1,721,044 research outputs found
Considerations on the article De Bernardis, E., & Busà, L. (2020). A putative role for the tobacco mosaic virus in smokers’ resistance to COVID-19 Medical Hypotheses, 110153
No full textA putative role for the tobacco mosaic virus in smokers’ resistance to COVID- 19 was supposed by de Bernardis and co-authors. However, there are several issues that need to be addressed: putative “high mortality rate of smokers infected by SARS-CoV-2”, “poor collection of medical history details in an emergency situation”, reverse causation (i.e. smokers with severe symptoms may stop smoking before admission to hospital and therefore be counted as non-smokers; alternatively, people presenting with COVID-19 may be less likely to admit to being current smokers); self-selection (smokers with COVID-19 may be less likely to present to hospital, either because they have died or they self-treat in the community, e.g. because of lack of access to funds, given that smoking has a strong negative association with socio-economic position); cohort effects (smoking prevalence declines with age and older people are more likely to be hospitalised if they are infected).
Other authors showed that smoking increases the risk of severe COVID-19 by around two-fold and meta-analyses reported higher prevalence of comorbidities, many of which are tobacco-related diseases, in patients with severe COVID-19 reporting an OR = 2.25 (95% CI: 1.49–3.39) for developing severe Covid-19 among patients with a smoking history.
In the light of all these considerations, the validity of the affirmation made by de Bernardis and colleague about the “resistance of tobacco smokers to the SARSCoV-2 infection”, either for infection, or for progression and severity of COVID-19, is not convincing
Epidemiology of laryngeal cancer
No full textLaryngeal cancer is the second most common respiratory cancer after lung cancer. Its incidence is
increasing over time in much of the world and this increase is generally accepted to be related to
changes in tobacco and alcohol consumption. It is a relatively common cancer in men, but rarer in
women. Moreover, interesting new issues have been raised recently about the influenc’e of other
possible risk factors. Evidence from epidemiological studies which supports the involvement of new
risk factors in the aetiology of larynx cancer, as well as new perspectives in therapy, must be taken
into consideration in order to realise primary and tertiary prevention. However, it remains clear
that, even as new evidence continues to amass about a wide range of risk factors, primary prevention
of the great majority of laryngeal cancers could be achieved by elimination of tobacco smoking
and reduction of consumption of alcoholic beverages. With an additional contribution fiorn adoption
of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, the great majority of laryngeal cancer appears to be preventable
within our current epidemiological knowledge
Tobacco smoking and COVID-19 pandemic. Old and new issues. A summary of the evidence from the scientific literature
No full textIntroduction: COVID-19 pandemic burst onto the international scene as a new disease disproportionately affecting certain patient groups; hence it has risen many questions yet to be clarified. The aim of this study was to outline the main issues that led tobacco smoking being discussed as a potential risk factor associated with COVID-19. Methods: Articles from MEDLINE and pre-prints published from January to April 2020 were identified. Results: Data from China showed that men had more severe outcomes of COVID-19 than women. Since smoking prevalence is very high among Chinese men in comparison to women, it was hypothesized that smoking could be a risk factor for poor prognosis. This was also supported by the higher prevalence of comorbidities, many of which tobacco-related diseases, in patients with severe COVID-19, who were also more likely to have a smoking history. A meta-analysis confirmed these results, reporting an OR=2.25 (95% CI: 1.49-3.39) for developing severe COVID-19 among patients with a smoking history. Some authors, noticing that reported smoking prevalence among hospitalized patients was substantially lower than smoking prevalence in the source populations, speculated a protective role of nicotine. However, it is likely that low prevalence among hospitalized patients are partially due to many smokers misclassified as nonsmokers. Tobacco smoking seems to cause a dose-dependent upregulation of angiotensin-convertingenzyme-2 (ACE2), the virus cellular entry receptor, which could explain the higher risk of severe COVID-19 in smokers. Conclusions: There is need for further independent studies to clarify the role of smoking on COVID-19 incidence, progression and mortality
CAMBIAMENTO CLIMATICO E TABACCO: UNA REVISIONE SISTEMATICA DELL’IMPATTO AMBIENTALE DELLA PIÙ GRANDE DIPENDENZA AL MONDO
No full textNegli anni sono stati pubblicati numerosi studi scientifici sulle conseguenze del fumo sulla salute, mentre sono
pochi quelli che analizzano l’impatto ambientale del tabacco, come il consumo d’acqua, la deforestazione, l’inquinamento da pesticidi e i rifiuti.
Il tabacco deve essere considerato come una minaccia importante nella lotta al cambiamento climatico.
L’obiettivo di questa revisione è portare all’attenzione del mondo scientifico un argomento di grande attualità e
poco considerato.
La ricerca è stata effettuata sulle banche dati Pubmed, Scopus e Web of Science, tramite una stringa contenente parole chiave riguardanti cambiamento climatico e fumo di sigaretta/e-cigarette/prodotti a tabacco riscaldato (HTPs).
