cigarette smoking – Oral Cancer News

Smoking, cancer, heart disease, and the oral-systemic link: Where we are with research

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Richard H. Nagelberg, DDS Dr. Richard Nagelberg examines the links between smoking, lung cancer, and heart disease, as well as the types of research and studies that established the strength of their credibility over time. Likewise, he considers where we are today with the link between oral health and overall health as he evaluates the current state of oral-systemic research. Perhaps the most universally accepted facts in health care are the detrimental effects of tobacco, particularly cigarette smoking, for nearly every part of the body. It is safe to say that no one disputes the direct causal links between cigarette smoking, lung cancer, and heart disease. Listed below are only two statements regarding the state of this knowledge. ✔️The scientific evidence is incontrovertible: inhaling tobacco smoke, particularly from cigarettes, is deadly. Since the first Surgeon General’s Report in 1964, evidence has linked smoking to diseases of nearly all organs of the body. (surgeongeneral.gov. June 21, 2018) ✔️Smoking is by far the biggest preventable cause of cancer. Thanks to years of research, the links between smoking and cancer are now very clear. Smoking accounts for more than 1 in 4 UK cancer deaths, and 3 in 20 cancer cases. (cancerresearchuk.org) There is a boatload of research supporting this link. However, there has never been one large-scale double-blinded interventional study demonstrating that smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease. The fact that this link exists is based on the cumulative results of numerous smaller studies over a long period [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2018-08-18T16:04:12-07:00August, 2018|Oral Cancer News|

Alternative Tobacco Products as a Second Front in the War on Tobacco

Source: www.jamanetwork.comAuthors: Samir Soneji, PhD; James D. Sargent, MD; Susanne E. Tanski, MD, MPH; Brian A. Primack, MD, PhD Associations Between Initial Water Pipe Tobacco Smoking and Snus Use and Subsequent Cigarette Smoking: Results From a Longitudinal Study of US Adolescents and Young Adults Importance Many adolescents and young adults use alternative tobacco products, such as water pipes and snus, instead of cigarettes. Objective To assess whether prior water pipe tobacco smoking and snus use among never smokers are risk factors for subsequent cigarette smoking. Design, Setting, and Participants We conducted a 2-wave national longitudinal study in the United States among 2541 individuals aged 15 to 23 years old. At baseline (October 25, 2010, through June 11, 2011), we ascertained whether respondents had smoked cigarettes, smoked water pipe tobacco, or used snus. At the 2-year follow-up (October 27, 2012, through March 31, 2013), we determined whether baseline non–cigarette smokers had subsequently tried cigarette smoking, were current (past 30 days) cigarette smokers, or were high-intensity cigarette smokers. We fit multivariable logistic regression models among baseline non–cigarette smokers to assess whether baseline water pipe tobacco smoking and baseline snus use were associated with subsequent cigarette smoking initiation and current cigarette smoking, accounting for established sociodemographic and behavioral risk factors. We fit similarly specified multivariable ordinal logistic regression models to assess whether baseline water pipe tobacco smoking and baseline snus use were associated with high-intensity cigarette smoking at follow-up. Exposures Water pipe tobacco smoking and the use of snus at baseline. Main Outcomes [...]

Charlotte Parker2015-10-14T12:26:30-07:00October, 2015|Oral Cancer News|

Alcohol drinking in never-tobacco users and cigarette smoking in never drinkers: pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium

Source: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.orgAuthors: Paolo Boffetta, Mia Hasibe & On Behalf Of INHANCE Consortium Abstract: Cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking account for at least 75% of head and neck cancers. A precise understanding of the independent effect of each of these factors in the absence of the other has important implications, in terms of elucidating the mechanisms of head and neck carcinogenesis and assessing the effect of interventions aimed to control either risk factor.We determined the extent to which head and neck cancer is associated with cigarette smoking among never-drinkers and alcohol drinking among never-tobacco users. We pooled individual-level data across 15 individual case-control studies including 10,244 head and neck cancer cases and 15,227 controls.There were 1,072 cases and 5,775 controls who never used tobacco, and 1,598 cases and 4,051 controls who never drank alcohol. Cigarette smoking increased the risk of head and neck cancers [odds ratio (OR)=2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.49-2.95] among never-drinkers, with clear dose-response relationships for frequency, duration and packyears of cigarette smoking. Approximately 24% of head and neck cancer cases among non-drinkers would have been prevented if these individuals had not smoked cigarettes. Among never-tobacco users, an increasing risk of head and neck cancer was detected for increasing alcohol drinking frequency (p for trend<0.001), but the effect was apparent only at high doses.Our results represent the most precise estimate available of the independent effect of each of the two main risk factors of head and neck cancer and exemplify the strengths of large-scale consortia in cancer epidemiology. *This news [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-10-10T10:36:00-07:00October, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Current tobacco reports show 50 years of progress

