Immediate effects of cigar smoking on respiratory mechanics and exhaled biomarkers; Differences between young smokers with mild asthma and otherwise healthy young smokers

Background: We aimed to investigate the immediate respiratory effects of cigar smoking(CS), among young smokers with and without mild asthma. Materials and methods: Forty-seven young smokers (18-31years old, 29 males, average pack-years = 3.6 ± 2.8) were enrolled. Twenty-two were mild asthmatics(MA-subgroup) and the remaining 25 were otherwise healthy smokers(HS-subgroup). Exhaled carbon monoxide(eCO), multi-frequency respiratory system impedance(Z), resistance(R), reactance(X), frequency-dependence of resistance(fdr = R5Hz - R20Hz), resonant frequency(fres), reactance area(AX) and exhaled nitric oxide(FENO) were measured at the aforementioned sequence, before and immediately after 30 min of CS, or equal session in the smoking area while using a sham cigar(control group). Chi-square, student's t-tests, mixed linear models and Pearson correlation tests were used for the statistical analysis; level of significance was defined as p < 0.05. Results: Immediately after CS, Z5Hz, R5Hz, R10Hz, R20Hz and eCO increased significantly in both subgroups(MA and HS). A greater increase was found for R20 in HS-subgroup. Fdr, fres and AX increased in MA, while decreased in HS. On the contrary, X10 decreased in MA and increased in HS, while X20 showed a greater decrease in MA. Changes in fdr, fres and AX were significantly correlated in both subgroups. No significant FENO alterations were detected in both subgroups. Conclusion: CS has immediate effects on pulmonary function. Mild asthma predisposes to higher increase of peripheral resistance(increased fdr). In otherwise healthy smokers, central resistance(R20Hz) is more affected. FENO levels are not significantly affected by CS. © 2016 The Author(s)

Factors Associated with Exposure to Passive Smoking among 12-18 year-old Students in Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece

Introduction Passive-smoking is a major, preventable cause of disease, disability and death. It is estimated that the majority of the world’s population is still living in countries not fully covered by smoke-free public health regulations and Greece is unfortunately one of them. The aim of our study, conducted in October 2014, was to provide up to date information regarding determinants of exposure to passive smoking among the student population of the two biggest Greek cities. Methods Our survey was conducted on a representative sample of middle and high school students (1803 in total, 810 boys and 992 girls), living in the two biggest cities of Greece. A questionnaire was developed to estimate the exposure of students to passive-smoking. Relative frequencies were calculated for all the questions and a Pearson χ2-test was used to evaluate the potential association of several variables with gender, age and smoking status. Logistic regression analysis were also applied to evaluate the association between social influences and the likelihood of being exposed to passive smoking. R esults A total of 86.7% of youth were exposed to passive-smoking during the 30 days preceding the survey. Daily exposure during the past 7 days was reported by 20.2% of the students. The highest rates of exposure were reported in cafes (61.2%), home (43.7%) and school (37.2%). Gender, age, smoking status, and the smoking habits of parents, siblings and friends, but also the sight of peers and teachers smoking inside the school campus, were significant determinants of students’ exposure to passive smoking. C onclusions Passive-smoking exposure is prevalent among the student population in Greece, despite the New Anti-Smoking Legislation that came into effect in July 2009. Our findings indicate that enforcement of the law and additional public health initiatives must be implemented. © 2015. Lappas A. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 0.4 International License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Short-term respiratory effects of e-cigarettes in healthy individuals and smokers with asthma

Background and objective: This study investigated the duration of immediate respiratory effects of e-cigarette smoking (ECS) and tested the hypothesis that ECS has more prominent effects in asthmatics compared with healthy smokers (HS). Methods: Fifty-four smokers, 27 healthy (HS group) and 27 with intermittent asthma (mild asthma (MA) group) underwent a control session (no liquid, no resistor coil inside e-cigarette cartridge) and an experimental session of ECS using standardized puffing settings. Impulse oscillometry impedance (Z), resistance (R), reactance (X) and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) were measured before and 0, 15 and 30 min after control and experimental sessions. Results: Control session revealed no significant changes. In the experimental session, immediately post-ECS, both groups exhibited a significant increase in respiratory system total impedance at 5 Hz (Z5) (P < 0.001), respiratory system resistance at 5 Hz (R5) (P < 0.001), respiratory system resistance at 10 Hz (R10) (P < 0.001), respiratory system resistance at 20 Hz (R20) (P < 0.05), resonant frequency (P < 0.001) and reactance area (P < 0.05). MA exhibited higher baseline values and a more prominent effect immediately after ECS compared with HS for Z5 (P = 0.022), R5 (P = 0.010) and R10 (P = 0.013). FeNO decreased significantly in both groups (P < 0.001); HS returned to baseline values in ≤15 min while the MA maintained significantly lower values for an additional 15 min (P < 0.05) and returned to baseline values at 30 min post-ECS. Conclusion: A single session of ECS had respiratory mechanical and inflammatory effects, which were more prominent in smokers with asthma. © 2017 Asian Pacific Society of Respirolog