PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Smokers who switch to vaping see improved respiratory health

2024-11-12
(Press-News.org) A new paper in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, published by Oxford University Press, finds that people who switch from smoking cigarettes to vaping see improved respiratory health, but people who begin consuming electronic cigarettes while continuing to smoke regular cigarettes do not report improved respiratory symptoms.

Adults increasingly use electronic cigarettes to try to quit smoking because of the perceived reduced risk. But while vaping reduces exposure to toxic chemicals, it has been unclear whether switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes results in a reduction of the respiratory problems—like wheezing and coughing—common in regular cigarette smokers.

Researchers here used data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, a national longitudinal measure of tobacco use in the United States performed by the National Institutes of Health. The investigators here observed adult participants between 2013 and 2019 who reported smoking cigarettes exclusively at the beginning of the investigation and reported a baseline cough or wheeze.

The researchers divided the subjects into four groups: those who transitioned from exclusive cigarette smoking to quitting nicotine altogether, those who switched from cigarette smoking to vaping exclusively, those who continued to smoke cigarettes only, and those who kept smoking and also began vaping.  

Completely switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes led to a moderate increase in the resolution of wheeze symptoms compared with persistent smoking. However, there were lower rates of respiratory symptom resolution among those transitioning to vaping while maintaining or increasing their smoking. Among 5,210 subjects with a baseline cough, 3,362 (65%) saw their coughs go away. Of the 5,367 people who reported a baseline wheeze, the researchers observed that 2,862 (53%) saw improvements. Switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes exclusively resulted in significantly reduced wheezing but not cough resolution. Transitioning to both smoking and vaping (vs. just continuing to smoke cigarettes) was not associated with respira­tory improvement overall or even among participants who reduced their cigarette smoking intensity.

The researchers note that the rates of symptom resolu­tion were 14% lower (for cough) and 15% lower (for wheeze) among those who switched to dual use and maintained or increased their smoking intensity; those who started using electronic cigarettes while continuing to smoke the same number of regular cigarettes saw their wheeze and coughing get worse.

Switching from smoking cigarettes to quitting nicotine altogether was, perhaps unsurprisingly, associated with the best improvements in both coughs and wheezing.

The paper, “Association of cigarette–e-cigarette transitions with respiratory symptom resolution,” is available (at midnight on November 12th) at https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntae224.

Andrew Stokes
Associate Professor of Public Health
Boston University School of Public Health
801 Massachusetts Avenue, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02118
acstokes@bu.edu

To request a copy of the study, please contact:
Daniel Luzer 
daniel.luzer@oup.com

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Air pollution emerges as critical environmental risk factor for autism, emerging topic review finds

Air pollution emerges as critical environmental risk factor for autism, emerging topic review finds
2024-11-12
Boston, Massachusetts, 12 November 2024 – Environmental exposure to air pollutants during critical developmental periods may significantly impact autism risk, according to a groundbreaking Emerging Topic review published 12 November 2024, in Brain Medicine. The study reveals how common air pollutants, including fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, can trigger complex biological cascades affecting brain development. "Different kinds of neurological disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, can be associated ...

Autism and nitric oxide: Professor Haitham Amal unveils brain disorder breakthrough

Autism and nitric oxide: Professor Haitham Amal unveils brain disorder breakthrough
2024-11-12
Boston, Massachusetts, 12 November 2024 – The complex interplay between nitric oxide and brain disorders takes center stage in the latest Genomic Press Interview, published November 12, 2024, in Brain Medicine. Professor Haitham Amal, head of the Laboratory of Neuromics, Cell Signaling, and Translational Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, shares insights into his groundbreaking research and personal motivation. “Meeting families and children with autism in Boston during my time at MIT inspired me to focus on a single goal: to help develop biological diagnostics ...

Facing the wind: How trees behave across various forest settings and weather events

Facing the wind: How trees behave across various forest settings and weather events
2024-11-12
Destructive winds during storms and cyclones often cause tree failures, especially through uprooting and stem breakage. However, how trees respond to wind under various forest configurations and weather conditions remains unclear. A recent study on Cryptomeria japonica plots shows that trees dissipate wind energy by switching between two swaying behaviors at specific wind speeds, offering insights that may help in improved forest management to minimize damage caused by storms. Extreme weather events, such as tropical and extratropical cyclones and tornadoes, can cause widespread damage to forests, leading to environmental and financial ...

