Restrictions on tobacco and alcohol use in Australian work-places

In a telephone survey of 455 of the top 600 companies in Australia, around three-quarters reported the existence of restrictions on both smoking and alcohol in the workplace. Forty-six percent of companies had a total ban on smoking at work, 31% had designated limited areas where employees were permitted to smoke, and 23% had no policy on smoking. Seventy-seven percent of companies encouraged a total alcohol-free work environment. The larger the company, the more likely it was to have restrictions on smoking in the work-place, but there was no relationship between the size of the company and alcohol restrictions. Government organizations were more likely to have restrictions on smoking than nongovernment organizations, but this difference was not apparent for alcohol restrictions. The major reasons given for smoking restrictions were related to health and comfort, while those for alcohol were related to work productivity and safety.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of the coronary care nurses' role in smoking cessation

Summary

• ? The aim of this small-scale study was to assess the feasibility and impact of an individualized smoking cessation intervention among clients admitted to a coronary care unit with severe angina or a first time myocardial infarction.
• ? The intervention involved in-depth nursing assessment interviews related to client beliefs, motivation and experiences of smoking, culminating in an individualized cessation plan. Participants were offered follow up support during the first year post-intervention.
• ? The findings are highly encouraging with a 77% smoking cessation rate for surviving clients within the intervention group at the end of the first year, and with 75% continued successful smoking cessation amongst surviving clients 2 years post-intervention.

     

A comparison of the effects of vasopressin and oxytocin with amphetamine and chlordiazepoxide on passive avoidance behaviour in rats

On the basis of results obtained from passive avoidance studies, we have argued that the neuropeptide vasopressin could act on arousal, rather than memory processes in rats (Sahgal et al. 1982). In this report, we examine the effects of substances that are known to increase (d-amphetamine) or decrease (chlordiazepoxide) behavioural arousal, and compare the data with those obtained after vasopressin or oxytocin treatment. All four substances yielded broadly similar bimodal results (although the oxytocin data failed to reach significance). We argue for an arousal interpretation which suggests that performance and arousal are related in an inverted-U manner. The data also indicate that care must be taken in selecting appropriate statistical tests.     

Sensitivity and tolerance to nicotine in smokers and nonsmokers

We studied the responses of smokers and life-long non-smokers to transdermal nicotine patches over 24 h in three groups of subjects: non-smokers on a 15 mg patch (n=8), non-smokers on a 30 mg patch (n=8) and smokers on a 30 mg patch (n=8). Unexpectedly, the non-smokers appeared to absorb nicotine more rapidly. The increase in blood nicotine concentrations of non-smokers over the first 2 h of patch use was double that of the smokers, with mean increases of 4.5 (SD=3.7), 10.9 (SD=4.2) and 4.1 (SD=2.7) ng/ml in the three groups, respectively (P<0.005). The smokers had no pleasant or unpleasant effects from the 30 mg patch ( C_max 13.9 ng/ml, SD=4.9; T_max 8.75 h) but all eight non-smokers experienced mild nausea and lightheadedness (P<0.01) within the first hour, and seven dropped out (P<0.01) at 3–8 h due mainly to severe nausea, vomiting or headache ( C_max 18.4 ng/ml, SD=4.9; T_max 5.25 h). Only one non-smoker dropped out on the 15 mg patch, but five had transient nausea in the first hour ( C_max 7.9 ng/ml, SD=3.0; T_max 8.0). Our study provides evidence of chronic pharmacodynamic nicotine tolerance in smokers, but does not address whether this is acquired or innate. The higher rate of transdermal nicotine absorption in non-smokers is unexplained and requires replication.     

Differential effects of anxiogenic central and peripheral benzodiazepine receptor ligands in tests of learning and memory

Previous research has demonstrated that low doses of anxiogenic central benzodiazepine receptor (CBR) ligands, the beta-carbolines, improve performance in various learning and memory tests in animals if administered prior to training. The present experiments compared the effect of a beta-carboline (FG 7142) with that of a pharmacologically distinct anxiogenic compound, a peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) ligand, 4-chlorodiazepam (Ro5-4864), in two tests of learning and memory in rats. As expected, FG 7142 significantly improved performance in a passive avoidance test. Ro5-4864 was without effect. In a shuttlebox escape test, Ro5-4864 significantly impaired performance while FG 7142 had no effect. The effect of Ro5-4864 was antagonized by the specific peripheral benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, PK 11195. These results indicate that the differential impact of CBR and PBR anxiogenic ligands on performance in aversively-motivated learning tests may be a reflection of their distinct pharmacologies.     

Differences in reasons for smoking between younger and older smokers

The reasons why older people smoke have not been examined in the literature. This paper attempted to examine the differences in motivation and maintenance factors of elderly and young smokers using the Horn-Waingrow Why do you smoke questionnaire. One hundred and thirteen clinical patients and 112 non-patient controls were used in this study. The clinical group was divided into an elderly group (n = 58) and a younger group (n = 55). The results of a discriminant analysis showed that patients significantly differed from non-patients on 'automatic habit and stimulation', and 'crutch/tension reduction' factors. Elderly patients were found to be significantly differentiated from both younger patients and the control group on the 'pleasurable relaxation' factor. These findings offer support for the US Surgeon Generals' report that elderly smokers do have different motivating factors for their smoking behaviours from younger smokers.     

