nicotine

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|

Dentists key to quitting ‘smokeless tobacco’

Source: http://www.dentistry.co.uk/ The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is recommending a key role for dental professionals in their public health intervention proposals to help stop the use of smokeless tobacco by people of South Asian Origin. Dentists, dental nurses and dental hygienists may be asked to play a leading role as part of new proposals to stop the use of smokeless tobacco in the UK. NICE has published a consultation on their proposals, which recommends a key intervention and education role for dental professionals. It is also recommending more training for dental professionals to help them gain a greater understanding of smokeless tobacco including terminology, symptoms and approaches to successful intervention. Smokeless tobacco is associated with a number of health problems including nicotine addiction, mouth and oral cancer, periodontal disease, heart attacks and strokes, problems in pregnancy and following childbirth and late diagnosis of dental problems as smokeless tobacco products can often mask pain. Smokeless tobacco is mainly used by 'people of South Asian origin', which includes people with ancestral links to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. The draft guidance recommends that dental professionals take specific actions including: • Asking patients about their smokeless tobacco use and record the outcome in their patient notes • Making users aware of the potential health risks and advise them to stop, using a brief intervention • Referring users who want to quit the habit to tobacco cessation services that use counsellors trained in behavioural support • Recording the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-03-07T15:45:16-07:00March, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

“Through With Chew 2012”

Source: LeaderAdvisor.com “Through With Chew 2012” is designed to raise awareness about the variety of new smokeless tobacco products (SLT), dangerous especially to young people, not only because the amount of nicotine absorbed from these products is substantially higher than the amount absorbed from a cigarette, but also because of the aggressive marketing of these new products by the tobacco companies. Some of the latest tobacco industry innovations include tobacco dispensed in oral pouches, dissolvable tobacco (orbs) and the electronic cigarette. Aggressive marketing includes the fact that the five largest tobacco manufacturers spent $547.9 million on SLT advertising and promotions in 2008, up from the previous year by 34 percent (www.cdc.gov). A goal of the education campaign this year is to educate parents, teachers, administrators and coaches about these new products, that the packaging often resembles candy packaging, and that they are actually tobacco-containing products. Tobacco industry documents themselves indicate that SLT products are aggressively marketed toward youth, and that the industry has a strategy to progressively move youth from candy or fruit flavored products to more robust varieties for the nicotine dependent user (www.tobaccofreekids.org). Because so many people die per year due to tobacco-related illness, the tobacco companies need to find replacement users for their products. Tobacco use, no matter what form, remains the leading cause of death in this country annually. Just as in cigarettes, the leading cancer-causing agents in SLT are the tobacco-specific nitrosamines, which are formed during the growing, curing, fermenting and aging of tobacco leaves. [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-02-15T10:49:15-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Emerging indications: antioxidants for periodontal disease

Source: http://www.dentistryiq.com Author: Edward P. Allen, DDS, PhD Since approximately 10 to 15 percent of adults worldwide suffer from periodontitis at one time or another(1), oral health professionals are constantly challenged with treating patients for existing conditions and helping them prevent future occurrences. Root planing, scaling, and in severe cases, surgical intervention are part of the standard treatment for periodontitis, and antibiotics are used for infection control. However, in recent years, dental health professionals have honed in on the inflammation that accompanies periodontitis. Research shows that inflammation in the oral tissues—especially that associated with periodontitis—can be a factor in chronic illness such as heart and vascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, pregnancy complications, and a growing list of other conditions. The real culprit with inflammation is oxidative stress, a disturbance in the balance of oxidants and antioxidants. Oxidative stress is the result of overproduction of free radicals, unstable molecules that attack tissue cells by “stealing” electrons from other molecules. Although infection is a major trigger for inflammation and oxidative stress, there are numerous other causes, such as poor diet, alcohol consumption and nicotine use or chemical pollutants. In oral tissues oxidative stress can result from dental procedures and from materials used for bleaching, composite fillings, implants, crowns, veneers, and so on. Antibiotics control the micro-organisms that contribute to periodontitis and other infection, but they do not necessarily address the free radicals and oxidative stress that accompany inflammation. Innate defense through natural salivary antibiotics and antioxidants The human body has an innate [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-01-21T12:23:49-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

