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Stanford study suggests e-cigarette flavorings can damage blood vessel cells

Rich Haridy May 28, 2019

A new study has found e-cigarettes can damage human blood vessel cells and potentially increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. The study revealed some e-cigarette flavoring liquids are more damaging than others, regardless of nicotine concentrations.

Cinnamon was found to be the most toxic e-cigarette liquid when tested on endothelial cells in ...

Health & Wellbeing Feature

The new gateway drug? E-cigarettes and their growing global prohibition

Rich Haridy March 26, 2019

Following complete bans on e-cigarettes in countries like Brazil and Singapore, San Francisco recently proposed new legislation to essentially follow suit. What is underpinning these calls to ban vaping? Is it really a gateway for young people into using tobacco products?

San Francisco is the latest city to propose a ban on the use of e-cigarettes

Medical

A “biochemical cigarette”: How smoking inspired a potential new anti-obesity treatment

Rich Haridy October 23, 2018

An international team of researchers has harnessed two known metabolic modulators, tobacco smoking and exposure to cold, to create a potential anti-obesity treatment that in early mouse experiments has successfully lowered body weight and corrected glucose intolerance.

A new proposed anti-obesity treatment incorporates the appetite-suppressing element of nicotine with the energy-burning effects of ...

Health & Wellbeing

Enzyme to help smokers quit by eliminating nicotine in the blood before it reaches the brain

Rich Haridy October 17, 2018

New research has revealed a promising new candidate to help smokers kick their damaging addiction. An enzyme has been engineered that can gobble up nicotine in the bloodstream before it reaches the brain, with the compound proving to be incredibly successful in early animal tests.

A new treatment for smoking cessation is ready to move into the first stages of human ...

Biology

A protein activated by nicotine provides insight into how fat cells burn energy

Rich Haridy May 28, 2018

Weight gain has often been noted as a side effect of quitting smoking, and research has found that nicotine can function as an appetite suppressant. A study has now uncovered a novel mechanism showing how nicotine directly activates a protein that signals a type of fat cell to start burning energy.

Beige fat cells have been found to be activated into an energy-burning phase by a protein ...

Science

Study finds third-hand smoke more pervasive than previously thought

Rich Haridy May 9, 2018

A new study has found that third-hand smoke – chemical residue from cigarette smoke – can spread more pervasively than previously thought, even moving throughout a seemingly “smoke-free” building. But despite this compelling research the dangers to human health still remain unclear.

A new study has found third-hand smoke is more pervasive than previously thought, but questions remain ...

Health & Wellbeing

Ex-smokers should eat plenty of tomatoes

Ben Coxworth December 22, 2017

If you've recently stopped smoking, then you ought to start eating more tomatoes and other fruits. According to a new study from Johns Hopkins University, doing so could help slow the decline of your lung function, by reversing some of the damage caused by smoking.

Nutrients in tomatoes and other fresh fruits may help restore lung function

Biology

New study suggests e-cigarettes could be damaging lungs in a unique way

Rich Haridy October 22, 2017

While e-cigarette vapor certainly doesn't contain the same kinds of carcinogenic compounds as regular cigarette smoke there is a growing body of research to suggest “vaping” may have its own set of unique harmful effects.

New findings suggest that e-cigarette use can trigger immune responses in the lung that can contribute ...

Environment

Asphalt made of cigarette butts paves the road to less litter

Michael Irving August 6, 2017

The 6 trillion cigarettes produced every year generate over 1.2 million tonnes of toxic butt litter in the environment. Now, researchers at RMIT University in Australia have found a new way to safely dispose of cigarette butts: seal them up inside roads and paths.

Discarded cigarette butts could soon be locked away inside asphalt roads and paths

Health & Wellbeing

E-cigarettes found to cause as much DNA damage as unfiltered cigarettes

Rich Haridy June 12, 2017

A new study has found the vapor from electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, can cause as much DNA damage as smoke from tobacco cigarettes. The results surprised researchers, who concluded that e-cigarettes are "potentially as harmful as tobacco cigarettes."