Quitting smoking in Northern Italy: A cross-sectional analysis of 2621 subjects

To describe the relationship between sociodemographic factors, life-style habits, selected dietary indicators, smoking-related variables, and quitting smoking we analyzed data derived from the comparison group of a case-control study of colorectal and breast cancers based on a network of teaching and general hospitals in Northern Italy. A total of 2621 subjects (1215 women and 1406 men) who were ever cigarette smokers were included for analysis. Age-adjusted rates of stopping smoking (quit rates) and multivariate odds ratios (OR) of quitting smoking were computed. The overall age-adjusted quit rate was 38.6% for males and 24.9% for females, corresponding to an OR of quitting of 0.6 (95% CI: 0.5–0.7) for females vs males. The quitting rate increased with increasing age. After allowing for age, smoking cessation was more frequently reported by more educated or higher social class individuals. No relationship was present between quitting smoking and alcohol consumption, but quitting smoking was inversely related to coffee consumption. The probability of quitting smoking increased directly with number of cigarettes among males but not among females, who showed a J-shaped pattern. Older, heavy smokers were more likely to give up smoking. A general pattern of increasing rates of quitting smoking with higher consumption of vegetables and fruit, and hence -carotene, was present. This study confirms a positive association between quitting smoking and increasing age, higher education, low coffee consumption, heaviness of smoking and high consumption of vegetables and fruit.     

Cadmium in kidneys in Swedes measured in vivo using X-ray fluorescence analysis

An X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique using plane polarized X-rays for excitation was used for in vivo measurements of cadmium in the kidney cortex among non-occupationally exposed members of the general population in southern Sweden. The measured concentrations of cadmium in the kidney cortex of smokers (median 28 g/g, n = 10) were significantly higher (P = 0.0036) as compared to those in non-smokers (median 8 g/g, n = 10), and so were the cadmium concentrations in blood and urine. The results show that smoking considerably increases the cadmium concentration in the kidney cortex and that smoking is a major source of cadmium exposure in the general population of Sweden. Except in the presence of very deeply situated kidneys, where the minimum detectable concentration is high, non-invasive in vivo XRF analysis of kidney cadmium should be a useful tool for evaluating the effects of long-term low-level exposure to cadmium and the risk of kidney damage.     

吸烟与动脉硬化性脑梗塞关系的研究

目的：探讨吸烟与动脉硬化性脑硬塞（ＡＳＣＩ）的关系。方法：对１０２例ＡＳＣＩ患者及１０８例正常人血清载脂蛋白（Ａｐｏ－Ｂ）、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（ＨＤＬ－Ｃ）、总胆固醇（ＴＣ）进行测定及对比分析。结果：ＡＳＣＩ组Ａｐｏ－Ｂ比对照组显著升高（Ｐ＜０．０１）,ＨＤＬ－Ｃ比对照组显著降低（Ｐ＜０．０１）,而ＴＣ两组间无明显差异（Ｐ＞０．０５）。在对照组及ＡＳ－ＣＩ组吸烟者Ａｐｏ－Ｂ均高于非吸烟者（Ｐ＜０．０１,Ｐ＜０．０５）,而ＨＤＬ－Ｃ吸烟者明显低于非吸烟者（Ｐ＜０．０１）。结论：吸烟能促使血清Ａｐｏ－Ｂ增高及ＨＤＬ－Ｃ下降,可以认为吸烟是ＡＳＣＩ的危险因素之一。     

上海市居民吸烟与癌症及有关疾病十年前瞻性研究

目的探讨上海市民吸烟与癌症及有关疾病的关系。方法８０年代初在上海市区、市郊和郊县开展了居民吸烟状况的横断面调查。至１９９４年年底,市区研究对象随访了１２年,郊区研究对象随访了１１年。本次研究分析了４０岁以上研究对象的随访资料,并用Ｐｏｉｓｏｎ回归模型估计吸烟因素的年龄调整相对危险度及其９５％可信区间。结果市区分析结果表明,男女性吸烟者全死因的相对危险度分别为１．４８、１．６２。而所有癌症死亡的相对危险度男性为２．２０,女性为２．００。相对危险度有统计学意义的癌症部位是肺癌、肝癌、食管癌（男）、胃癌（男）、胰腺癌（男）、膀胱癌（男）。脑血管疾病、慢性支气管炎、肺气肿和肺心病的相对危险度也见显著升高。市郊和郊县的结果与市区类似。我们估计了三个地区吸烟对男性某些疾病的归因危险度（ＰＡＲ）,所有死因吸烟的ＰＡＲ（％）三地分别为２０．９、１８．９、１６．３,所有癌症三地吸烟的ＰＡＲ（％）分别为４０．０、３４．５、３４．２,肺癌三地吸烟的ＰＡＲ（％）分别为７１．７、５９．２、６４．７。结论吸烟与一些癌症、慢性阻塞性肺部疾病、肺原性心脏病及脑血管病等的死亡有关     

低剂量γ-射线及香烟对仔鼠发育和反射行为的影响

母鼠暴露于低剂量γ－射线（照射源６０Ｃｏ,剂量为０、０．２５、０．５、１．０ＧＹ）及香烟烟雾水溶物（浓度为０、０．５、１．０、１．５、２．０支／只）,可使子代小鼠发育（开眼、张耳、生毛、出牙）及反射行为（平面翻正、空中翻正、视觉定向、听觉惊愕）出现不同程度的延迟。并且低剂量γ－射线与香烟烟雾水溶物还有极显著的协同效应。     

