Alcohol Plus Cadmium (via Smoking) Can Amplify Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Risk

Heavy drinking combined with cadmium exposure — most commonly via smoking — escalates the risk of hypertension, according to a new study. Hypertension (high blood pressure) affects 26 percent of the global population and is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Alcohol consumption and cadmium exposure are known risk factors for hypertension. Exposure to cadmium, a metal that accumulates in body organs, occurs mainly through smoking, which often accompanies heavy drinking. Other cadmium sources include certain foods, air pollution, and wine and beer. Alcohol increases the absorption of cadmium in the body, and evidence suggests that the two substances contribute to hypertension via shared physiological pathways. The new study, in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, is the first known epidemiological investigation of the combined effects of alcohol and cadmium on blood pressure.

Vaping could nearly triple the chance of smoking in teens

A new study offers strong evidence that kids who use e-cigarettes are more likely to take up smoking or smokeless tobacco, researchers say. Teen boys who vaped were almost three times as likely to start smoking as other teen boys with similar risk profiles and more than two times as likely to try smokeless tobacco, the study from The Ohio State University found.

CDC Data Shows E-cigarette Makers Continues to Prey on Youth – and FDA Policy Lets Them

Today, the CDC released data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey showing that in 2020, 20 percent of high school students and nearly 5 percent of middle school students used e-cigarettes. Most concerning, the data shows that among youth e-cigarette users, 38.9 percent of high school students and 20 percent of middle school students reported using e-cigarettes on 20 or more of the past 30 days; 22.5 percent of high school users and 9.4 percent of middle school users reported daily use.

Just as Tobacco Advertising Causes Teen Smoking, Exposure to Alcohol Ads Causes Teens to Drink

Exposure to alcohol advertising changes teens’ attitudes about alcohol and can cause them to start drinking, finds a new analysis led by NYU School of Global Public Health and NYU Grossman School of Medicine. The study, which appears in a special supplement of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, uses a framework developed to show causality between tobacco advertising and youth smoking and applies it to alcohol advertising.

Cyp2F2-Mediated Lung Cancer, Rapid Risk Assessment of Color Additives, and More Featured in November 2019 Toxicological Sciences

Toxicological Sciences continues to deliver cutting-edge research in toxicology in the November 2019 issue. This issue features research on computational toxicology and databases, developmental and reproductive toxicology, and more.

GW Experts Are Available to Speak for Stories during Lung Cancer Awareness Month

WASHINGTON (Oct. 30, 2019) — November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and according to the American Cancer Society, more than 220,000 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed each year. The George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center has various experts…

The Association of American Cancer Institutes Launches Public Policy Resource Library

The AACI Public Policy Resource Library aims to enable cancer centers and partners in the cancer advocacy community to share resources to foster collaboration, promote cancer prevention, and spur the development of sound public health policy at the state and local level.

Rutgers study examines smoking status, health conditions in older Chinese American men

The findings of the study by the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research underscore the need for culturally targeted interventions to prevent and reduce tobacco use, manage chronic disease and screen for lung cancer.

Smoking abstinence has little impact on the motivation for food

It’s sometimes thought that smokers who can’t light up are likely to reach for food in lieu of cigarettes. But new research from the University at Buffalo suggests that smoking abstinence doesn’t greatly affect the motivation for food.
The study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, used cues and actual money to learn how much smokers might spend for cigarettes, food and water during abstinence. The results provide new insights for how different systems control motivation and reward.

Teens falling victim to the Juul effect

“We were seeing a real drop-off in youth smoking, but now we’re seeing an increase,” says Dr. Beth Ebel, a UW Medicine pediatrician and researcher with the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center. Among teens as young as middle-school age, vaping with products that have nicotine “predisposes you to cigarette smoking later on.”

Nicotine, once derived from tobacco plants to kill insects, works by altering the nervous system. “We’ve used it, refined it, concentrated it, and now we have a pure form of one of the most addictive substances known,” Ebel says in downloadable video soundbites (2:22).