Tobacco.org

• Cigar Use Misreporting Among Youth: Data from the 2009 Youth Tobacco Survey, Virginia  

Introduction

Researchers have suggested that adolescents' cigar use has increased beyond the rates being reported on tobacco use surveys. Differences in content knowledge and everyday colloquial expressions may be responsible for misreporting of cigar use. To determine whether cigar use is subject to systematic misreporting, we compared reports of general cigar use ("During the past 30 days, on how many days did you smoke cigars, little cigars, and cigarillos?") with reports of brand-specific use (“During the past 30 days, on how many days did you smoke Black & Milds?”) among a statewide sample of adolescents in Virginia.

Methods

We examined data from 3,093 youth who completed the 2009 Virginia Youth Tobacco Survey to determine differences in the rate of misreported cigar use (ie, those who reported Black & Mild use but did not report cigar, little cigar, or cigarillo use) for youth with varying demographic profiles and conditions.

Results

More than one-half of Black & Mild users (57.3%) did not report general cigar use. Cigar use misreporting was most prevalent among older adolescents, blacks/African Americans, current users of cigarettes and hookah, and youth diagnosed with asthma.

Conclusion

General cigar-use items on statewide surveys significantly underestimate the prevalence of youth cigar use. More comprehensive measures of cigar use may be beneficial in assessing tobacco use among groups most likely to misreport their tobacco use, such as African Americans and youth diagnosed with asthma. . . .

This study is among the first to address the view that cigar use items on statewide surveys contain face validity but may lack sufficient content validity. Estimated tobacco use prevalence rates have a substantial influence on federal and state tobacco control policy, resource allocation and priority funding for tobacco research, and the dissemination of tobacco use prevention curricula and materials. Researchers should consider developing comprehensive assessment strategies to better detect and monitor cigar use in youth populations, especially among African Americans and youth diagnosed with asthma. In addition, health professionals should consider incorporating more detailed tobacco use screening items to ascertain accurate information.

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Asthma cases to rise due to obesity and smoking 

Abu Dhabi: The prevalence of asthma, a respiratory disease indicated by repeated episodes of coughing and wheezing, is expected to rise across the UAE, a senior medical expert said in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

This is because of an increase in obesity prevalence -- as in the UAE -- and a rise in the number of smokers is usually correlated with a higher prevalence of asthma, explained Dr Stephen Teach, chief of the division of allergy and immunology at the Children's National Medical Centre in the United States.

"This is why it is imperative for parents and caregivers to create a healthy environment at home in a bid to prevent children from developing this lifelong disease in the first place," Dr Teach told Gulf News. . . .

Dr Teach was speaking on the sidelines of the 2nd World Healthcare Congress Middle East 2011, which concludes in the capital today. The three-day congress, which attracted 600 attendants from across the region, saw the discussion of many pressing medical and health care industry issues.

Asthma currently affects 8.5 per cent of individuals below the age of 18 years in the US, and Dr Teach said prevalence in the UAE is believed to be similar.

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A quick puff once cured all wheezing 

The Wairarapa Asthma Society is dumbfounded after discovering a box of "Asthma Cigarettes" among other medical supplies.

President Kathy Mackey said the box was found when moving stock to a new premises in Wairarapa Community Centre and nobody is quite sure what they were used for.

"Nobody sort of has any idea where they came from," she said. . . .

"We were just in hysterics for the fact we were giving somebody with a respiratory disease a cigarette."

Dr Munroe's Asthma Cigarettes states they are for the relief of asthma, hay fever, or deep-seated troubles of the respiratory organs.

"The fumes should be drawn well into the lungs and retained for as long as possible," the box reads.

Hamish Duncan, of Duncan's Pharmacy, said the cigarettes were likely to have given sufferers temporary relief.

He said the active ingredient, stramonium, is chemically similar to an ingredient in some common medications we use for asthma today, such as Atrovent and Duolin (Ipratropium).

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FACT CHECK: GOP senator gasps for facts on asthma 

It was a startling claim: Air pollution has no connection to asthma, Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul said on the Senate floor.

But Paul, and a chart he used to make his case against the health benefits of a new federal air pollution rule, relied on some creative sourcing and pseudoscience.

Paul's chart was a graph showing air pollution declining in California as the number of people diagnosed with asthma rose. The chart attributed the data to a May 2003 paper by what was then called the California Department of Health Services. But the department never plotted the relationship between those two factors.

In fact, the department said asthma attacks "can be triggered by exposures and conditions such as respiratory infections, house dust mites, animal dander, mold, pollen, exercise, tobacco smoke, and indoor and outdoor air pollutants."

