April 30, 2009

Are Cigarettes More Hazardous Than Ever?

Risk Of Getting Lung Cancer Has Increased Due To Changes In Design, New Study Suggests

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(CBS)  A new study presented today suggests that the risk of getting lung cancer from smoking has increased over time due to changes in cigarette design.

Up to one half of current lung cancer occurrence could be attributable to cigarette design, according to David Burns and Christy Anderson of the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine.
Consequently, the study concludes, lung cancer rates could be reduced by up to 50 percent through more regulatory control of cigarette composition.

Tobacco Study Abstract
Burns and Anderson presented their study today at the meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in Dublin, Ireland.

The study examined lung cancer rates as well as changes in the design and smoke composition of both American and Australian cigarettes over the last four decades. Both countries saw a rise in the use of low tar cigarettes, as well as the introduction of ventilated filters.

The major known difference in cigarettes between the two countries is the level of tobacco-specific nitrosamines, a lung-specific carcinogen that causes adenocarcinoma--one of the four major cell types of lung cancer. Nitrosamines are found in far higher levels in American cigarettes than in Australian cigarettes, the study reports.


PDF: Cancer
& Cigarette Design

Download the UCSD School of Medicine Report
The study also shows that the increase in the overall incidence of lung cancer in the U.S. has largely been driven by an increase in risk in adenocarcinoma. By contrast, adenocarcinoma makes up a smaller percentage of lung cancer cases in Australia, where age-specific lung cancer death rates are lower than in the U.S.

David Sutton, a spokesperson for tobacco company PhilipMorrisUSA, said his company has been aware of concerns over nitrosamines for some time and has taken steps to reduce the levels of the carcinogen in tobacco.
For instance, the company requires its tobacco growers to use indirect heating systems during the curing process to prevent the tobacco from being exposed to the combustion gases that increase the presence of nitrosamines. For growers that do not use a heat-based curing system, PhilipMorrisUSA requires the use of a tobacco seed that has been shown to produce less nitrosamines.

Sutton said today's presentation of the study did not give enough data to explain why the level of nitrosamines may be higher in American-grown tobacco versus Australian-grown tobacco.

"It's impossible to get a significant conclusion," he said. "When the full study is published, we'll evaluate it."

He added that PhilipMorrisUSA has for eight years supported tough but reasonable regulation of tobacco and supports the medical consensus that cigarettes are harmful to one's health.

"There is no safe cigarette," he said.




By Stephanie Condon
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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by E-Smoker May 13, 2009 5:40 PM EDT
I have switched to Torch e-cigarettes. Yes, I did have to say goodbye to the tar and carcinogens as electronic cigarettes have no tobacco, only NICOTINE. The non-smokers around me LOVE IT, beause there is no smoke and no smell . Torch allows me to "smoke" anywhere, even my Aunt Edna's house.
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by Audrey_Dern May 9, 2009 12:06 PM EDT
STARLEO~ YOU ALSO COPY WELL FROM WHATEVER BOOK YOU WERE QUOTING!
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by Audrey_Dern May 9, 2009 10:47 AM EDT
starleo~ One thing I forgot is that I want to say you sound very intelligent and I can tell you are from N.E. although, there should have been a comma on both sides of "Audrey." Just trying to help!
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by Audrey_Dern May 9, 2009 10:40 AM EDT
starleo, written May 8th @6:19P.M.~ Thank you so much for your concern. I don't know what part of NE you are from, but, in Cape Cod (where I come from) it was either typeo, type-o or t.o.When I took my refresher course in typing this is what the teacher would put on the corrected papers.....I guess she was stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!
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by starleo146 May 8, 2009 9:19 PM EDT
Typographical error
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Typo" redirects here. For other uses, see Typo (disambiguation).
For the Wikipedia Typo Team, see Wikipedia:Typo.

A typographical error (shortened as typo) is a mistake made during, originally, the manual type-setting (typography) of printed material, or more recently, the typing process. The term includes errors due to mechanical failure or slips of the hand or finger, but excludes errors of ignorance.[1] Before the arrival of printing, the "copyist's mistake" was the equivalent for manuscripts. Most typos involve simple duplication, omission, transposition, or substitution of a small number of characters.