Source: the-scientist.comAuthor: Jef Akst In 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General released the first report on the effect that cigarettes and other forms of tobacco have on human health, presenting strong evidence of the link between smoking and lung cancer, among other adverse consequences. During the last 50 years, significant progress has been made in terms of understanding how smoking causes various diseases and how to treat them, and educational campaigns have contributed to a drop in smoking rates from 42 percent to 18 percent of US adults. Nevertheless, more than 480,000 Americans still die from tobacco-related diseases each year, and additional health consequences continue to be linked to smoking. “Between now and mid-century, nearly 18 million Americans will die preventable avoidable deaths if we don’t do something to alter that trajectory,” Mitchell Zeller, the director of the Center for Tobacco Products of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said during a press conference held today here at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in San Diego, California. To this end, the AACR released a compilation of peer-reviewed research and review articles, published across seven of its journals, covering basic scientific research on the molecular mechanisms of tobacco carcinogenesis, tools for the diagnosis of lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases, and the impact of the original Surgeon General’s report on tobacco control. Ellen Gritz from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center helped put the new report together. “Together, these reports add to the broad reach of important tobacco-related [...]

Charlotte Parker2014-04-17T11:21:58-07:00April, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Exposure to Nicotine and Carcinogens among South Western Alaskan Native Cigarette Smokers and Smokeless Tobacco User

Source: AACR Journals Background Prevalence of tobacco use, both cigarette smoking and smokeless, including iqmik (homemade smokeless tobacco prepared with dried tobacco leaves mixed with alkaline ash), and tobacco-related cancer is high in Alaska Native people (AN). To investigate possible mechanisms of increased cancer risk we studied levels of nicotine and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA) in tobacco products and biomarkers of tobacco toxicant exposure in South Western AN people. Methods Participants included 163 cigarette smokers (CS), 76 commercial smokeless tobacco (ST), 20 iqmik, 31 dual CS and ST (DT) and 110 non-tobacco (NT) users. Tobacco use history, samples of tobacco products used and blood and urine samples were collected. Results Nicotine concentrations were highest in cigarette tobacco and TSNAs highest in commercial ST products. AN participants smoked on average 7.8 cigarettes per day (CPD). Nicotine exposure, assessed by several biomarker measures, was highest in iqmik users, and similar in ST and CS. TSNA exposure was highest in ST users, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure highest in CS. Conclusions Despite smoking fewer CPD, AN CS had similar daily intake of nicotine compared to the general US population. Nicotine exposure was greatest from iqmik, likely related to high pH due to preparation with ash suggesting high addiction potential compared to other ST products. TSNA exposure was much higher with ST compared to other product use, possibly contributing to high rates of oral cancer. Impact Our data help understanding high addiction risk of iqmik use and cancer-causing potential of various forms of tobacco use [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-04-09T09:31:27-07:00April, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Nearly 800,000 Deaths Prevented Due to Declines in Smoking

Source: National Cancer Institute Twentieth-century tobacco control programs and policies were responsible for preventing more than 795,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States from 1975 through 2000, according to an analysis funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. If all cigarette smoking in this country had ceased following the release of the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health in 1964, a total of 2.5 million people would have been spared from death due to lung cancer in the 36 years following that report, according to the analysis. The results of this study were published online March 14, 2012, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “These findings provide a compelling illustration of the devastating impact of tobacco use in our nation and the enormous benefits of reducing rates of smoking,” said Robert Croyle, Ph.D., director of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at NCI. “Although great strides have been made, we cannot relax our efforts. The prevention and cessation of tobacco use continue to be vital priorities for the medical, scientific, and public health communities.” The researchers, part of the NCI-sponsored Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET), utilized a comparative modeling approach in which they constructed detailed cigarette smoking histories for individuals born from 1890 through 1970, and then related the histories to lung cancer mortality in mathematical models. Using these models, the researchers were able to estimate the impact of changes in smoking patterns resulting [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-03-19T09:45:14-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

For the first time in nearly four decades, smokeless tobacco has no hand in sponsoring the College National Finals Rodeo