Sono stati considerati tutti i tipi di studio, senza filtro sulla lingua o sul periodo temporale.
La ricerca ha prodotto 1584 articoli che, dopo l’eliminazione dei doppioni e degli articoli non pertinenti tramite la
valutazione di titolo e abstract, ha portato a valutare 17 full-text, cui si sono aggiunti altri 5 full-text a seguito di
ricerche esterne alla stringa.
Dopo la lettura dei full-text si è giunti ad una selezione finale di 15 articoli inclusi nella revisione sistematica.
Dall’analisi preliminare degli studi è emersa una sostanziale disomogeneità nei dati riportati e una difficoltà nel
reperire dati quantitativi, in particolar modo in riferimento ai HTPs e alle e-cigarette, che non fossero forniti da Big
Tobacco.
Nello specifico Philip Morris International e British American Tobacco riferiscono di aver ridotto le loro emissioni
rispettivamente del 24% (2010-2015) e 47% (2000-2019), senza tuttavia riportare i dati su cui si basano queste
valutazioni. Nonostante ciò, ad oggi si stima che l’industria del tabacco produca ogni anno 16 milioni di tonnellate
di CO2 e il 5% delle emissioni mondiali di gas serra.
Ogni anno vengono abbattuti 600 milioni di alberi per produrre sigarette. Considerando solo i rifiuti post-consumo, i filtri buttati sono passati da 175.000 a 766.000 tonnellate dal 2015 al 2020, mentre il packaging produce 2
milioni di tonnellate di rifiuti ogni anno, più di quelli derivanti dalle bottiglie di plastica (1,8 milioni di tonnellate
all’anno).
I dati raccolti finora, già preoccupanti, rappresentano una probabile sottostima del problema, implicando la necessità di ulteriori studi scientifici sul tema, anche ai fini di una corretta valutazione dell’impatto ambientale dell’industria del tabacco, che è nota per operazioni di greenwashing.
Come il tabagismo viene considerato un’emergenza sanitaria, dovremmo considerare le conseguenze della produzione di tabacco un’emergenza ambientale
Risk factors for caesarean section in Italy: results of a multicentre study.
No full textA recent large increase in Caesarean section (CS) in Italy was the initial stimulus for a study to identify risk factors for CS and, if possible, to suggest strategies to counteract the rise. The study was conducted in three hospitals where a wide range of individual variables was collected from the clinical records and from personal interviews. Crude CS rates and odds ratios were evaluated for each single variable while logistic regression has been used to investigate possible confounding factors. The study involved 1316 consecutive deliveries. Crude CS rates were 29.4%, 15.7% and 16.1%. Variables identified as high risk factors were pre-eclampsia, previous CS, breech and other non-vertex presentations. Antenatal care under an obstetrician working in the same hospital, a low number of antenatal consultations, previous miscarriages, offer (by obstetrician) and request (by women) for CS showed significantly high odds ratios (ORs). Previous live births was strongly negatively associated with CS. No relationship between type of delivery and social status was observed while a physician factor was detected in all three hospitals where rates for different physicians ranged from 0% to 52.8%. Apart from the main medical indications for Caesarean section (previous CS, breech presentation), the results seem to indicate that individual practice style may be an important determinant of the wide variation in the rates of Caesarean delivery. While this may have been suspected before this study, these results are the first hard data to indicate that, in Italy, CS is widely performed for non-medical reasons
Sexual behavior in representative samples of young people: the methodological aspects of the research
No full textYoung population and AIDS: a study on knowledge and beliefs of 690 university students,Popolazione giovanile ed AIDS: indagine sulle conoscenze e sulle convinzioni di 690 studenti universitari
No full textAn investigation aiming at the evaluation or knowledges about AIDS and other sexual diseases among young
people, for making it possible to plan effective campaigns of health and sexual education, has been cařried
in 4 italian towns (Roma, Milano, L'Aquila, Lecco) among students of different ages, from senior high
school 1o University. The present paper refers to 690 University students of Rome (273) and L'Aquila (417).
Al the University students of Rome attend the School of Medicine, while the ones of L'Aquila are distribut-
ed among the School f Bioloy (92), Engineeering (84), Pedagogy (141), Mathematics (20), Medicine (41),
Physics (36). The whole population of students has been divided in two groups on the basis of the attending
the School of Medicine (314 units or 45,5%) or not (376 units or $4,5%). In the investigation the instrument
used has been an anonimous and selfcompiled questionnaire. The outcomes show a good global knowledge
f ADS. In fact, although the informations about the actual diffusion of AIDS are poor, the sexual and
bloody transmission and the ways ef prevention of this disease are welI known. The knowłedge of AIDS
is significanily (p< 0,01) higher for group af students of Medicine. The other sexual diseases are not as
well known as AIDS, except syphilis. Since AIDS can be kept under control only by means of prevention,
campaigns ef healt education must be stared in school, both in junior and senior high schools
Long-term follow-up in atrophic body gastritis patients: atrophy and intestinal metaplasia are persistent lesions irrespective of Helicobacter pylori infection
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