Though the term "typo" excludes errors of ignorance, it is common to find it used as a euphemism to describe instances of poor spelling, punctuation, or grammar, such as accidentally typing a homophone.[citation needed]

A typographical error is distinct from an orthographical error; the latter is characterized by incorrect Audrey sorry you are wrong and I am from New England
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by Dgunner May 8, 2009 2:12 PM EDT
OOPS there was a typo I meant led instead of lead. Lead is what you use to weight down the ones who shouldn't be found for several days.
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by Dgunner May 8, 2009 2:00 PM EDT
I Q. doesn't mean a thing with application, and the ability to understand when you are communicating with someone who actually understands the subject. The people who put down what they don't understand are lead by those who do.
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by honestabe8 May 8, 2009 9:38 AM EDT
I believe that GOD has your life mapped out before you are born. If it is in his plans....I might get hit by a car!
Posted by Audrey_Dern

Well, he IS all knowing...
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by Audrey_Dern May 7, 2009 11:41 AM EDT
Poor, Poor stupid people. Just walk outside and you will be breathing in air...which has the same dangerous substances as cigarettes. AND...please don't waste my time pretending you are worried about me and MY health for smoking!!! It is MY body and MY life and I will do as I please. I had an aunt, who was a chain smoker who died at the age of 98 from diabetes and...I was brought up around 7 brothers who smoked and don't have any problems at the age of 65. Everyone has to die from something and I believe that GOD has your life mapped out before you are born. If it is in his plans....I might get hit by a car!
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by honestabe8 May 4, 2009 7:02 PM EDT
The tobacco farmer is a farmer. He can adjust and grow a different crop.

How about hemp?
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by 4-tobacco-control May 4, 2009 2:13 PM EDT
Basically, tobacco is a hazardous product that should be removed from the market. It causes death and disease, a fact which is indisputable. Thoeries to the contrary are based on misinformation and falsehood. As for losing funds from tobacco taxes, I'm sure the government will find a way of replacing them. They always do (and hopefully it will be in the form of a progressive tax that doesn't harm those with the lowest incomes). As for lost jobs in the tobacco industry, please consider the following. The tobacco farmer is a farmer. He can adjust and grow a different crop. Transportation companies can transport different products. Factory workers can learn to operate different machines. One thing is certain, change will always come. It is a fortunate thing that people are so adaptable. Otherwise, predictions of dire consequences as a result of the death of any industry would have proven true and the results would have been more tragic than we have seen. Sure, there are many sad stories resulting from plant closings and industries that became obsolete over time but, there are just as many stories of triumph and growth resulting from the new condition that made them obsolete. If you look at change as a new opportunity instead of a hopeless tragedy, the possibilities are endless. If you look at change as hopeless tragedy, unfortunately for you, it will likely be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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by honestabe8 May 3, 2009 11:53 AM EDT
Gosh, Audrey: Once again, you show your intellectual superiority. Go ahead and run, you diseased gash
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by Audrey_Dern May 3, 2009 11:37 AM EDT
You, once again, are allowing your ignorance to overestimate your intellectual capacity. You are so beneath me that I can't converse with you anymore. Go grow up and get a job if you are capable...try under maintenance!
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by honestabe8 May 3, 2009 10:36 AM EDT
I just checked dictionary.com for that spelling of typo. They did not have it. Perhaps you can correct them.
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by honestabe8 May 3, 2009 10:35 AM EDT
Listen you flea....typeo is spelled typeo back in New England...you know where all the smart people are from!!!!!!
Posted by Audrey_Dern

I'm sure it is. You are undoubtedly the best speller in the history of man. Perhaps you can write a dictionary so we insects can benefit from your vast knowledge.
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by Audrey_Dern May 3, 2009 10:11 AM EDT
Listen you flea....typeo is spelled typeo back in New England...you know where all the smart people are from!!!!!!
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by honestabe8 May 3, 2009 6:44 AM EDT
Audrey: Was misspelling typo a typo or was it intentional?
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by honestabe8 May 3, 2009 6:39 AM EDT
Audrey: Yet you assume that other's errors were not typos?
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by debinok1 May 2, 2009 1:01 PM EDT
March of Dimes deputy medical director Diane Ashton, MD, MPH, tells WebMD that many of the same chemicals found in cigarette smoke are found in air pollution.

"It certainly makes sense that exposure to these chemicals in air pollution can impact pregnancy outcomes," she says. "We definitely need larger studies to help us figure this out."
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by Audrey_Dern May 2, 2009 12:12 PM EDT
Honestabe, I hope you realize that, that was a typeo! I would challenge you to a spelling bee any day and win hands down......
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