Paul's real source was a 2006 paper "Facts Not Fear on Air Pollution" from the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank.

That paper, by independent consultant Joel Schwartz, contends that most air pollution information from environmentalists, regulators, scientists and journalists is exaggerated or wrong. The paper was not subjected to the normal peer-review process demanded for most published science.

Paul, an ophthalmologist and eye surgeon, cited Schwartz in his Nov. 10 remarks.

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Clinical Trial Recruitment in Respiratory Diseases - Most Clinical Trial Activity Focused on Asthma and COPD  

GBI Research's report, "Clinical Trial Recruitment in Respiratory Diseases - Most Clinical Trial Activity Focused on Asthma and COPD", provides an in-depth analysis of patient recruitment scenario for major indications under respiratory diseases. The report analyzes the number of clinical trials conducted for major indications. The report provides information about the total number of clinical trials conducted by phase, geography, major sponsors and the number of clinical trials conducted per year. Analysis of the total number of patients recruited for major indications is also carried out. The report analyzes the total number of patients recruited by phase of clinical trial, geography and major sponsors. Analysis of the average number of patients recruited per trial per year for various indications is also completed.

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Respiratory problems in homes on the rise due to air freshners 

Sales of home air fresheners and scented candles are on the rise and so are respiratory problems in homes where these products are used, according to allergists at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Boston, Nov 3-8.

"This is a much bigger problem than people realize," said Stanley Fineman, MD, ACAAI president-elect. "About 20 percent of the population and 34 percent of people with asthma report health problems from air fresheners. We know air freshener fragrances can trigger allergy symptoms, aggravate existing allergies and worsen asthma."

Home fragrance products may smell "fresh," but Dr. Fineman warns many of these products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and are merely "covering up" —not eliminating—odors in the home. VOCs commonly found in air fresheners include: formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, limonene, esters and alcohols.

Studies show that even VOC exposure levels below currently accepted recommendations increase risk of asthma in children. High concentrations of VOCs can trigger eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, and even memory impairment.

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High-Sensitivity Cotinine Immunoassay from Salimetrics Helps to Advance Research on the Health Effects of Second-Hand Smoke. 

Current research is revealing that non-smoking children and adults who live with a smoker often have health problems that are related to the smoke in their home environment. A number of recent studies have used the Salimetrics Cotinine Immunoassay in their investigations of health problems related to second-hand smoke exposure, and several of these studies have explored links between second-hand smoke and the development of physical or mental health conditions in children. (1-3)

In order to document the level of exposure to smoke in the home environments, researchers often prefer to collect saliva samples in order to measure levels of cotinine, a principal metabolic product from the nicotine found in tobacco smoke. Levels of salivary cotinine from exposure to second-hand smoke are often very low (typically in the range of 1-5 ng/mL), requiring the use of a highly-sensitive assay method.

The majority of cotinine immunoassay products available on the market are designed for the qualitative discrimination of smokers from non-smokers, and these do not have the sensitivity or accuracy required to study cotinine levels in the range that usually results from second-hand smoke exposure. The Salimetrics Cotinine Immunoassay was therefore designed with a lower limit of sensitivity at 0.15 ng/mL, in order to fill this need.

“The Salimetrics testing team is actively involved in several ongoing projects studying the influence of second-hand smoke on babies and children with asthma

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Second-hand smoke causes asthma, bronchitis in children 

A study, which was headed by Steven S. Hecht, a professor at The Cancer Centre, University of Minnesota, published in the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, looked at the level of nitrosamine (NNAL) in the urine of 144 infants exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). . . .

Second-hand smoke, according to Dr Femi Fabiyi, a paediatric surgeon, is a known cause of low birth weight, pneumonia, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), middle ear infection, asthma, bronchitis, and other diseases. . . .

“In the United States of America alone, where the poverty level is not as high as Nigeria, it has been estimated that between 35,000 and 62,000 non-smoking American adults die of heart disease associated with secondhand smoke every year, how much more in Nigeria,” Dr Fabiyi lamented.

“With more sensitive analytical equipment, the NNAL from urine of babies in lower frequency cigarette smoking households would most likely be detectable. The take home message is, don’t smoke around your kids.” Hecht said.

Parents need to shield their children from tobacco smoke, Dr Funke Oluwaseun, a paediatrician with Life Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State says. Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are known to have behavioural problems, she says, adding that children delivered by mothers who are exposed to second-hand smoke during pregnancy has a higher tendency to exhibit aggression, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, and other behavioural problems.