E-Cigarette Controversy

Source: The New York Times If you want a truly frustrating job in public health, try getting people to stop smoking. Even when researchers combine counseling and encouragement with nicotine patches and gum, few smokers quit. Recently, though, experimenters in Italy had more success by doing less. A team led by Riccardo Polosa of the University of Catania recruited 40 hard-core smokers — ones who had turned down a free spot in a smoking-cessation program — and simply gave them a gadget already available in stores for $50. This electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette, contains a small reservoir of liquid nicotine solution that is vaporized to form an aerosol mist. The user “vapes,” or puffs on the vapor, to get a hit of the addictive nicotine (and the familiar sensation of bringing a cigarette to one’s mouth) without the noxious substances found in cigarette smoke. After six months, more than half the subjects in Dr. Polosa’s experiment had cut their regular cigarette consumption by at least 50 percent. Nearly a quarter had stopped altogether. Though this was just a small pilot study, the results fit with other encouraging evidence and bolster hopes that these e-cigarettes could be the most effective tool yet for reducing the global death toll from smoking. But there’s a powerful group working against this innovation — and it’s not Big Tobacco. It’s a coalition of government officials and antismoking groups who have been warning about the dangers of e-cigarettes and trying to ban their sale. The controversy [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-11-08T13:22:07-07:00November, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Monitoring Tobacco-Specific N-Nitrosamines and Nicotine in Novel Marlboro and Camel Smokeless Tobacco Products: Findings From Round 1 of the New Product Watch

Source: OxfordJournals.org Abstract Introduction: Information on chemical composition of the new oral “spitless” smokeless tobacco products is scarce, and it is not clear whether there is some variability as a function of purchase place or time due to either unintended or intended manufacturing variations or other conditions. Methods: We analyzed tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNA) and nicotine in Marlboro Snus, Camel Snus, and dissolvable Camel products Orbs, Sticks, and Strips that were purchased in various regions of the country during the summer of 2010. Results: A total of 117 samples were received from different states representing six regions of the country. Levels of unprotonated nicotine in Marlboro Snus and Camel Snus varied significantly by regions, with the differences between the highest and the lowest average regional levels being relatively small in Marlboro Snus (∼1.3-fold) and large in Camel Snus (∼3-fold). Some regional variations in TSNA levels were also observed. Overall, Camel Snus had significantly higher TSNA levels than Marlboro Snus, and Camel Strips had the lowest TSNA levels among all novel products analyzed here. The amount of unprotonated nicotine in the dissolvable Camel products was comparable to the levels found in Marlboro Snus. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates some regional variations in the levels of nicotine and TSNA in Marlboro and Camel novel smokeless tobacco products. Continued monitoring of this category of products is needed as the existing products are being test marketed and modified, and new products are being introduced. This information is particularly important given its relevance to Food and Drug [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-31T11:13:41-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Kentucky Cancer Center Urges Smokers to Switch to Smoke-Free Tobacco. But is it Really a Better Option?

Source: Yourlife.USAtoday.com In the smoker-heavy state of Kentucky, a cancer center is suggesting something that most health experts won't and the tobacco industry can't: If you really want to quit, switch to smoke-free tobacco. The James Graham Brown Cancer Center and the University of Louisville are aiming their "Switch and Quit" campaign at the city of Owensboro. It uses print, radio, billboard and other advertising to urge smokers to swap their cigarettes for smokeless tobacco and other products that do not deliver nicotine by smoke. Supporters say smokers who switch are more likely to give up cigarettes than those who use other methods such as nicotine patches, and that smokeless tobacco carries less risk of disease than cigarettes do. "We need something that works better than what we have," said Dr. Donald Miller, an oncologist and director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, which supports the effort along with the University of Louisville. "This is as reasonable a scientific hypothesis as anybody has come up with and it needs to be tried." The campaign runs counter to the prevailing opinion of the public health community, which holds that there is no safe way to use tobacco. Federal researchers, however, have begun to at least consider the idea that smokers might be better off going smokeless. The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health says on its website that the use of all tobacco products "should be strongly discouraged," and that there is "no scientific evidence that using [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-10-31T10:04:54-07:00October, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Students can’t commit to quitting

