Karin Kasza and colleagues new well-done study, “Divergence in Cigarette Discontinuation Rates by Use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS): Longitudinal Findings From the United States PATH Study Waves 1-6,” uses the large national PATH study to see if there were differences in real-world trends of adults stopping smoking before and after fourth generation e-cigarettesContinue reading “More people are stopping smoking since advent of fourth gen e-cigs. Less disease? Probably not.”
Category Archives: smoking
Heated tobacco products damage human lung function as much as cigarettes
Philip Morris has aggressively promoted its heated tobacco product (HTP) IQOS all over the world as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes based on the fact that IQOS delivers lower levels of some combustion products than cigarettes. IQOS is the most populat HTP in Japan, and other tobacco companies make similar claims for their HTP.Continue reading “Heated tobacco products damage human lung function as much as cigarettes”
Read the behind scenes story of the 1964 Surgeon General Report on Smoking and Health
The 1964 Report on Smoking and Health represented a turning point in the history of tobacco in the United States and the world. Now Don Shopland [photo above], who at the time was an eighteen year-old, “newly working at the National Library of Medicine,” who found himself moonlighting for the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee thatContinue reading “Read the behind scenes story of the 1964 Surgeon General Report on Smoking and Health”
NOW OPEN ACCESS: E-cigs have similar risks to cigs for some diseases and nearly as high for others. Dual use riskier than smoking alone
NEJM Evidence has graciously made our recent paper, “Population-Based Disease Odds for E-Cigarettes and Dual Use versus Cigarettes,” open access so that anyone can read and download it for free. As described in more detail in my blog post on the paper, it uses data from 107 population epidemiology studies of the association between e-cigaretteContinue reading “NOW OPEN ACCESS: E-cigs have similar risks to cigs for some diseases and nearly as high for others. Dual use riskier than smoking alone”
Smoking cessation quickly reduces mortality, within 3 years
It’s been long-established that quitting smoking prolongs life and that quitting young (below about 40) eliminates all or almost all the mortality costs of smoking. The new paper Smoking Cessation and Short- and Longer-Term Mortality by Eo Rin Cho and colleagues extends this case to more recent data and from several countries. While they confirmContinue reading “Smoking cessation quickly reduces mortality, within 3 years”
British smokers understand risks of e-cig use better than a lot of British health officials and scientists
England remains the country in which the government and (most of the) health establishment continue to aggressively promote e-cigarettes as a better alternative to cigarettes. As a result, Sarah Jackson and her colleagues were concerned about the results of their latest survey of smokers’ attitudes towards e-cigarettes, reported in their paper Trends in Harm PerceptionsContinue reading “British smokers understand risks of e-cig use better than a lot of British health officials and scientists”
FDA needs to reconsider its promotion of the “continuum of risk” for e-cigarettes
As of February 22, 2024, the FDA was continuing to embrace the idea that there is a “continuum of risk” with combusted tobacco as the riskiest and e-cigarettes being substantially less risky. As a result, FDA promotes e-cigarettes as a way for smokers to reduce risk. This view is based on the fact that e-cigarettesContinue reading “FDA needs to reconsider its promotion of the “continuum of risk” for e-cigarettes”
Cannabis use linked to increase in heart attack and stroke risk
Many people think cannabis is “medicine” and so ignore its heath effects. Abra Jeffers, Amy Byers, Salome Keyhani and I just published Association of cannabis use with cardiovascular outcomes among US adults in the Journal of the American Heart Association that found that cannabis use is associated with adverse cardiovascular events with heavier use (moreContinue reading “Cannabis use linked to increase in heart attack and stroke risk”
E-cigs have similar risks to cigs for some diseases and nearly as high for others. Dual use riskier than smoking alone
It is an article of faith among e-cigarette advocates that they are substantially less risky than cigarettes. Rather than being based on the actual associations between e-cigarette use and disease, this belief is based on the fact that e-cigarettes do not burn tobacco, so avoid the toxic combustion products that cigarettes produce. In recent years,Continue reading “E-cigs have similar risks to cigs for some diseases and nearly as high for others. Dual use riskier than smoking alone”
Banning menthol leads a quarter of menthol smokers to quit
The two justifications for the FDA’s proposed product standard prohibiting menthol cigarettes and cigars are (1) it will reduce youth initiation, and (2) it will help menthol smokers to quit. Now Sarah Mills and colleagues have published a review and meta-analysis of the effects of menthol bans around the world, The Impact of Menthol CigaretteContinue reading “Banning menthol leads a quarter of menthol smokers to quit”
Stanton Glantz blog 