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Can secondhand smoke cause cancer in cats and dogs?  

Unfortunately, this is a complicated question, and there is rarely a single cause of cancer. Although it is difficult to establish a clear cause and effect between something such as secondhand smoke and cancer in pets, the evidence for environmental factors being involved is mounting in veterinary medicine.

One study revealed only a slight increase in the development of lung cancer in dogs living with a smoker, and this risk did not increase with greater secondhand smoke exposure. There is actually more evidence linking secondhand smoke with other types of cancers in pets. Cats living in a household with a smoker have been shown to have an increased risk of developing both lymphoma and cancer of the mouth (squamous cell carcinoma). Regarding lymphoma, the risk became even greater with increased time and amount of exposure to the smoke.

It is suspected that cats are at greater risk of problems from secondhand smoke because the smoke settles on their fur which is then ingested during their fastidious grooming habits. This results in ingestion of the carcinogens with high concentrations in the oral cavity.

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Teens Exposed to Less Secondhand Smoke in Cars 

Secondhand smoke exposure in cars declined among U.S. middle and high school students between 2000 and 2009.

The number of young people who reported riding in a car with someone who was smoking cigarettes "within the past seven days" during the study period fell from about 48% to nearly 30% over a 10-year period, a new study shows.

This downward trend in secondhand smoke exposure was seen across all ages of middle and high school students, genders, and ethnic groups.

During this stretch of time, the number of teens who were nonsmokers rose. Kids who said they had not had a cigarette within the last 30 days went from a low of about 80% in 2000 to a high of about 88% in 2009.

For the study, published online in the journal Pediatrics, researchers analyzed data collected for the National Youth Tobacco Survey. American students in grades six through 12 from public, private, and Catholic schools across the country completed the survey five different times during a 10-year span. Between 18,000 and 27,000 students participated.

The researchers admit that considerable progress has been made over the last decade in reducing students� exposure to secondhand smoke while in cars. Still, they found that nearly 23% of nonsmoking students had breathed in secondhand smoke in motor vehicles in the week leading up to the survey.

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"It's About a Billion Lives" Symposium Celebrates Tobacco Research and Education at UCSF  

Join us on Friday, February 3, 2012, 8:00 AM – 12:30 PM in Cole Hall for our annual symposium. This event is open to the entire campus community and the public. The presentations are designed for a broad audience. There will be a free light breakfast before the presentations, which start at 8:30.

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It’s About a Billion Lives Celebrating Tobacco Research and Education at UCSF - UCSF Calendar 

AUDIO: 2012 "It's About a Billion Lives" symposium available as a podcast 

Our first effort to webcast the symposium garnered a lot of positive feedback. We have turned it into a podcast, which you can watch it by clicking here.

The podcast has in index showing the presentation slides, so you can skip to specific talks if you don't want to watch the whole thing.

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Health officials fret as hookah grows in popularity  

As more hookah lounges open, health officials said they are worried users do not fully understand the risks associated with the pastime.

Cafe Hookah, which is set to open in College Park, Md., this month, will be the second hookah bar in the city. The cafe's owner, 29-year-old Abid Khan, said he chose to open the establishment because the "niche was available."

"I think that it will be unique in the sense that - aside from making money - it's run by young people that actually care about the students," he said.

Hookah tobacco contains many of the same harmful chemicals found in cigarettes and can cause similar long-term health effects, such as mouth cancer, lung cancer and cancer of the trachea, Shell said.

"Hookahs are flavored and put in a nice setting when you are sitting and relaxing ... But that kind of socially attractive setting is really the vehicle for delivering a really potent dose of tobacco and carbon monoxide and other chemicals, too," Shell said.

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• Fear ads work well 

Television advertisements that graphically communicate the serious harms of tobacco use are likely to be effective with smokers in low- to middle-income countries and can be readily translated and adapted for local use - this was one of the key findings of a recent survey conducted in 10 countries where the non government organisation World Lung Foundation contributed as part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Smoke.

The survey, however, noted that advertisement with complex medical terms or metaphors, or those that feature personal testimonials, are more variable and require more careful pre-testing and adaptation to maximise their potential.

"In order to test the comprehension, acceptability, and effectiveness of advertisements that emphasize the harms of second hand smoke exposure, especially on children (to the extent of getting smokers to quit) and increase awareness of the harms of second hand smoke exposure (and smoking) among both smokers and non-smokers, we conducted the survey," noted a release issued by the World Lung Foundation.

The aim of the study was to assess the comprehension, acceptability and potential effectiveness of five television advertisements in communicating an anti-smoking message and motivating cessation among adults in low- and middle-income countries. . . .

As part of the study, 2,399 smokers aged 18- 34 years in 10 low to middle income countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam) viewed and individually rated the same five anti-smoking advertisements

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• Tobacco is India's biggest cancer worry 

Tobacco use is fuelling a cancer epidemic in India, making cancers of oral cavity (mouth) and lung the top two cancers in men.

More than 10 lakh people develop cancer in India each year. The disease is projected to rise five fold — 2.8 times because of tobacco use and 2.2 due to ageing — by 2025, shows population-based cancer registry data from the Indian Council of Medical Research. Other causes include unhealthy lifestyle and pollution. . . .

Lung cancer is the most common in men — 17% new cases and 23% deaths.

Smokers are up to 22 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers. “Tobacco use is the single-largest preventable cause of cancer and discouraging use the most cost-effective intervention,” says Dr GK Rath, chief, Rotary Cancer Institute, AIIMS.