Source: Billings Gazette CASPER, Wyo. — The once steadfast coupling of chewing tobacco and the collegiate cowboy extravaganza is no more. There are no Copenhagen banners, there are no Skoal flags. There are no free samples. For the first time in nearly four decades, smokeless tobacco has no hand in sponsoring the College National Finals Rodeo. “It’s a tremendous and tragic loss to college rodeo,” National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Commissioner Roger Walters said during the weeklong 2011 CNFR, which ended Saturday night at the Casper Events Center. “Who lost? Our students.” For 37 years, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in the form of scholarships to college rodeo. While the presence of the company’s banners and flags at the CNFR ceased in 2009, the company — acquired by Altria that same year — continued giving scholarship money through last year. Walters said the company, in a time of economic hardship, gave roughly $250,000 in scholarships each year to college rodeo performers. The sponsorship pullout by the company, he said, constituted an 80 to 85 percent loss in money available for the performers. “I understand the reasons (for their departure), but in the long run, it hurts our students,” he said. “And that’s what this rodeo is for, first and foremost.” Health officials, however, applauded the move. “It is never a good idea to promote a product that is a deadly killer,” said Niki Mueller, the program director of Wyoming Through With Chew. “Rodeo is a family event, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-06-20T10:32:05-07:00June, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco industry adapts to world of fewer smokers

Source: The Tennessean Author: Anita Wadhwani By any name or variety you choose — call it snuff, dip, chew or plug — smokeless tobacco is making a comeback, and Tennessee farmers, factory workers and consumers are playing a major role in the renewed buzz. Farmers here and in Kentucky who once made a good living off raising burley tobacco for cigarettes have had to eliminate 40 percent of acreage devoted to that crop as demand has declined, while farmers who cultivate the dark tobacco used for chewing have been able to expand their fields by 22 percent in three years. Now, the massive marketing muscle of the nation's biggest tobacco companies — Altria Group and its subsidiary Philip Morris USA, which owns the 100-year-old U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. factory within view of the state Capitol, and R.J. Reynolds, which runs its smokeless operations out of a Memphis factory — are battling for market dominance. Together, the two manufacturers already control 90 percent of the American smokeless tobacco sector with brands such as U.S. Smokeless' Skoal and R.J. Reynolds' Kodiak. They're competing with new fruit- and mint-flavored products (some packaged to look like miniature cigarette packs) to attract a new generation of consumers and entice ex-smokers looking for nicotine- infused alternatives. Former cigarette smokers like Dave Kenner, 31, a construction worker making a pit stop at a West Nashville convenience store last week, said he switched to Red Seal Wintergreen smokeless because heavily taxed cigarettes cost too much — nearly $300 [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-02-04T12:24:02-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Snus smokeless tobacco: Less harmful than cigarettes, but not safe.

Source: WebMD By: Daniel J. DeNoon If you use snus, do you win or lose? Snus -- alternately pronounced snoose or snooze -- is a smokeless, flavored tobacco product very different from snuff. When placed between cheek and gum, it doesn't make you spit. Even its critics admit that snus is less harmful than other forms of smokeless tobacco. And it is far less harmful than cigarette smoking. So is snus a good thing? It would be a good thing if everyone who smoked cigarettes or dipped snuff switched to snus instead. It would be a good thing if snus were a way station on the road to quitting all forms of tobacco. It would even be a good thing if kids who would have become smokers became snus users instead. But despite all of that, mounting evidence suggests snus isn't a good thing -- and may be far worse than they appear. Snus: Less Harmful, But Not Safe Cigarettes are the world's most efficient nicotine delivery device. They are also the most deadly. Many of the most dangerous byproducts of cigarettes are created during the burning process. Smokeless tobacco products obviously don't burn. But smokeless tobacco is a major cause of oral cancer, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer. Much of this risk comes from cancer-causing chemicals called nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). And snuff products actually deliver more cancer-causing nitrosamines than cigarettes do. But nitrosamine content is far lower in snus than in snuff, says Stephen S. Hecht, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-22T12:16:34-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

U.S. smoking rates remain steady, but vary widely by state

Source: Medical News Author: John Gever National rates of cigarette smoking showed little change in 2008 from a year earlier, the CDC reported, though states vary widely both in rates of current smoking and exposures of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke. Some 20.6% of Americans were current smokers in 2008 (95% CI 19.9% to 21.4%), not significantly different from the 19.8% found in 2007 (95% CI 19.0% to 20.6%) according to the the government's ongoing National Health Interview Survey, detailed by Shanta R. Dube, PhD, and other CDC researchers in the Nov. 13 issue ofMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. But analysis of a another data set in MMWR -- the 2008 results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) -- revealed a twofold variation in rates among states. Utah had by far the lowest rate of current cigarette smoking, at 9.2%, followed by California (14.0%), New Jersey (14.8%) and Maryland (14.9%), according to Ann M. Malarcher, PhD, and CDC colleagues. West Virginia led the other end of the list at 26.6%. Other states with current smoking rates of 25% or more included Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri. West Virginia had several other smoking distinctions. It was the only state in which the current smoking rate was higher among women than men -- 27.1% versus 26.1% -- although the difference was not statistically significant. The BRFSS data showed the Mountain State had the highest rate of home exposure to secondhand smoke among 12 states and territories for which data were available. Some 10.6% [...]

Charlotte Parker2009-11-13T13:22:58-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|