Tobacco.org

School-related mediators in social inequalities in smoking: a comparative cross-sectional study of 20,399 adolescents. 

The aim of this study was to examine the associations between social inequalities and daily smoking among 13 and 15 year olds, and to determine the role of students' academic achievement and school satisfaction in these associations.

Conclusions

The study found social inequality in daily smoking in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and United Kingdom, as well as inequalities in students' academic achievement and school satisfaction. The analyses also showed that above average academic achievement was associated with lower OR of smoking. Teachers and politicians may find this information useful, and allocate resources to give higher priority to a supportive environment in schools especially for children and adolescents in lower social groups. Subsequently this prioritisation might contribute to reducing smoking in this group.

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• Finland wants to renew restrictions on passenger imports of tobacco from other EU countries 

Finland and the other old member-states of the European Union want to restrict personal imports of tobacco products from members that refuse to raise the minimum tax on tobacco. The move would lead to the imposition of new limits on passenger imports just as the old ones are expiring.

In addition to Finland, the move is being supported by a number of other countries with high tobacco tax rates, such as Britain, Sweden, Austria, Germany and Ireland. However, the proposal is problematic for many new EU members, which have only recently achieved or are getting close to the previous minimum duty level. For instance, Latvia's tax level recently reached the minimum level, and that of Estonia is also close. The new member-states agreed to increasing the minimum duty rate only if they were given a long transitional period in implementing it.

Finland and other countries with a high duty payable on tobacco agreed to this only on the condition that they should be allowed to restrict passenger imports from the countries with a new transition period. The EU ministers of finance negotiated on the matter in Brussels on Tuesday. The old member states see the hike in the minimum tax as important, because they fear that their citizens will be bringing in more tobacco products from the Baltic region and Eastern Europe.

Finland is blocking growth in imports from Estonia by imposing a limit on passenger imports on tobacco products in packages which do not have warning labels in Finnish or Swedish.

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Finnish parliamentary committee takes issue with tobacco bill 

The Finnish Parliament's constitutional law committee said in a report on the centre-right government's tobacco bill that the possession of tobacco with foreign-language warning labels could not be criminalised. . . .

While the government underlined that its aim had been to protect the public's health, the committee said the actual objective had been to curb the import of tobacco, especially from Estonia.

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• Finland mulls banning display of tobacco 

A Finnish social policy ministerial group on Wednesday proposed a range of measures to restrict access to tobacco, including a ban on the display of tobacco products in most shops.

The group also proposed banning smoking in places where children spend time.

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Characteristics and health consequences of intermittent smoking: Long-term follow-up among Finnish adult twins 

Results: We identified 641 consistent intermittent smokers comprising 3% of the study population. Consistent intermittent smokers had higher education, less use of other tobacco products, healthier lifestyles, and partly more favorable mental health profiles compared with lifetime regular smokers. However, in terms of other lifestyle factors, intermittent smokers compared mostly unfavorably with never-smokers, despite being better educated. Intermittent smoking showed substantial heritability. There were 213 incident lung cancer cases among all study subjects; only one case was found among the intermittent smokers. The sex- and age-adjusted hazard ratios of lung cancer were not significantly elevated for the intermittent smokers, but they were increased more than 10-fold for all other smokers.

Discussion: Although the present study did not find evidence of elevated lung cancer risk among intermittent smokers, compared with never-smokers, further studies should investigate other health consequences of intermittent smoking, such as cardiovascular and nonmalignant pulmonary outcomes.

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Modification of the Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on the Mortality of Male Smokers by Age and Dietary Vitamin C (PDF) 

In conclusion, our subgroup analyses of the ATBC Study cohort support the conclusions of meta-analysis of controlled trials (4–6), in that vitamin E supplementation seems ineffective or harmful for middle-aged male smokers. Evidently, in people younger than age 65 years, taking vitamin E supplements should be strongly discouraged until clear evidence emerges that some population groups of younger or middle-aged people benefit. On the other hand, our study indicates that vitamin E supplementation may lead to beneficial effects in some subgroups of old people, and this possibility should be investigated by using a factorial design with vitamin C supplementation. Finally, the substantial decrease in mortality with vitamin E supplementation among the older participants with high dietary vitamin C intake raises the question of whether the decrease in overall mortality is attributable to a single cause of death or a few causes, or whether it suggests a general decrease in frailty reflected in lessened mortality from diverse causes.

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• Vitamin E May Decrease Mortality Of Elderly Male Smokers, Yet Increase Mortality Of Middle-aged Smokers 

Six-year vitamin E supplementation decreased mortality by 41% in elderly male smokers who had high dietary vitamin C intake, but increased mortality by 19% in middle-aged smokers who had high vitamin C intake, according to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. . . .

the effect of vitamin E on respiratory infections has significantly diverged between different population groups suggesting that the effects of vitamin E may not be uniform over all the population.

Dr. Harri Hemila, and Professor Jaakko Kaprio, of the University of Helsinki, Finland, studied whether the effect of vitamin E supplementation on mortality might diverge between different population groups. They analyzed the data of the large randomized trial (Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study) which was conducted in Finland between 1985-1993 and included male smokers aged 50-69 years. There were 3571 deaths in 29,133 participants during the 6-year supplementation of 50 mg/day of vitamin E.

Although vitamin E had no overall effect on mortality, its effect was modified by age and dietary vitamin C intake. Vitamin E had no effect on participants who had low dietary vitamin C intake, less than 90 mg/day. However, in those who had high vitamin C intake, over 90 mg/day, the effect of vitamin E diverged so that it increased mortality in young participants (50-62 years), but decreased mortality in old participants (66-69 years). . . .

