Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
-
The causal relationship between tobacco smoking and a variety of cancers is attributable to the carcinogens that smokers inhale, including tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). We aimed to assess the exposure to TSNAs in waterpipe smokers (WPS), cigarette smokers (CS), and nonsmoking females exposed to tobacco smoke. ⋯ Cigarette smokers levels of NNAL were higher than WPS levels in males. Exposure to tobacco smoke was evident in wives of both CS and WPS. Among WPS, NNAL tended to increase with increasing numbers of hagars smoked/day.
-
This study aims to test the pathways of change from individual exposure to smoke-free legislation on smoking cessation, as hypothesized in the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Conceptual Model. ⋯ Our findings support the ITC Conceptual Model, which hypothesized that policies influence smoking cessation through policy-specific variables and psychosocial mediators. Smoke-free legislation may increase smoking cessation, provided that it succeeds in influencing support for the legislation.
-
The role of craving in nicotine dependence remains controversial and may be a function of measurement challenges. The current study used behavioral economic approach to test the hypotheses that subjective craving from acute withdrawal and exposure to tobacco cues dynamically increases the relative value of cigarettes. ⋯ These findings further support a behavioral economic approach to craving and a multidimensional conception of acute motivation for addictive drugs. Methodological considerations, including potential order effects, and the need for further refinement of these findings are discussed.
-
The International Classification of Diseases and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for diagnosing tobacco/nicotine dependence emphasize the dependence-producing drug nicotine. These diagnostic tools have been challenged on grounds of poor predictive validity, and they do not differentiate across various forms of nicotine-containing products. In fact, nicotine-containing products (e.g., tobacco cigarettes, smokeless tobacco [ST], waterpipe, electronic cigarettes [ECIGs], and nicotine replacement [NR] products) have very different characteristics both in terms of sensory and behavioral involvement and also in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects. ⋯ Based on these results, we hypothesize that there is a continuum of dependence as much as there is a continuum of harm, with tobacco cigarettes and NR products on opposite ends of both continua and other products (waterpipe and ECIGs) somewhere in between. In order to capture more precisely the dependence produced by both nicotine and its administration forms, product-specific instruments may be required. The pros and cons of this approach are discussed.
-
Smoking is the main cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and smoking cessation is the only treatment shown to be effective in arresting the progression of COPD. Different epidemiological and population-based studies have shown smokers with COPD to have specific smoking characteristics that differentiate them from the rest of smokers and which complicate smoking cessation. The main objective of this study is to analyze the effectiveness and safety of drug treatments for smoking cessation in smokers with severe or very severe COPD. ⋯ This study shows that smokers with severe or very severe COPD are predominantly males with a high degree of physical dependence upon nicotine. CAR 9-24 was 48.5%. Varenicline and bupropion yielded higher abstinence rates than NRT. Varenicline was more effective than nicotine patches: all types of treatments were safe.