Changes in Cigarettes May Be Linked to Added Health Risks
Posted on: Monday, 18 May 2009, 13:30 CDT
The health risks attributed to smoking cigarettes appear to have actually worsened over time, according to a new study.Dr. David Burns of the University of California, San Diego, presented his findings during a meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
He noted that although the nation’s rate of lung cancer has decreased as more people have kicked the habit, an individual smoker’s risk of cancer is actually higher.
Burns found a larger increase in a type of lung cancer called adenocarcinoma in the US, compared to Australia although both countries changed to so-called milder cigarettes at the same time.
"The most likely explanation for it is a change in the cigarette," Burns told the Associated Press.
The study is adding to the case of anti-smoking advocates that have the ear of Congress while it is determining whether the responsibility of cigarette regulation should fall to the US Food and Drug Administration.
If cigarettes became subject to FDA regulations, the agency would be able to set caps on certain chemicals found in cigarettes.
Burns study compared the smoking rates of different age groups over four decades, paying attention to when they started, how much they smoked, when they quit, and the impact on risk of cancer.
In the past, smokers were more prone to a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma . In more recent years, doctors have noted an increase in the number of cases with adenocarcinoma, which grows in small air sacs far deeper in the lung.
Initially, experts suggested that when cigarettes switched to a so-called milder formula, smokers began to inhale more deeply, thus causing the cancer to be found much deeper in the lungs than before.
Additionally, nitrosamines are a byproduct of tobacco found in cigarettes at varying levels. Burns found that Australian cigarettes contain about 20 percent of the nitrosamine content of U.S. cigarettes. The discovery led him to suggest that nitrosamines are to blame for the increase in cancer risk from smoking.
But Dr. Michael Thun, of the American Cancer Society told the AP that deeper inhalation may play a large role as well.
"There's several strong suspects in the lineup. They may have acted in combination."
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Source: redOrbit staff
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