E-cigarettes produce more harm than good, a new study concludes. The researchers say the number of adults who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking is much lower than the number of teens and young adults who start smoking regular cigarettes after trying e-cigarettes. They calculated 2,070 adult smokers who used e-cigarettes in 2014 would quit smoking regular cigarettes in 2015 and remain smoke free for at least seven years, according to Consumer Reports. They also estimated 168,000 teens and young adults who tried e-cigarettes in 2014 would start smoking regular cigarettes in 2015 and eventually become daily smokers. Overall, e-cigarette use in 2014 would lead to 1.5 million years of life lost, they estimated. “If e-cigarettes are to confer a net population-level benefit in the future, the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool will need to be much higher than it currently is,” the researchers wrote in the journal PLOS...

Odds of smoking among Americans with a substance use disorder are more than five times greater than the overall population ---science daily While cigarette smoking has declined in the U.S. for the past several decades, since 2002 the prevalence of smoking has increased significantly among people with an illicit substance use disorder, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the City University of New York. Until now, little was known about whether the decline in smoking was also occurring among individuals with illicit substance use disorders. The findings are published online in the journal Addiction. The data show that smoking rates increased among those with substance use disorders, including hallucinogens, inhalants, tranquilizers, cocaine, heroin, pain relievers, simulants, and sedatives, while cigarette smoking decreased among individuals with cannabis use disorders, as well as among those without any substance use disorders. Source: Columbia University's...

Although many people think "vaping" is safer than smoking, research suggests that both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes are tied to an increased risk for bladder cancer. "We've known traditional smoking raises bladder cancer risk, and given the surge in popularity of e-cigarettes, its imperative we uncover any potential links" between e-cigarettes and bladder cancer, Dr. Sam Chang said in an American Urological Association news release. Chang is a professor of urologic surgery at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. Most inhaled nicotine is excreted in the urine. For the study, the researchers compared the urine of people who use e-cigarettes with that of nonsmokers. The investigators looked for five chemicals known to cause bladder cancer that may be found in e-cigarette liquid. Ninety-two percent of e-cigarette users tested positive for two of the five chemicals. More research is needed to investigate the link between e-cigarettes and bladder cancer, the study authors said....

Smoking causes one-tenth of deaths worldwide, according to a new study sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Half of the deaths occur in the United States, China, India and Russia. “Despite more than 50 years of anti-tobacco efforts, smoking remains a leading global risk factor,” researchers wrote in The Lancet. “Its toll will remain substantial without more concerted policy initiatives, policy compliance and enforcement, and sustained political will to offset commercial interests.” The study found almost one in seven people smoked worldwide in 2015—one in four men and one in 20 women, CNBC reports. The study analyzed smoking habits in 195 countries between 1990 and 2015.

Every year cigarette smoking contributes to about one in five deaths in the United States. A group of prominent health leaders called for the immediate implementation of national action to reduce the number of smokers in the country by 15 million in a report published last week. The call to action aims to curb smoking, the largest cause of preventable death and illness in the United States, by reducing the number of adult smokers from 40 million to 25 million by 2024. The report, which solicited input from 120 key tobacco leaders from different organizations in the United States, found that smoking prevention and quitting rates have made progress among young people, but smoking cessation for adults is lagging. Every year, smoking costs the United States more than $300 billion, of which nearly $170 billion goes directly to health care for adults who have diseases caused by tobacco use. More than...

The prevalence of smoking has remained fairly stable over the past decade after declining sharply for many years. Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health analyzed changes in the prevalence of depression among current, former and new smokers in the U.S. to determine whether an increase in certain barriers to successful cessation and sustained abstinence may be contributing to this slowed decline. “The prevalence of depression increased and remains higher among current smokers overall, but the rate of the increase among former and never smokers was even more prominent,” noted Dr. Renee Goodwin, lead researcher. The research indicates that depression remains a real concern for current smokers, noting the significance between smoking and mental health concerns. The concern is prominent with youth smokers, which still remains fairly high in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states: each day in the United States, more than 3,200...

A new study shows that 11 of the 15 cancers responsible for premature death and loss of healthy life years in US residents are closely linked to smoking and alcohol. The report was published online October 18 in the Journal of Preventive Medicine. The loss of healthy years of life is measured as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). One DALY is the equivalent to loss of 1 year of healthy life and is a combined measure of mortality, incidence, survival, and quality of life. In a story that appeared in Medscape Medical News, the report shows that men and women shared the cancer burden equally, with each group losing 4.9 DALYs of healthy life years. However, the cancer burden was 20% to 30% higher in African Americans than in all races/ethnicities combined. Populations with the next highest DALYs, in descending order, were non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Asians. The story goes on...

The rate of smoking and drinking is declining among American teens, a survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) finds. Last year 9.6 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 said they used alcohol in 2015, compared with 17.6 percent in 2002, The New York Times reports. About 20 percent of teens said they smoked last year, compared with 32 percent in 2002. The survey also found that last year, one out of five adults in American met criteria for a mental illness or substance use disorder, but only 3 percent of them received services. “These are potentially life-threatening, disabling conditions,” SAMHSA Principal Deputy Administrator Kana Enomoto said in a news release. “Our country must redouble its efforts to provide evidence-based prevention and treatment services in every community to ensure all Americans get the help and hope they need to lead healthy and productive lives.”

Last year 15 percent of American adults smoked, down from 17 percent in 2014, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The decrease was the largest one-year decline in more than two decades, the Associated Press reports. The smoking rate has been decreasing for decades, but generally drops only 1 percent or less annually. About 50 years ago, 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked, the CDC noted. Recent declines in smoking rates are due to anti-smoking ad campaigns, as well as cigarette taxes and smoking bans, experts say. The increasing popularity of e-cigarettes has also likely been a factor in the decline in smoking rates. It is not yet known whether e-cigarettes will help further reduce smoking rates, or contribute to an increase in smoking in the future. Some public health experts are concerned e-cigarettes could create a new way for people to become addicted...

A new study estimates that a 10 percent reduction in the U.S. smoking rate would result in $63 billion in savings in healthcare costs one year later. Researchers say the cost savings would come from reductions in risks from smoking-related diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes. Fewer babies would be born prematurely, they report in the journal PLOS Medicine. In addition to savings from the healthcare costs of smokers, the nation would also have fewer costs related to the effects of secondhand smoke, HealthDay reports. “Our study shows that significant changes in health care expenditures begin to appear quickly after changes in smoking behavior,” study first author James Lightwood of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), said in a news release. The researchers looked at the healthcare costs associated with smoking nationwide between 1992 and 2009. They found when smokers quit, the risks from smoking-related diseases drop quickly. When...