February 4, 2017
While e-cigarette advocates keep stressing the widely-accepted fact that e-cigarettes deliver lower levels of most cancer-causing chemicals, they remain silent on the growing and quite consistent evidence that e-cigarette use increases the risk of cardiovascular (and non-cancer lung) disease.
The latest contribution to this literature is “Increased Cardiac Sympathetic Activity and Oxidative Stress in Habitual Electronic Cigarette Users: Implications for Cardiovascular Risk” by Roya S. Moheimani and colleagues at UCLA in JAMA Cardiology. This paper examined heart rhythms and oxidative loads in chronic e-cigarette only users. They found reduced heart rate variability, the variation in the time between heart beats. Reductions in heart rate variability are a well-established predictor of future heart attacks.
They also found increases in oxidized LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol which increases the risk of atherosclerosis. This increased oxidant load is also tied to reductions in normal function of arteries, an effect previously shown in cigarette smokers and e-cigarette users.
February 4, 2017
While e-cigarette advocates keep stressing the widely-accepted fact that e-cigarettes deliver lower levels of most cancer-causing chemicals, they remain silent on the growing and quite consistent evidence that e-cigarette use increases the risk of cardiovascular (and non-cancer lung) disease.
The latest contribution to this literature is “Increased Cardiac Sympathetic Activity and Oxidative Stress in Habitual Electronic Cigarette Users: Implications for Cardiovascular Risk” by Roya S. Moheimani and colleagues at UCLA in JAMA Cardiology. This paper examined heart rhythms and oxidative loads in chronic e-cigarette only users. They found reduced heart rate variability, the variation in the time between heart beats. Reductions in heart rate variability are a well-established predictor of future heart attacks.
They also found increases in oxidized LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol which increases the risk of atherosclerosis. This increased oxidant load is also tied to reductions in normal function of arteries, an effect previously shown in cigarette smokers and e-cigarette users.
January 30, 2017
Amanda Fallin-Bennett, Maria Roditis, and I just published “The carrot and the stick? Strategies to improve compliance with college campus tobacco policies” in Journal of American College Health. The title sums up the whole paper pretty well.
Here is the abstract:
Objective: Tobacco-free policies are being rapidly adopted nationwide, yet compliance with these policies remains a challenge. This study explored college campus key informants’ experiences with tobacco policies, and their perceived benefits, drawbacks, and outcomes.
Participants: The sample for this study was 68 key informants representing 16 different California universities with varying tobacco policies (no smoking indoors and within 20 feet of entrances, designated smoking areas, 100% smoke-free, and 100% tobacco-free).
Methods: Qualitative, descriptive study. Semistructured interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using content analysis.
January 25, 2017
January 24, 2017
Most people know me for my work on tobacco, but I have also been active in higher education funding policy. Here is a press release abot a major new report I helped write. The full report is available here.
Public Higher Education: Free Tuition for California Students to the UC, CSU and Community College Systems Is Possible Today
January 24, 2017--A tuition-free college education in California is possible. A new policy paper released today demonstrates that it is entirely possible today to provide the same accessible, low-cost university experience that California successfully offered its students from the 1960s through the 1990s.
The report demonstrates that we can revive the California Master Plan for Higher Education—eliminating tuition, restoring state per student funding to where it was in 2000 (adjusted for inflation), and providing seats for all students—would only cost the median California household $48 per year.
The paper, The $48 fix: Reclaiming California’s Master Plan for Higher Education, is collaboratively authored by a working group of academics whose exhaustive research points the way to a logical, coherent way for California to afford no-cost community college and university tuition.