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Southampton: Boys who smoke risk passing on damaged genes
Boys who smoke in their early teens risk passing on damaged genes to their own children, new research has found.
The study from the universities of Southampton and Bergen in Norway examined 875 people aged between seven and 50, and the smoking behaviour of their fathers.
Smoking increased the chances of their children developing asthma, obesity and lung problems, the scientists said.
Scientists found damaged genes in the children of men who smoked before the age of 15.
The findings were "much more pronounced" in children whose fathers started smoking during puberty, compared to those who started smoking at any time before conception.
Dr Negusse Kitaba, research fellow at the University of Southampton, said: "This is when the stem cells are being established which will make sperm for the rest of their lives."
Source: BBC News, 31 August 2023
Editorial Note: The researcher speculates that nicotine in e-cigarettes could have a similar impact on genes as cigarettes. However, the study looked exclusively at the impact of tobacco smoking, not vaping, and evidence suggests that the vast majority of the harms from smoking come from other harmful compounds in tobacco smoke, not nicotine. Nicotine is licenced for medical use in the form of nicotine replacement therapy from the age of 12+ and is on the WHO list of essential medicines.
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Vaping: Kent County Council to crackdown on underage vape sales
Kent council is planning a crackdown on retailers who illegally sell vaping products to teenagers.
Kent County Council (KCC) will launch a two-year project in the autumn after figures showed a rise in the use of vapes among young people.
The scheme will focus on business owners who sell to under-18s while educating users about the dangers of vaping. Shopkeepers who persistently ignore the law will face legal action.
KCC documents showed while smoking rates had declined among young people, recent reports showed a rise in e-cigarette use among school-aged children.
Officials said there were concerns the rise in vaping could lead to more young people being introduced to a "new gateway into smoking, particularly as nicotine is so addictive".
Increased teenage vaping has been linked to the availability of disposable products, sold in fruit flavours and colourful packaging, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The documents from KCC said: "We are funding a two-year…project to develop a systematic programme of educating vape suppliers and retailers on the age restrictions of vape sales, providing resources and materials to support compliance and to take legal action, where necessary against retailers that persistently offend."
John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said there had been a "massive influx of illegal, untested and potentially deadly black-market products".
Source: BBC News, 31 August 2023
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Opinion: It’s Ulez day, and to those who would thwart it I say: people are dying, this will save lives
Writing in the Guardian, Baroness Jenny Jones, Green party peer and former deputy mayor of London, who has spent 24 years campaigning for cleaner air, argues in favour of the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone.
Jones points out that breathing in polluted air means people will die prematurely. The connection between polluted air, asthma, strokes, Alzheimer's, bronchus and lung cancers and other respiratory infections is proven, and cutting emissions is one of the most effective way we can reduce these risks.
Jones argues that this is not a ‘'leftwing, control freak’s dream'’, comparing Ulez to the ban on smoking in public places- ‘’no on has the right to pollute and poison someone else’s air- especially when all of us are then paying out extra money in taxes to fund the NHS, which has to deal with the ill-health consequences’’.
The argument that the Ulez charge will harm the capitals poorest is also debunked by Jones who argues that the evidence shows those from the poorest backgrounds emit to least emissions, but are more likely to be harmed by pollutants due to the most affordable housing often being closer to busier roads.
Source: The Guardian, 31 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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