International Updates

16 October 2020 Alex Ward and Victoria Allan, Daily Mail: E-cigarettes may not provide a safer alternative to smoking during pregnancy, warn researchers. Nicotine in any form could negatively affect a baby’s development, said the psychologists. They found the babies of mothers who smoked e-cigarettes during pregnancy had similar ‘abnormal reflexes’ to those whose mothers smoked …

Using e-cigarettes during pregnancy could harm a baby’s development, researchers warn Read More »

12 October 2020 Padraig Hoare, Irish Examiner : Teenagers are between three and five times more likely to start smoking if they have used electronic cigarettes previously, a new report has claimed. The Health Research Board (HRB), which is the lead funding agency for health research in Ireland, said its review into e-cigarette use found that e-cigarettes …

Teens who use e-cigarettes up to five times more likely to start smoking Read More »

7 October 2020 Sarah Whitten, CNBC: Eddie Van Halen, guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen, has died after a long battle with throat cancer. He was 65. Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang, confirmed the musician’s death on social media.  “He was the best father I could ever ask for,” he wrote in a …

Rock legend Eddie Van Halen has died after long battle with throat cancer Read More »

29 September 2020 Melissa Davey, The Guardian: Every one of 25 existing studies examined found people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to take up ‘combustible’ smoking Using e-cigarettes triples the chance of a non-smoker taking up regular cigarettes, a review of the public health impacts of vaping has found. Researchers led by the Australian …

Vaping increases the chances of regular smoking threefold, Australian review finds Read More »

MuChun Tsai, Min Kwang Byun, John Shin, and Laura E. Crotty Alexander, The Physiological Society: Abstract E‐cigarette aerosols are exceedingly different from conventional tobacco smoke, containing dozens of chemicals not found in cigarette smoke. It is highly likely that chronic use of e‐cigarettes will induce pathologic changes in both the heart and lungs. Here we …

Effects of E‐cigarettes and vaping devices on cardiac and pulmonary physiology Read More »

28 September 2020 Melissa Davey, The Guardian: Former staff reveal covert tactics that ‘undermine plain packaging legislation’ Major tobacco companies are giving Australian retailers cash payments and taking staff on all-expenses-paid international trips, including to sports events such as the World Cup, in return for the promotion of their products directly to customers and more …

Big tobacco giving retailers cash and international trips to promote products, study finds Read More »

30 September Rachel Clun, The Sydney Morning Herold: People who had never smoked but who use e-cigarettes are three times more likely to start regular smoking. Research commissioned by the Federal Department of Health has examined evidence from previous studies as well as national data to get a snapshot of smoking and e-cigarette behaviour. The …

Non-smokers who vape ‘at risk’ to start regular smoking: research Read More »

18 September 2020 Carly Cassella, Science Alert: Emissions from e-cigarettes are not harmless and calling them vapour is purposefully misleading, scientists argue. While the puffs from e-cigs aren’t exactly smoke, the term ‘vapour’ often brings to mind an innocuous cloud of water. As such, public health experts argue ‘aerosol‘ is a more accurate description, as e-cigarette clouds …

E-Cig Clouds Aren’t ‘Vapour’, Scientists Warn. That Word Just Makes Them Sound Safer Read More »

Dr Michelle Jongenelis, University of Melbourne; Christina Watts, Cancer Council New South Wales and Maurice Swanson, Australian Council on Smoking and Health, The University of Melbourne: E-cigarettes have clearly made their way into Australian society. So, what’s the problem? Well, for a start, there’s a lot misinformation about them According to reports this week, Australia’s Therapeutic …

Fact or fiction? Debunking the myths around e-cigarettes Read More »

17 September 2020 American Heart Association, Science Daily: Summary: Researchers in Finland found a link between smoking and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a type of bleeding stroke, in a study of more than 16,000 pairs of twins over 42 years. The study found that bleeding in the brain can be explained to a greater degree by …

Smoking linked to bleeding in the brain in large, long-term study of twins Read More »