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E-cigarettes may be better than nicotine patches to help pregnant women stop smoking, reduce the risk of low birthweight
Smoking in pregnancy can harm developing babies, especially their growth. Current guidelines recommend that pregnant smokers who find quitting difficult should be provided with nicotine replacements products, and stop-smoking services usually recommend nicotine patches.
This research, published in Health Technology Assessment, suggests that pregnant women should also consider e-cigarettes.
The study included 1,140 pregnant women who were trying to stop smoking, who were divided into two groups. Half of the women received e-cigarettes; the other half received nicotine patches. Both approaches were equally safe. The only meaningful difference was that fewer women in the e-cigarette group had children with low birthweight (weighing less than 2,500 grams).
The researchers say this is most likely because e-cigarettes were more effective in reducing the use of conventional cigarettes.
When the researchers looked at successful quitters who only used the treatment they were allocated, they found that almost twice as many women had quit with e-cigarettes as with nicotine patches.
The researchers looked at safety outcomes, including low birthweight, baby intensive care admissions, miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature birth.
Peter Hajek, Director of Health and Lifestyle Research Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, said, "E-cigarettes seem more effective than nicotine patches in helping pregnant women to quit smoking and because of this, they seem to also lead to better pregnancy outcomes. The evidence-based advice to smokers already includes, among other options, a recommendation to switch from smoking to e-cigarettes. Such a recommendation can now be extended to smokers who are pregnant as well."
Source: Medical Xpress, 1 August 2023
See also: Nature medicine - Electronic cigarettes versus nicotine patches for smoking cessation in pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial
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New British American Tobacco chief calls for ‘better’ vaping rules
The new chief executive of British American Tobacco says he wants governments to subject vaping and other tobacco alternatives to “better regulations”, as global controversy over the products threatens a growth area for the industry.
Tadeu Marroco told the Financial Times that the FTSE 100-listed owner of Lucky Strike and Dunhill was “very keen” to work with regulators to address problems such as vaping’s use among teenagers and its environmental impact.
“We need to have better regulations. We cannot ignore the benefit of migrating smokers out of cigarettes, but being unregulated, we have issues related to youth access and the environment,” Marroco said.
“The problem is that this is a phenomenon that has grown so fast and the regulators are always catching up. But there are clearly opportunities for us to improve the level playing field.”
The remarks from Marroco, who assumed the top job in May, come as a number of countries around the world crack down on flavoured e-cigarettes following calls from medical advisers. Countries including India, Thailand and Argentina have already implemented complete bans on all e-cigarettes.
NHS guidelines in the UK suggest vapes can help people stop smoking although they also state that the activity “is not completely risk-free”. The government said in April it would offer 1mn smokers vape starter kits. Selling vapes to under-18s is illegal.
Marroco did not go into specifics about what good regulation would look like, in his view. But he said that BAT, which launched its disposable vape Vuse Go in 2022, had been careful when selecting the colours and flavours for its devices with the goal of targeting adults. Its flavours include “passionfruit ice”, “strawberry kiwi” and “berry watermelon”.
However, Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of ASH, was sceptical of calls for regulation by one of the industry’s biggest players. “As far as I’m aware, they are not calling for limits on the promotion of products or limits to the branding of products,” she said.
Source: The Financial Times, 1 August 2023
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Somerset ex-smoker's lung cancer detected early through health check
Dave Rolfe, 69, from Bath was invited by his GP to take part in the Targeted Lung Health Check Programme. The programme aims to find lung cancer at an early stage in former smokers aged 55-74.
More than 3,758 people have had a scan in the South West in less than a year - and 17 tumours were detected. Of these, 82% were caught at an early stage.
"It would never ever have been picked up," said Mr Rolfe, who also overcame Hodgkin's lymphoma 35 years ago.
The lung health check looks at how well your lungs are working, in order to diagnose lung cancer as early as possible.
Mr Rolfe said he smoked between 10 and 30 cigarettes a day for around 20 years but gave up 30 years ago without relapses. Mr Rolfe says he has since made a full recovery but will need regular check-ups for five years. He urges people to register for the health check, even if they have quit smoking.
"I would advise anybody - especially men - to get checked out. Because we all think that we're coated in Teflon and nothing is gonna touch us.
"Five minutes out of your day can actually save your life."
Source: BBC, 1 August 2023
See also: NHS – Lung health checks
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BBC Newsnight – Vaping
Last night’s (Tuesday) episode of Newsnight covers vaping and, in particular, a recent study from researchers at Imperial College London who found that 66% of children aged from 11 to 18 notice vapes when they go into supermarkets up from 57% when the same survey was carried out in 2018. Professor Nick Hopkinson, one of the researchers on the study, said that amendments proposed in 2021 to the Health and Care Bill would have given the government powers to regulate marketing that targets children but that the government voted this down. He goes on to say that the issue of youth vaping could have been “nipped in the bud” if these amendments had been accepted. Listen to the full vaping segment here from 31:09.
Source: BBC Newsnight, 1 August 2023
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Canada launches warning labels on each cigarette
Canada will be the first nation to start printing warnings directly onto individual cigarettes in a bid to deter young people from starting smoking and encourage others to quit. The warnings, which will be in English and French, will include phrases like "Cigarettes cause cancer" and "Poison in every puff".
The new regulations go into effect on Tuesday.
Starting next year, Canadians will begin to see the new warning labels. The phrases will appear by the filter, including warnings about harming children, damaging organs and causing impotence and leukaemia.
In May, Health Canada said the new regulations "will make it virtually impossible to avoid health warnings" on tobacco products.
The move is part of Canada's effort to reduce tobacco use to less than 5% by 2035 and follows a 75-day public consultation period that was launched last year.
Dr Robert Schwartz, of the University of Toronto, told BBC News it was good news that Canada was "moving forward with this innovation".
"Health warnings on individual cigarettes will likely push some people who smoke to make a quit attempt and may prevent some young people from starting to smoke," he said.
Mr Schwartz added: "These are the kinds of measures needed if we are serious about decreasing tobacco use."
Tobacco use continues to kill 48,000 Canadians each year.
"Tobacco use continues to be one of Canada's most significant public health problems, and is the country's leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in Canada," Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has previously said.
The Canadian Cancer Society, Canada's Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Lung Association have all praised the warning labels, saying they hope the measures will deter people, especially young people, from taking up smoking in the first place.
Source: BBC news, 1 August 2023
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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