“Cigarettes, ENDS Use, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Incidence: A Prospective Longitudinal Study”

ENDS use did not significantly increase the risk of self-reported incident chronic obstructive pulmonary disease over a 5-year period once current smoking status and cigarette pack years were included. Cigarette pack years, by contrast, remained associated with a net increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease incidence risk. These findings highlight the importance of using prospective longitudinal data and adequately controlling for cigarette smoking history to assess the independent health effects of ENDS.

AUTHORS: Steven F. Cook PhD, Jana L. Hirschtick PhD, Nancy L. Fleischer PhD, Douglas A. Arenberg MD, Geoffrey D. Barnes MD, MSc, David T. Levy PhD, Luz Maria Sanchez-Romero PhD, Jihyoun Jeon PhD, Rafael Meza PhD   JOURNAL: American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

POSTED: Tue Mar 07, 2023

“Modeling cigarette smoking disparities between people with and without serious psychological distress in the US, 1997–2100”

Highlights:
• First tobacco simulation model of population with serious psychological distress.
• 609,000 smoking-attributable deaths to occur in this population through 2100.
• Up to 386,000 of these premature deaths could be averted in the population.
• Trends in disparities depend on the type of metric used: absolute or relative.
• Improving cessation for this group leads to large, short-term public health benefit.

AUTHORS: Qin Xi, Rafael Meza, Adam Leventhal, Jamie Tam   JOURNAL: Preventive Medicine.

POSTED: Tue Dec 13, 2022

“The actual and anticipated effects of restrictions on flavoured electronic nicotine delivery systems: a scoping review”

Our findings highlight the need for additional research on the impacts of ENDS restrictions. Research should further evaluate the impact of restrictions on youth and adult use of nicotine and tobacco products in addition to the effects of restrictions in countries beyond the US to enable a robust consideration of the harm-benefit trade-off of restrictions.

AUTHORS: Christopher J. Cadham, Alex C. Liber, Luz María Sánchez-Romero, Mona Issabakhsh, Kenneth E. Warner, Rafael Meza, David T. Levy   JOURNAL: BMC Public Health

POSTED: Mon Nov 21, 2022

“Associations of demographics, dependence, and biomarkers with transitions in tobacco product use in a cohort of cigarette users and dual users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes”

While e-cigarettes have the potential to promote smoking cessation, their real-world impact is uncertain. In this cohort, dual users were more likely to quit smoking than cigarette-only users, but the overall impact was small because most dual users returned to cigarette-only use.

AUTHORS: Fatema Shafie-Khorassani, Megan E Piper, Douglas E Jorenby, Timothy B Baker, Neal L Benowitz, Todd Hayes-Birchler, Rafael Meza, Andrew F Brouwer   JOURNAL: Nicotine & Tobacco Research

POSTED: Fri Sep 09, 2022

“Public health impact of a US menthol cigarette ban on the non-Hispanic black population: a simulation study”

With the US Food and Drug Administration recently proposing to implement a ban on menthol cigarettes, it is critical to estimate the potential public health effects of such a ban. With high rates of menthol cigarette use and important smoking-related health disparity implications, the impact of the ban on the non-Hispanic black (NHB) population merits strong consideration.

AUTHORS: Mona Issabakhsh, Rafael Meza, Yameng Li, Zhe Yuan, Luz Maria Sanchez-Romero, David T Levy   JOURNAL: Tobacco Control

POSTED: Wed Jun 15, 2022