High-performance inkjet print head enhances bioprinting productivity

High-performance inkjet print head enhances bioprinting productivity
2024-11-12
Bioprinting is a technology used to create three-dimensional structures, such as human tissues or organs, using bio-inks made of cells and hydrogels. However, conventional inkjet technology has difficulty dispensing bio-inks that are sensitive to temperature due to the heat generated during operation. Furthermore, conventional 3D bioprinting mainly utilizes simple syringe-type printing devices with a single needle, making it time-consuming to produce artificial organs like the brain, lungs, and heart. The Bionics Research Center team, led by Dr. Byung Chul Lee at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Sang-Rok Oh), in ...

Opioid use disorder: Updated clinical practice guideline

2024-11-12
La version française suit Opioid use disorder: updated clinical practice guideline An updated evidence-based guideline aimed at helping clinicians and other health care providers manage patients with opioid use disorder recommends buprenorphine and methadone as first-line treatments. The guideline is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.241173 Opioid use and opioid use disorder are the leading causes of drug-related deaths worldwide, and Canada ...

Microneedle sensors for dermal interstitial fluid analysis

Microneedle sensors for dermal interstitial fluid analysis
2024-11-12
The rapid advancement in personalized healthcare has driven the development of wearable biomedical devices for real-time biomarker monitoring and diagnosis. Traditional invasive blood-based diagnostics are painful and limited to sporadic health snapshots. To address these limitations, microneedle-based sensing platforms have emerged, utilizing interstitial fluid (ISF) as an alternative biofluid for continuous health monitoring in a minimally invasive and painless manner. The team led by Wei Gao from California Institute of Technology providea a comprehensive overview of microneedle sensor technology, covering microneedle design, fabrication methods, ...

‘Sleepy cannabis’: first study to show cannabinol increases sleep

‘Sleepy cannabis’: first study to show cannabinol increases sleep
2024-11-12
Research by scientists at the University of Sydney has identified a constituent in the cannabis plant that improves sleep. Their report is the first to use objective measures to show the component, known as cannabinol (CBN), increases sleep in rats.  The study has been published in the leading journal Neuropsychopharmacology. “For decades, cannabis folklore has suggested that aged cannabis makes consumers sleepy via the build-up of CBN, however there was no convincing evidence for this,” said lead author on the study Professor Jonathon Arnold, ...

Mount Sinai team shows AI can detect serious neurologic changes in babies in the NICU using video data alone

Mount Sinai team shows AI can detect serious neurologic changes in babies in the NICU using video data alone
2024-11-12
A team of clinicians, scientists, and engineers at Mount Sinai trained a deep learning pose-recognition algorithm on video feeds of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to accurately track their movements and identify key neurologic metrics. Findings from this new artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool, published November 11 in Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine, could lead to a minimally invasive, scalable method for continuous neurologic monitoring in NICUs, providing critical real-time insights into infant health that have not been possible before. Every year, more than 300,000 ...

Jeffrey Popma, MD, joins CRF as Chief Scientific and Strategic Officer

2024-11-11
NEW YORK – November 11, 2024 – The Cardiovascular Research Foundation® (CRF®) proudly announces the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey Popma as Chief Scientific and Strategic Officer. A world-renowned leader in cardiovascular research, Dr. Popma will drive forward pivotal programs and initiatives that will shape CRF’s future and fuel innovation at the CRF® Clinical Trials Center (CTC). His leadership will be instrumental in the development of the recently launched Real-World Data and Outcomes Center, advancing CRF’s commitment to impactful ...

Seiber elevated to IEEE senior member

Seiber elevated to IEEE senior member
2024-11-11
Larry Seiber, an R&D staff member in the Vehicle Power Electronics group at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elevated to senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE.  Senior member status requires extensive experience that reflects professional accomplishments. Only 10% of IEEE’s more than 450,000 members achieve this level.  Seiber has conducted decades of cutting-edge research in power electronics and electric machinery. He developed the hardware ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

Healthy nutrition and physical lifestyle choices lower cancer mortality risk for survivors, new ACS study finds

Mass General Brigham researchers reveal 17 modifiable risk factors shared by stroke, dementia, and late-life depression

Promising drug discovery research gets funding boost from Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

Carbon capture could become practical with scalable, affordable materials

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center opens state-of-the-art Newport Beach Radiation Oncology and Imaging Center

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York announces new investigators for immune system research to improve human health

New research suggests White Americans in areas with higher Black poverty are more likely to blame racial inequality on lack of effort

Solar wave squeezed Jupiter’s magnetic shield to unleash heat

[Press-News.org] Smokers who switch to vaping see improved respiratory health