The researchers concluded that "in people younger than 65 years, taking vitamin E supplements should be strongly discouraged, until clear evidence emerges that some population groups of younger or middle-aged people benefit". . . .

* Harri Hemilä and Jaakko Kaprio. Modification of the Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on the Mortality of Male Smokers by Age and Dietary Vitamin C. American Journal of Epidemiology, February 13, 2009

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• Teens Girls Smoke Now, Pay Later With Larger Waistlines As Adults 

Remember the cool girls, huddled together in high school restrooms, puffing their cigarettes? Well, here's consolation for the nerds in the crowd: Those teen smokers are more likely to experience obesity as adults, according to a new study from Finland.

Girls who smoke 10 cigarettes per day or more are at greatest risk, particularly for abdominal obesity. Their waist sizes are 1.34 inches larger than nonsmokers' waists are as young adults, according to the study in the February 2009 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

But smoking in adolescence did not necessarily predict weight problems for men, according to the study.

Scientists know a correlation exists between women's weight and smoking, said lead study author Suoma Saarni, a researcher with the Department of Public Health in Helsinki.

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• Anti-Smoking Working Group Hands in Report  

A government working group considering amendments to the Tobacco Act handed in its report to Health and Social Services Minister, Paula Risikko on Thursday. The report includes proposals for tightening tobacco legislation and introducing anti-smoking programmes.

The report pays particular attention to measures to reduce smoking among young people by changing tobacco laws. Parliament’s Social Affairs and Health Committee has reviewed the existing legislation, with a view to making it possible to impose fines and prison sentences on persons found to guilty of selling tobacco products to under aged persons. The work of the Committee has been led by Justice Minister Tuija Brax.

The working group proposals are part of a blanket agreement on WHO anti-smoking programmes as well as the implementation of an EU directive on the issue.

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UPDATE: Finnish working group proposes total snuff ban  

A Finnish government working group on Thursday proposed a number of amendments in the Act on Measures to Restrict Tobacco Smoking, including a ban on passenger imports of moist snuff.

Under Finland's current legislation passengers are allowed to import snuff from Sweden, the only EU country where the product can be sold, for private use.

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• Finns mull ban on candy cigarettes 

Finland's government is considering a ban on candy cigarettes and licorice pipes to discourage young people from smoking the real thing.

The Health Ministry received a study Thursday that proposes outlawing sales of candy in the shape of tobacco products. Ireland banned candy cigarettes in 2007.

The Finnish proposals also suggest banning chewing tobacco and snuff completely and making it illegal for adults to buy tobacco products for people under 18.

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• Teen smokers looking at adult obesity 

TEENAGE girls who smoke more than double their chance of becoming obese in adulthood, according to a study hailed by Australia's Quit organisation as a myth-buster.

The research also found girls who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day in their teens went on to have waists measuring about 3.5cm larger than non-smokers when they reached their 20s.

Victoria-based Quit Support Programs manager Luke Atkin said the finding was important as many young women still drew a favourable association between smoking and thinness - despite the dire health warnings.

"This study shows smoking as a teen could actually increase your chances of obesity when you are in your 20s," Mr Atkin said.

"For decades the tobacco industry has pushed the idea that smoking somehow equates to being fashionable or glamorous but as this study shows, a teen girl who smokes could be on a fast track to obesity.

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For decades the tobacco industry has pushed the idea that smoking somehow equates to being fashionable or glamorous but as this study shows, a teen girl who smokes could be on a fast track to obesity.
Victoria-based Quit Support Programs manager Luke Atkin, on the recent Finnish study.

Association of Smoking in Adolescence With Abdominal Obesity in Adulthood: A Follow-Up Study of 5 Birth Cohorts of Finnish Twins  

Conclusions. Smoking is a risk factor for abdominal obesity among both genders and for overweight in women. The prevention of smoking during adolescence may play an important role in promoting healthy weight and in decreasing the morbidity related to abdominal obesity.

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• Teens Girls Smoke Now, Pay Later With Larger Waistlines as Adults  

Girls who smoke 10 cigarettes per day or more are at greatest risk, particularly for abdominal obesity. Their waist sizes are 1.34 inches larger than nonsmokers’ waists are as young adults, according to the study in the February 2009 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

But smoking in adolescence did not necessarily predict weight problems for men, according to the study.

Scientists know a correlation exists between women’s weight and smoking, said lead study author Suoma Saarni, a researcher with the Department of Public Health in Helsinki. However, she added, “We do not know why smoking did not affect men’s weight, as we do not know why smoking affected women’s weight.”

The study followed twins born between 1975 and 1979

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Proteomics of Human Lung Tissue Identifies Surfactant Protein A as a Marker of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease  

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a lung disease related to smoking, is one of the leading causes of chronic morbidity and mortality around the world. One goal in COPD research is the identification of biomarkers for early diagnosis of the disease. Here, we sought COPD-specific changes in the proteome from human lung tissue. This revealed increased levels of surfactant protein A (SP-A) in COPD but not in the normal or fibrotic lung. The results were confirmed by immunohistochemistry, morphometry and Western blotting. Furthermore, elevated SP-A protein levels were detected from the induced sputum supernatants of COPD patients. The levels of other surfactant proteins (SP-B, SP-C, SP-D) were not altered. Our results suggest that SP-A is linked to the pathogenesis of COPD and could be considered as a potential COPD biomarker.

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