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** 14 October 2019
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** UK
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** Flavoured e-cigarettes should be banned, Dame Sally Davies says (#1)
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** Podcast: What is the truth about vaping? (#2)
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** International
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** Study: Medicines to help smokers quit only fight half the battle (#3)
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** USA: California announces smoking will be banned in state parks and beaches from early 2020 (#4)
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** USA: Some patients with vaping-related illness being readmitted five days after discharge (#5)
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** Ireland: HSE vaping checks (#6)
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** UK
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**

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the UK's departing chief medical officer, has said she would favour a ban on flavoured e-cigarettes, in line with actions planned in the United States. She said that she was concerned that the long-term health consequences of the devices remain unknown. She also said she would support a ban on flavoured varieties, in a bid to prevent the take-up of the devices among non-smokers.

Dame Sally told The Telegraph: “Vaping is a lot safer than smoking tobacco and probably a good way to help people quit. But I would prefer it if we did not have flavoured e-cigarettes because I think that is the kind of marketing that can appeal to children. I think we don’t know what the long-term consequences are.”

Source: The Telegraph, 13 October 2019
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The Observer’s Jamie Doward and the Guardian’s Max Sanderson join Anushka Asthana to discuss e-cigarettes.

Source: The Guardian, 14 October 2019
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Listen to Episode ([link removed])


** International
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**

Many people who try to quit smoking use smoking cessation medications, including NicoDerm CQ or Chantix. In a study published this week, Florida International University (FIU) researchers found one part of the brain is involved in the formation of tobacco cravings and nicotine withdrawal symptoms, while an entirely separate part of the brain is linked to the severity of the person's actual addiction. However, current stop-smoking medications are only targeting one of those.

"This study suggests current medications only treat the symptoms as opposed to the core of the substance-use disease, which is how addicted a person is," said Matthew Sutherland, a cognitive neuroscientist at FIU and senior author of the study. "Instead of a single medication, perhaps multiple medications, each targeting different brain processes, are needed to improve quit rates."

The scientists administered smoking cessation medication to understand changes in brain activity between smokers and non-smokers. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers conducted brain scans and found two areas of the brain exhibiting activity as participants performed different parts of a task. The scientists observed brain processes associated with how addicted a person reported being was related to activity in the part of the brain called the striatum. Meanwhile, a smoker's craving for cigarettes was related to activity changes in the brain's habenula.

Source: Medical XPress, 11 October 2019

Science Advances. Habenular and striatal activity during performance feedback are differentially linked with state-like and trait-like aspects of tobacco use disorder. ([link removed]) October 2019
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On Friday 11th October, Governor Gavin Newsom announced there will be a ban on smoking in state parks and on beaches in California starting next year. The law also bans disposing of cigar and cigarette waste at parks and beaches. Violations of the law will be punishable by a fine of up to $25. The ban will also extend to e-cigarettes.

Source: Mail Online, 12 October 2019
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Federal health officials investigating vaping-related lung injuries in the US said on Friday (11th October) that some patients are being hospitalised for a second time.

“We are aware of a handful of patients who have been readmitted for clinical care after discharge for lung injury,” said Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The hospital readmissions have taken place as quickly as five days and up to 55 days after discharge, Schuchat said. It is unknown what triggered the relapses. In some cases, patients had resumed vaping. It is also possible initial lung damage made patients more vulnerable to other illness. Another possibility, she said, is treatment with steroids, which many clinicians have been using to care for such injuries, may “set you up for increased infection risk.”

The CDC did not reveal exactly how many cases of relapse have been reported, but Schuchat said they are aware of fewer than five such cases among the 1,299 injury reports.

Officials are still uncertain of the cause of the injuries; Schuchat has said that there may be multiple causes. The most recent data confirms earlier information that most patients used products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

The CDC has also backed away from its earlier, broader recommendation against using all vaping products and narrowed its recommendation instead to warn individuals against using e-cigarette or vaping products that contain THC, especially those bought off the street.

Source: The Independent, 13 October 2019
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The Health Service Executive (HSE), the Irish publicly-funded health service, has responded to an outbreak of vaping-related lung disease in America since August by doing a “labelling assessment” of 35 brands of e-cigarette refill containers on the Irish market. The HSE has also checked whether companies behind the 35 brands had provided legally required information on ingredients, emissions and toxicological data to the authorities when placing their products on the market.

The main non-compliances identified in relation to e-cigarettes and refills in Ireland include non-notification of legally required information and the absence of an information leaflet providing instructions for use, warnings for at-risk groups, and information on addictiveness and toxicity.

Editorial Note: The article does not state the number of compliance failures found.

Source: The Times, 13 October 2019
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For more information call 020 7404 0242, email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk

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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