Category: Smoking

Profound impact of smoking, alcohol and obesity on improvements in life expectancy

Fanny Janssen, Sergi Trias-Llimós and Anton Kunst

Smoking, alcohol misuse and behaviours that result in obesity (such as an unhealthy diet and insufficient physical activity) have strong negative effects on individual health. Because these health behaviours are very common among people in Europe, smoking, alcohol and obesity also largely influence mortality rates and life expectancy in Europe.

However, the impact of these three lifestyle factors on life expectancy is likely changing over time. Smoking, obesity and alcohol misuse, like true epidemics, tend to first become more common in a population, followed (eventually) by a decline in their prevalence and associated mortality.

This raises the question of how changes in smoking, obesity and alcohol use have influenced improvements in life expectancy over time. Answering this question is particularly relevant because of the recently observed stagnation in life expectancy improvements in some European countries.

Continue reading “Profound impact of smoking, alcohol and obesity on improvements in life expectancy” →

Did you know that breathing in smoke from solid fuels or tobacco may increase your risk of dying from chronic liver disease?

Ka Hung Chan, Derrick Bennett, Kin Bong Hubert Lam and Zhengming Chen

Chronic liver diseases (CLD), such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, affect more than 800 million people worldwide, with a third of these living in China. Smoke from solid fuels (e.g. coal and wood) and tobacco contains high concentrations of thousands of toxic chemicals. When breathed in, these chemicals can reach and harm major internal organs, including the liver.

Continue reading “Did you know that breathing in smoke from solid fuels or tobacco may increase your risk of dying from chronic liver disease?” →

Is it time to establish breast cancer as a smoking-related cancer?

Inger T Gram

Smoking was established as a cause of lung cancer in the late 1950s. It then took another 50 years to establish that colorectal cancer was also a smoking-related cancer. However, as of 2018, a causal relationship between smoking and breast cancer had not yet been established. It may seem strange that it is taking so long to prove that smoking is a cause of all three of the most common cancers globally. Breast and lung cancer each account for 2.09 million cases annually and colorectal cancer for 1.8 million.

Continue reading “Is it time to establish breast cancer as a smoking-related cancer?” →

Circulating cotinine concentrations and lung cancer risk evaluated in 20 international cohorts

Tricia L Larose, Arnulf Langhammer and Mattias Johansson, for the Lung Cancer Cohort Consortium (LC3)

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, accounting for 2.09 million cases and 1.76 million deaths in 2018. Two of the most prolific cancer epidemiologists of our time — Sir Richard Doll and Sir Bradford Hill — identified smoking as the biggest cause of lung cancer in their seminal report, “Smoking and Carcinoma of the Lung”, published in the British Medical Journal in 1950. Nearly 70 years later, smoking remains the predominant risk factor for lung cancer, as well as for 15 additional cancers and other non-communicable diseases.

Continue reading “Circulating cotinine concentrations and lung cancer risk evaluated in 20 international cohorts” →

Varenicline produces enduring smoking cessation when prescribed in primary care regardless of patients’ socioeconomic position

Gemma MJ Taylor, Amy E Taylor, Kyla H Thomas, Tim Jones, Richard M Martin, Marcus R Munafò and Neil M Davies

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Tobacco is the world’s leading cause of premature disease and death. One in two smokers will die from their addiction unless they quit. Smoking is also a major contributor to health inequalities between the richest and poorest in society. Evidence from the Health Improvement Network in the United Kingdom indicates that smokers from more deprived groups are just as likely as those from less deprived groups to receive advice to quit from their GP. However, evidence from observational studies suggests that smokers from disadvantaged backgrounds are much less likely to quit, even after accessing treatment from specialist stop-smoking services.

Continue reading “Varenicline produces enduring smoking cessation when prescribed in primary care regardless of patients’ socioeconomic position” →

Does fathers’ smoking give their future offspring asthma?

Cecilie Svanes, Jennifer Koplin, Francisco Gomez Real, and Svein Magne SkulstadSlide1

A new study shows that asthma is three times more common in those who had a father who smoked in adolescence, and twice as common in those whose father worked with welding before conception. Can these numbers be reduced by including adolescent boys in public health prevention programmes?

It is well known that a mother’s environment plays a key role in child health. The hypothesis that health and disease originate early in life has dramatically increased our understanding of this issue. However, recent research suggests that this may also be true for fathers; i.e. father’s lifestyle and age appear to be reflected in molecules that control gene function. There is growing evidence from animal studies for “epigenetic” inheritance, a mechanism whereby the father’s environment before conception could impact on the health of future generations. Continue reading “Does fathers’ smoking give their future offspring asthma?” →

Waterpipe smoking might be just as harmful as smoking cigarettes

Reem Waziry and Elie Akl

Elie_Akl[1] Reem Waziry headshotWaterpipe, also known as shisha, goza, narghile, arghile and hookah, is a traditional method for smoking tobacco. While it originated in Turkey, India and Iran, its use has spread on a global level over the past decade to the point of being labelled a global epidemic.

There are a number of explanations for the global spread of waterpipe tobacco smoking. First, people use it as a way to socialize, as it is smoked in groups. Second, the production of sweetened and flavoured tobacco (Maassel), resulting in aromatic and smooth smoke, can make it more appealing than cigarette smoking. Another major reason is a common misconception that waterpipe tobacco smoking is not harmful, or is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Continue reading “Waterpipe smoking might be just as harmful as smoking cigarettes” →