“Tobacco kills 10 lakh people a year, more than AIDS, murders, suicides, alcohol and drug abuse put together.”

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Use of proton pump inhibitors and risk of hip fracture in relation to dietary and lifestyle factors: a prospective cohort study [FREE FULL TEXT] 

Conclusion Chronic use of PPIs is associated with increased risk of hip fracture, particularly among women with a history of smoking.

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Ottawa docs promote stop-smoking model at conference 

Doctors from around the world will leave Ottawa with new ideas to help patients quit smoking after their annual conference Saturday.

The fourth annual Ottawa Conference promoted the Ottawa Heart Institute's stop-smoking model, which reaches out to smokers after they've been hospitalized because of their addiction.

"When someone gets admitted to the hospital, that's a teachable moment for them," said Dr. Anil Gupta of the Trillium Health Centre. "That's a time in their lives when they're most likely in the frame of mind to want to quit smoking because they've just had some sort of acute event."

It's estimated 60 per cent of smokers will die early, which doctors said makes their role important.

"It can be very difficult to stop smoking and that's one of the purposes of our conferences," said Dr. Andrew Pipe. "We can share experience and research in order that we can identify ways in which we can be much more helpful to smokers."

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Coughing and other respiratory symptoms improve within weeks of smoking cessation 

If the proven long-term benefits of smoking cessation are not enough to motivate young adults to stop smoking, a new study shows that 18- to 24-year olds who stop smoking for at least two weeks report substantially fewer respiratory symptoms, especially coughing. The study findings are detailed in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology.

Karen Calabro, DrPH and Alexander Prokhorov, MD, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, compared self-reported respiratory symptoms among two groups of college students who participated in programs designed to motivate them to stop smoking. One group achieved smoking cessation for two weeks or longer and the other group failed to stop smoking. More than half of the students smoked 5-10 cigarettes a day and had smoked for 1-5 years.

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Less Smoke Exposure in Teens' Cars 

Action Points

Explain that fewer teens are inhaling secondhand smoke in cars, as efforts continue to limit youth exposure to the potential harms of tobacco.

Point out that despite this improvement, just over one-fifth of nonsmoking students reported secondhand smoke exposure in a car in the previous seven days.

Fewer teens are inhaling secondhand smoke in cars, as efforts continue to limit youth exposure to the potential harms of tobacco, a nationwide survey found.

From 2000 to 2009, the number of adolescents overall who reported riding in cars with someone smoking fell from 48.1% to 29.8% (P<0.001 for trend), according to Brian A. King, PhD, and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

And during that time, the percentage of nonsmoking teens exposed to secondhand smoke in cars decreased from 39% to 22.8%, which was a 71.1% change, the researchers reported online ahead of print in the March issue of Pediatrics.

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• Heavy smoking during pregnancy as a marker for other risk factors of adverse birth outcomes: a population-based study in British Columbia, Canada 

Background

Smoking during pregnancy is associated with known adverse perinatal and obstetrical outcomes as well as with socio-economic, demographic and other behavioural risk factors that independently influence outcomes. Using a large population-based perinatal registry, we assess the quantity of cigarettes smoked for the magnitude of adverse birth outcomes and also the association of other socio-economic and behavioural risk factors documented within the registry that influence pregnancy outcomes. Our goal was to determine whether number of cigarettes smoked could identify those in greatest need for comprehensive intervention programs to improve outcomes. . . .

Results

There were 233,891 singleton births with available smoking status data. A significant dose-dependent increase in risk was observed for the adverse birth outcomes small-for-gestational age, term low birth weight and intra-uterine growth restriction. Results from the pp-odds model indicate heavy smokers were more likely to have not graduated high school: AOR (95% CI) = 3.80 (3.41-4.25); be a single parent: 2.27 (2.14-2.42); have indication of drug or alcohol use: 7.65 (6.99-8.39) and 2.20 (1.88-2.59) respectively, attend fewer than 4 prenatal care visits: 1.39 (1.23-1.58), and be multiparous: 1.59 (1.51-1.68) compared to light, moderate and non-smokers combined.

Conclusion

Our data suggests that self reports of heavy smoking early in pregnancy could be used as a marker for lifestyle risk factors that in combination with smoking influence birth outcomes. This information may be used for planning targeted intervention programs for not only smoking cessation, but potentially other support services such as nutrition and healthy pregnancy education.

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Heavy smoking during pregnancy as a marker for other risk factors of adverse birth outcomes: a population-based study in British Columbia, Canada 

Conclusion: Our data suggests that self reports of heavy smoking early in pregnancy could be used as a marker for lifestyle risk factors that in combination with smoking influence birth outcomes. . . .

Author: Anders C EricksonLaura T Arbour Credits/Source: BMC Public Health 2012, 12:102

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Smoking During Pregnancy Not Linked to Autism 

Children born to women who smoke during pregnancy are not at increased risk for autism, according to a new study.

Smoking during pregnancy has been considered a possible cause of autism in children due to known links between smoking and behavioral disorders and obstetric complications, but previous studies of a connection between smoking during pregnancy and autism have had mixed results.

In this study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 4,000 Swedish children with autism and a control group of 39,000 children without autism. The results showed that 19.8 percent of the children in the autism group and 18.4 percent of those in the control group had mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

The study was published online in December in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and will appear in a upcoming print issue.

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