MDQuit News Archives - June, 2009

Sale of tobacco to minors is a predictor of daily smoking
A recent study in the April issue of BioMed Central Public Health has found that states in which tobacco law compliance is high have lower rates of daily smoking for adolescents. Between 1997-2003, the ratio for daily smoking was reduced 2% for every 1% increase in tobacco law compliance by tobacco merchants. Barring all other factors such as price increases, it was still found that higher tobacco law compliance rates by merchants led to significant drops in daily smoking amongst adolescents. Read more here.

Levels of carcinogens in urine may be predictive of lung cancer
Researchers reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Denver that high levels of certain carcinogens in the urine are predictive of lung cancer in the future.  NNAL, or 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol), is a metabolite of NNK, or 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone) found in urine. Both of these chemicals have been known to cause cancer in animals. Dr. Jian-Min Yuan of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis has reported that NNK exposure leads to lung cancer development in humans and that furthermore; these levels can be tracked through urinalysis specimens. Dr. Yuan has found that those with the heaviest levels of NNAL in urine were 8.5 times as likely to develop lung cancer. Ongoing research on the issue hopes to shed some light on the interactions of carcinogen detection and cancer. Read more here.