Non-occupational risk factors for adult soft-tissue sarcoma in northern Italy

The role of socioeconomic and anthropometric indicators, tobacco, alcohol consumption, dietary habits, and medical history in the etiology of soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) was examined in a hospital-based case-control study, conducted in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy, between 1985 and 1990. A total of 88 STS cases (53 males and 35 females; median age: 52 years) and of 610 controls (306 males and 304 females; median age: 54 years) were interviewed. There were significant excess risks associated with a history of herpes zoster infection (odds ratio [OR]=2.4,95 percent confidence interval [CI]=1.1–5.3), chicken pox (OR=2.2, CI=1.2–4.3) and mumps in childhood (OR=2.0, CI=1.1–3.9). History of diabetes was also linked to a nonsignificant increase in STS risk (OR=1.8, CI=0.6–5.4), whereas exposure to radiation for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes was not related to the probability of developing STS. None of the investigated socioeconomic and anthropometric indicators seemed to affect STS risk; neither did tobacco smoking, nor consumption of alcohol, coffee, and tea beverages. Conversely, among the dietary habits investigated, a significant positive association emerged with an increasing frequency of consumption of dairy products (% MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% Gaae4XdmaaCaaaleqabaGaaGOmaaaaaaa!3DA2!\[{\rm{\chi }}^2\]for trend=6.8, P<0.01) and oil (% MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiiYdd9qrFfea0dXdf9vqai-hEir8Ve% ea0de9qq-hbrpepeea0db9q8as0-LqLs-Jirpepeea0-as0Fb9pgea% 0lrP0xe9Fve9Fve9qapdbaqaaeGacaGaaiaabeqaamaabaabcaGcba% Gaae4XdmaaCaaaleqabaGaaGOmaaaaaaa!3DA2!\[{\rm{\chi }}^2\]for trend=4.3, P<0.05), while a negative association was seen for intake of whole grain bread and pasta (OR for highest cf lowest tertile=0.4, CI=0.2–0.9).Support for this project was contributed by the Italian Association for Cancer Research, Milan, and the Italian National Research Council (CNR Applied Project Oncology, Contract 87.01544.44).     

Acute changes in forearm haemodynamics produced by cigarette smoking in healthy normotensive non-smokers are not influenced by propranolol or pindolol

Summary The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of cigarette smoking in healthy non-smokers on blood pressure and forearm haemodynamics after acute oral administration of non-selective -adrenoceptor blockers with and without intrinsic sympathomimetic activity, viz. pindolol 15 mg and propranolol 80 mg. A preliminary study was done to compare cigarette smoking and sham smoking to evaluate the time-course of the haemodynamic effects of cigarette smoking. The second experiment was then carried out in the same six volunteers, according to a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled crossover design, to evaluate the possible effect of pre-treatment with -adrenoceptor blockers on blood pressure, heart rate and forearm haemodynamics (forearm blood flow, brachial artery diameter and brachio-radial pulse-wave velocity) measured at baseline, during smoking and every five minutes up to 1 h afterwards.No major difference from placebo in blood pressure or forearm haemodynamics was found and pre-treatment with beta-blockers did not prevent the acute vascular effects of cigarette smoking.     

Smoking and catecholamine and c-AMP concentrations in the coronary circulation of man and the effect of oxprenolol

Summary Changes in catecholamine, c-AMP and lactate concentrations in the coronary circulation of man, during smoking, were studied in 12 patients. The heart rate increased from 63±2 beats/min (control) to 74±3 (smoking) (P<0.01), falling to 70±2 (10 min after smoking) (0.05>P>0.01), whilst coronary sinus c-AMP concentrations rose from 11±0.7 nmol/l (smoking) to 11.9±0.8 nmol/l (after smoing) (0.05>P>0.01; one tailed t test). There was no significant change in blood pressure, catecholamine or lactate concentrations. The study was repeated in eight of the patients following intravenous oxprenolol. Coronary sinus catecholamine concentrations increased from 4.1±0.7 nmol/l (control) to 5.5±1.1 nmol/l (after smoking) (0.05>P>0.01; one tailed t test), but heart rate and c-AMP concentrations remained unchanged, confirming that smoking-induced tachycardia is a result of a -adrenergic mechanism, at least part of which is due to a release of cardiac catecholamines. Arterial lactate concentrations increased only following oxprenolol from 0.74±0.07 mmol/l (control) to 0.83±0.09 mmol/l (smoking).     

Does smoking cessation improve mental health?

There is a possibility that cessation of smoking improves mental health, but there are no studies that have demonstrated this. A cohort study was performed for 1 year in 18 males who spontaneously stopped smoking (cessation group) and 173 who continued to smoke (smoking group). The mental health state was evaluated using the Japanese version of the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) before the cessation of smoking and 6 months and 1 year after smoking cessation. Changes in the GHQ score were compared between the cessation and smoking groups. In order to control the effects of confounding factors, multiple regression analyses were performed using the GHQ score after 6 months and 1 year as dependent variables. The GHQ score in the cessation group significantly decreased 6 months and 1 year after smoking cessation (P < 0.04 and 0.01, respectively, by paired t-test). In the smoking group, the GHQ score slightly decreased. Repeated measure analysis of variance revealed that the decrease in the GHQ score in the cessation group was significantly larger than in the smoking group. Multiple regression analysis revealed significant effects of smoking cessation on mental health after controlling for other confounding factors. It can be concluded that smoking cessation may improve mental health.