I just came on two important papers — Association of Long-term, Low-Intensity Smoking With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study and Association between long-term low-intensity cigarette smoking and incidence of smoking-related cancer in the National Institutes of Health-AARP cohort by Maki Inoue Choi and her colleagues atContinue reading “Even a little smoking is bad: Implications for harm reduction”
Category Archives: heart attack
Using e-cigs, cigs, heated tobacco products, or marijuana once a day increases risk of heart arrythmias and causes remodeling of the heart
Huiliang Qiu, Matt Springer, and colleagues’ paper “Increased vulnerability to atrial and ventricular arrhythmias caused by different types of inhaled tobacco or marijuana products” makes two important points: (1) even very short daily exposures to tobacco and marijuana products have serious cumulative effects on the heart, and (2) nicotine and THC, the psychoactive components ofContinue reading “Using e-cigs, cigs, heated tobacco products, or marijuana once a day increases risk of heart arrythmias and causes remodeling of the heart“
World Heart Federation highlights cardiovascular risks of e-cigs, calls for strict regulation, supports countries with bans
On October 18, 2021 the World Heart Federation released a policy brief “E-cigarettes: A new threat to cardiovascular health,” (press release) that provides an overview of the evidence that e-cigarette use has a wide range of adverse effects on the cardiovascular system that are reflected as an increased risk of heart attack at a populationContinue reading “World Heart Federation highlights cardiovascular risks of e-cigs, calls for strict regulation, supports countries with bans”
Science FDA (and everyone else) needs to actively engage as they think about whether to authorize Juul and the other ecigs
When I read the FDA’s Technical Project Lead summary of its scientific justification for authorizing the sale of RJ Reynolds’ Vuse Solo e-cigarette, I was struck by the fact that it ignored the broad scientific literature on e-cigarettes and seemed to accept industry-framed arguments. For example: They ignored the evidence that as consumer products, e-cigarettesContinue reading “Science FDA (and everyone else) needs to actively engage as they think about whether to authorize Juul and the other ecigs”
E-cigs have been on the market for 15 years: If they were really reducing harm it would be obvious by now
Ever since e-cigarettes first came on the market in 2006 the argument has been that it will take time for their health benefits to be manifest. This view was restated again last month in an FDA press release that stated, “Companies who want to continue to market their flavored ENDS products must have robust andContinue reading “E-cigs have been on the market for 15 years: If they were really reducing harm it would be obvious by now”
New WHO report highlights falling cigarette use and challenges that new tobacco products pose to public health and implementation of the FCTC
On July 27, 2021 the WHO released the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2021: addressing new and emerging products, its eighth such report. The good news is that it documents solid progress in reducing tobacco use. After over a century of growth, “between 2007 and 2019, smoking rates decreased from a global averageContinue reading “New WHO report highlights falling cigarette use and challenges that new tobacco products pose to public health and implementation of the FCTC”
We know a lot about how e-cigarettes cause disease
The evidence on the health effects of e-cigarettes was the subject of two recently published reviews that focus on cardiovascular, pulmonary and immunologic effects of e-cigarettes. These reviews complement earlier reviews on the pulmonary effects of e-cigarettes, e-cigarettes and smoking cessation, and the gateway effect for smoking among youth and young adults. Taken together theseContinue reading “We know a lot about how e-cigarettes cause disease”
The biological evidence of e-cig dangers keeps piling up
Rachel Keith and Aruni Bhatnagar just published “Cardiorespiratory and Immunologic Effects of Electronic Cigarettes,” which is a nice overview of the growing biological evidence base that e-cigarettes have a lot of adverse health effects, many similar to cigarettes. This material is particularly important because the people who continue to promote e-cigarettes for “harm reduction” continueContinue reading “The biological evidence of e-cig dangers keeps piling up”
Smokefree law and tobacco tax increases followed by big drops in heart attacks in Thailand
The fact that smokefree laws are followed by reductions in hospitalization for heart attacks has been well-documented (page 435) in developed countries such as the U.S. and European countries. Thailand began implementing smoking restrictions in 1992 and then repeatedly updated them to expand smokefree places. In 2010, Thailand achieved 100% smokefree public places at theContinue reading “Smokefree law and tobacco tax increases followed by big drops in heart attacks in Thailand”
Smoking marijuana associated with higher heart disease and stroke risk
One of the difficulties in studying the epidemiological link between marijuana use and disease is the fact that most people who smoke marijuana also smoke cigarettes, making it hard to pry the effects apart in a statistical analysis. Siddarth Shah and colleagues just published an important analysis that avoids this problem by only studying neverContinue reading “Smoking marijuana associated with higher heart disease and stroke risk”
Stanton Glantz blog 