Source: www.gcsunade.com Author: Lindsay Peterson A Georgia College student steps outside, pauses and inhales, filling his lungs with acetone, ammonia, arsenic, benzene, butane, formaldehyde, lead and turpentine – just 8 of the more than 50 carcinogens found in the average cigarette. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the 46 million smokers in the U.S., college students are among the highest percentage of smokers. Almost 22 percent of adults ages 18-24 smoke, according to 2009 CDC data. Their professors are not far behind them in their smoking addiction. According to the CDC data, almost 22 percent of people ages 45-64 are smokers. In 2009, the CDC found that adults in the Southeast were among the most prevalent smokers in the United States. While there are no hard statistics for the percentage of students and staff that smoke at GC, it is not uncommon to see a familiar gathering of smokers sitting outside any of the dorms. Lauren Luker, junior mass communication major, started smoking in order to get a break at her job as a server. “You couldn’t have a break unless it was a smoke break,” Luker said. Now, eight years later, Luker is worried about the health of her lungs and is planning on quitting after several previous failed attempts. However, quitting such an addictive habit is not always easy, as Luker knows. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine. Fortunately for GC students and staff [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-27T18:04:50-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Morning smoking linked to higher risk of head and neck cancer

Source: www.nursingtimes.net Author: staff Smokers who light up first thing in the morning have a higher risk of developing head and neck cancer than those who wait that little bit longer for their first cigarette of the day, a study has suggested. A research team from the Penn State College of Medicine in America investigated whether nicotine dependence, as characterised by the time smokers take to have their first cigarette after waking, affects smokers’ risk of lung, head and neck cancers independent of cigarette smoking frequency and duration. They analysed 1,055 people with head and neck cancers and 795 who did not have cancer, all of whom were cigarette smokers. Individuals who smoked 31 minutes to an hour after waking were 1.42 times more likely to develop head and neck cancer than those who waited more than hour before having a nicotine fix. Those who waited less than half an hour to have their first cigarette of the day were 1.59 times as likely to develop head and neck cancer. According to Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society, the results of the study may help identify smokers who have an especially high risk of developing cancer and would therefore benefit from targeted smoking interventions. Dr Joshua Muscar, lead researcher, said: “These smokers have higher levels of nicotine and possibly other tobacco toxins in their body, and they may be more addicted than smokers who refrain from smoking for a half hour or more.”

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-08-08T09:05:20-07:00August, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Are lozenges and other smokeless products safer alternatives to smoking?

Source: Pennsylvania's Fox News Tobacco company rep David Howard waxes enthusiastic when he talks about a new product his employer, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., has developed: a pellet of finely cured tobacco, binders and flavoring that dissolves in the mouth in 10 minutes. Under test market in two U.S. cities — Denver and Charlotte, N.C. — Camel Orbs will join two dissolvable tobacco lozenges already on the market if it graduates to broader distribution. And Howard is optimistic it will. "These products provide smokers with an option to enjoy the pleasure of nicotine without bothering others," Howard said. "No secondhand smoke. No spitting. No cigarette butt." Dissolvable tobacco consists of small pieces of compressed, finely ground tobacco powder, binders and flavorings that are shaped into pellets, sticks or strips. When placed in the mouth, they dissolve within minutes, providing a nicotine hit. The tobacco industry says that the products contain far fewer cancer-causing chemicals such as tobacco-specific nitrosamines and are a "harm reduction" strategy that, like electronic cigarettes, might help people turn to less risky tobacco habits or eventually quit smoking. But public health officials and anti-smoking advocates fear that the products will help initiate a new generation of smokers. The flavoring and packaging appeal to children, they argue, and teenagers will gravitate toward a product they can easily hide. On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration will take up the issue with an advisory committee hearing on the effect of dissolvable tobacco products on public health. "Tobacco companies are [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-07-22T10:44:37-07:00July, 2011|Oral Cancer News|