Dr Oluwaseun complains that infants with smoking mothers are 50 per cent more likely to be hospitalised with a respiratory infection during their first year, compared to infants with non-smoking mothers.

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Paul Pierce and Michael Beasley's trip to China was pretty awful 

Here's the report, via a local newspaper, through an online translator, and via the fantastic China hoops blog NIUBball.com :

While playing in Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang province� Pierce and Beasley both suffered asthma attacks due to large amounts of fans smoking cigarettes inside the stadium. After the game, things got even more shocking when Beasley fell to the floor in his hotel and started to roll around in obvious pain, scaring everyone around half-to-death. At that point, there was no choice but to dial 120 (the number for an ambulance in China) and take him to the hospital. . . .

We can't blame Chinese fans for doing what they've always done during these sorts of games, namely smokin' 'em if they got 'em. But barnstorming NBA players do need to know that things are a little, um, different over there. And to perhaps bring a painter's mask to help things go down a little smoother.

UPDATE: Pierce Tweeted on Wednesday night that he's never had asthma, as the Chinese paper claimed.

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Paul Pierce And Michael Beasley Had Asthma Attacks During A Game In China, Because Everyone Was Smoking 

While playing in Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang province… Pierce and Beasley both suffered asthma attacks due to large amounts of fans smoking cigarettes inside the stadium. After the game, things got even more shocking when Beasley fell to the floor in his hotel and started to roll around in obvious pain, scaring everyone around half-to-death. At that point, there was no choice but to dial 120 (the number for an ambulance in China) and take him to the hospital.

We think they're conflating the hospital visit with his wrist injury the next day, but there's no doubt the smoke was a factor. On their blog, an Australian team taking part in the tourney noted the playing conditions were less than ideal:

Once again tonight we arrived to a smoke hazed packed stadium, it appears the "dangers of smoking memo" is yet to make its way to the Far East.

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Recent Study Reveals That Home Smoking Bans Often Fail To Protect Asthmatic Children 

Salivary levels of cotinine, a breakdown product of nicotine, were measured in order to document asthmatic children’s exposure to tobacco smoke in their homes. This research is featured in the current issue of The Spit Report, the electronic newsletter on current salivary research published by Salimetrics.

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Ethnic Variability in Persistent Asthma After In Utero Tobacco Exposure 

Conclusions: Exposure to tobacco smoke in utero was significantly associated with persistent asthma among Mexican, Puerto Rican, and black children compared with those with intermittent asthma. These results suggest that smoking cessation during pregnancy may lead to a decrease in the incidence of persistent asthma in these populations.

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Smoking During Pregnancy Linked To Persistent Asthma In Childhood 

Children with severe asthma are 3.6 times more likely to have been exposed to tobacco smoking before birth even without later exposure than children with a mild form of the disease, according to a multicenter study led by researchers at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

The prenatal exposure also was associated with three times the number of daily and night-time asthma symptoms later in the child's life, as well as nearly four times the number of asthma-related emergency room visits, even when the researchers controlled for other risk factors, such as current tobacco exposure, ethnicity and allergies.

The findings could have a direct impact on public health campaigns. In the United States alone, more than one in seven pregnant women smoke and the cost of asthma is estimated at $56 billion per year in premature deaths, healthcare and days missed from school and work.

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A Randomized Trial of Air Cleaners and a Health Coach to Improve Indoor Air Quality for Inner-City Children With Asthma and Secondhand Smoke Exposure, August 2011, Butz et al. 165 (8): 741 

To test an air cleaner and health coach intervention to reduce secondhand smoke exposure compared with air cleaners alone or no air cleaners in reducing particulate matter (PM), air nicotine, and urine cotinine concentrations and increasing symptom-free days in children with asthma residing with a smoker. . . .

Conclusion

Although the use of air cleaners can result in a significant reduction in indoor PM concentrations and a significant increase in symptom-free days, it is not enough to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke.

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Children with asthma more likely to have been exposed to tobacco smoking before birth 

Children with severe asthma are 3.6 times more likely to have been exposed to tobacco smoking before birth - even without later exposure - than children with a mild form of the disease, according to a multicenter study led by researchers at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

The prenatal exposure also was associated with three times the number of daily and night-time asthma symptoms later in the child's life, as well as nearly four times the number of asthma-related emergency room visits, even when the researchers controlled for other risk factors, such as current tobacco exposure, ethnicity and allergies.

The findings could have a direct impact on public health campaigns.

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