to "clarify" confusion around the harms and benefits of vaping devices. More than 20 organisations have signed up to the consensus, which was led by NHS Health Scotland. [...]
    2017-09-21 | bbc.com

    • E Cigarettes
    • Smoking

  • Are e-cigarettes bad for the heart? Study sheds light

    The safety of electronic cigarettes is a widely debated issue. The latest research demonstrates that in people who do not smoke, they can alter heart rate variability, which is an indicator of increased adrenaline levels. [...] There is little doubt that these devices deliver fewer carcinogens to the user, but, because they often contain nicotine, conversations regarding their safety are ongoing.
    2017-09-21 | medicalnewstoday.com

    • E Cigarettes
    • Study

  • 'Bring us your worst smokers' – helping diehard smokers quit

    Why is it so hard for some people to quit smoking? It's a question that baffles anyone who's close to someone who keeps smoking despite its scary consequences – but while lack of willpower might come to mind, it's not that simple. Let's start with genes – some of us are born with an enzyme type that metabolises nicotine so fast that it's soon flushed out of the body. [...]
    2017-09-21 | smh.com.au

    • Cigarettes
    • Smoking

  • What the New Surgeon General Should Do About E-Cigarettes

    In early September, Dr. Jerome Adams, former Indiana State Health Commissioner, was sworn in as the nation’s 20th Surgeon General. [...] Having established his bona fides in harm reduction in the context of opioids, Adams must now apply them to nicotine. He can start by setting the evidentiary record straight on youth and e-cigarettes, devices that deliver a heated nicotine solution with none of the tar [...]
    2017-09-21 | forbes.com

    • E Cigarettes
    • Nicotine

  • Budget cigarettes linked to higher infant mortality rates in EU countries

    A study of 23 EU countries found that larger price differences between high and low priced cigarettes are associated with higher infant mortality. Scientists already know that high cigarette prices reduce smoking rates, and that levels of smoking affect infant mortality. However until now, there have been no studies to explore the link between cigarette price differentials and infant mortality.
    2017-09-21 | www3.imperial.ac.uk

    • Cigarettes
    • Smoking
    • Study

  • Call for users of e-cigarettes to be told ’little evidence of benefits or harms’

    GPs should warn smokers there is currently little evidence on the long-term benefits or harms of e-cigarettes, British health officials have said. The move from the country’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) comes despite backing for e-cigarettes from Public Health England (PHE), which says they are a useful aid for quitting.
    2017-09-20 | irishexaminer.com

    • E Cigarettes
    • Smoking
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Nicotine Science and Policy posts news items on a wide range of issues related to the use of nicotine and posting of a news item does not imply endorsement of the views expressed in any item.

 

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