Manipulation of cigarette craving through rapid smoking: efficacy and effects on smoking behavior

Craving is thought to play an important role in maintaining regular smoking patterns in current smokers, and in leading to relapse in smokers attempting to quit. Within the scientific community however, the concept is surrounded by controversy. In an effort to 1) identify interventions that can reliably influence cigarette cravings, and 2) assess the relationship between cigarette craving and smoking behavior, effects of aversive rapid smoking (up to nine cigarettes with puffs taken every 6 s) on self-reported craving and subsequent smoking behavior were compared to effects of self-paced smoking or no smoking. Subjects (n = 14) engaged in a rapid, self-paced or no smoking procedure at the start of three separate sessions. Craving levels, measured repeatedly during the next 3 h of no smoking, were significantly lower after rapid smoking than after either self-paced or no smoking. Measures of subsequent smoking behavior (latency to first cigarette, number of cigarettes, number of puffs) did not differ systematically across conditions. Thus, craving was reliably suppressed by aversive rapid smoking, but craving scores did not predict actual smoking behavior. Received: 2 April 1998/Final version: 7 August 1998     

Prevalence survey of movement disorders, epilepsy, hypertension and smoking habit in Vejer de la Frontera, Southern Spain-I. Methodology

A prevalence survey of movement disorders, epilepsy, hypertension and smoking was undertaken in Vejer de la Frontera, Southern Spain in 1988. A validated screening instrument designed for door-to-door tracing of specific disorders was used. Neurological diagnoses were based on: (1) direct anamnesis and examination by a senior neurologist; (2) perusal of existing medical records; and (3) in a proportion of cases, a hospital-based complementary study. This experience suggests that, while door-to-door surveys of neurological disorders have focused on multiple major outcomes: (1) scientific and logistic reasons can exist for screening for specific neurological disorders, and (2) scientific and public health-related interventional objectives can be combined advantageously when such costly investigations are conducted.     

The effect of smoking at different life stages on bone mineral density in elderly men and women

To assess the effect of smoking on bone mineral density (BMD) at different life stages, to examine whether the effect of smoking differs between men and women, and to discover whether its effect in women differs according to history of estrogen use, a cohort study was carried out with single cross-section measurement of BMD by single and dual photon absorptiometry. The setting was the Framingham Study, a population-based cohort study with over 40 years prospectively collected data on smoking. Subjects (n=1164) consisted of cohort members participating in the 20th biennial Framingham examination (1988–1989). The measurements included in the study were BMD measured at the hip, spine and radius, smoking history ascertained at all Framingham Study examinations since 1948, and other factors affecting BMD (age, weight, estrogen use, caffeine use, alcohol use and physical activity). Neither current smoking, recent (last 10 years) smoking, nor early adulthood smoking resulted in significantly lower BMD at any skeletal site among women who had not taken estrogen. Among women who had taken estrogen, BMD at most sites was lower among current or recent smokers, although the small numbers of smokers made it difficult to find significant differences at all skeletal sites. Among men, a consistently lower BMD at all skeletal sites was observed for smokers regardless of when in their life they smoked (4–15.3% lower), although the effect of smoking during early adulthood was of a lesser magnitude (4–8% lower). Former male smokers who had quit <10 years ago had lower BMD than men who had quit 10 years ago. In conclusion, in women who had used estrogen, BMD was lower in current or recent smokers than it was in non-smokers. In men, smoking at any stage of life had adverse effects on the skeleton that was independent of weight, alcohol or caffeine use, implying other mechanisms for smoking's effect on bone.     

Programmes for tobacco and alcohol users in Australian work-places

This article presents findings from a survey of programmes available for tobacco and alcohol users working in 455 of Australia's top 600 companies. Companies were twice as likely to have programmes for smokers (43%) as for problem drinkers (24%) and these programmes were more apparent in large companies. The majority of programmes for smoking were delivered within a health promotion context which included other life-style issues, such as nutrition, exercise, weight management and stress management. Although Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) were the most commonly available type of work-place programme for excessive drinkers and other drug users, followed by Alcoholics Anonymous and local hospital clinics, only 6% had an EAP for alcohol. Only 21% of programmes for smokers and 12% for excessive alcohol users were evaluated. Around one-quarter of companies knew the costs of smoking programmes, and 9% reported costs of conducting programmes for excessive alcohol consumers.     

Electroencephalographic effects of cigarette smoking

The effects of cigarette smoking on the electroencephalogram (EEG) of smokers were examined in a study involving both task and no-task conditions. Nonsmoking subjects were employed as controls. In light inhaling smokers, (depth of inhalation inferred from preto post-smoking changes in tidal breath carbon monoxide), smoking was found to attenuate EEG activity in the delta, theta, and alpha frequency bands, as well as facilitate behavioral performance. For theta, the attenuation was lateralized over the right frontal cerebral hemisphere. In deep inhaling smokers, smoking produced a symmetrical central midline increase in beta2 magnitude, an EEG effect that in the benzodiazepine literature is associated with anxiety relief.A preliminary version of these data was presented during the symposium Psychophysiology of Nicotine, held at the Thirtieth Annual Convention of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Boston, October, 1990