The blood pressure, smoking habit and haemotocrit of 154 patients with transient ischaemic attacks and 191 age-and sex-matched neurological controls were studied. Regression analysis revealed that the haematocrit value was related to both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and to smoking. Smoking elevated the haematocrit by 1.9 +/- 0.59 in males and by 2.18 +/- 0.68 in females. When these a...

A reduction in the prevalence of smoking and tobacco consumption was noted after the enactment in 2005 of new smoking regulations in Italy. To determine the impact of the smoking ban on pregnant women, we compared the results of two retrospective studies on two samples of 300 women, who recently delivered, conducted before and after the regulations went into effect. The comparison showed a mark...

Background: Myocardial Infarction is the most common form of heart disease and the single most important cause of death in the developed and developing world. Myocardial infarction is the irreversible necrosis of heart muscle secondary to prolonged ischemia. The death of heart muscle from the sudden blockage of a coronary artery by a blood clot. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe ...

BACKGROUND The increases in airspace size within the human lung associated with microscopic emphysema can be assessed by measuring the airspace wall surface area per unit volume of lung tissue (AWUV). In a previous study the limits of normality of AWUV with age were estimated in lifelong non-smokers by the 95% prediction limits of the regression line for these variables. The aims of this study ...

Background: Nicotine is responsible for smoking dependence and is mainly metabolised by CYP2A6. Several types of genetic polymorphism of CYP2A6 have been reported, but their relation to smoking habit and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) phenotypes has not been fully clarified. Methods: 203 current or ex-smokers (lifelong cigarette consumption (CC) >10 pack years) with subclinical an...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate markers of systemic oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity in subjects with and without OSAS in order to investigate the most important factors that determine the oxidant-antioxidant status. METHODS A total of 66 subjects referred to our Sleep laboratory were examined by full polysomnography. Oxidative stress and antioxidant activity were asses...

INTRODUCTION The majority of cases of both lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are attributable to cigarette smoking, but whether COPD is an independent risk factor for lung cancer remains unclear. METHODS We used The Health Improvement Network, a U.K. general practice database, to identify incident cases of lung cancer and controls matched on age, sex, and practice. ...

The effects of smoking cigarettes with 30% of the tobacco replaced by NSM tobacco substitute, which lowered their tar and nicotine delivery, were studied by comparing them with the effects of conventional cigarettes in a controlled crossover trial lasting 20 months. Chest symptoms, cigarette consumption, and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were measured each month. Two-hundred men...

BACKGROUND To clarify lifestyle factors that affect the risk of pancreatic cancer among the Japanese population, a nested case-control study was conducted using data from the Hospital-based Epidemiologic Research Program at Aichi Cancer Center (HERPACC), Japan. METHODS The study subjects included 200 incident cases of pancreatic cancer and 2000 age-class frequency-matched cancer-free outpatie...

BACKGROUND Nicotine is responsible for smoking dependence and is mainly metabolised by CYP2A6. Several types of genetic polymorphism of CYP2A6 have been reported, but their relation to smoking habit and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) phenotypes has not been fully clarified. METHODS 203 current or ex-smokers (lifelong cigarette consumption (CC) >/=10 pack years) with subclinical ...