Posted on 02/28/2008 4:16:42 PM PST by Dysart
HURSDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) -- It's long been known that smoking causes lung cancer, but a new study is the first to show that the hydrogen peroxide in cigarette smoke is what actually causes healthy lung cells to turn cancerous.
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, said their findings may help lead to new treatments for lung cancer and may help the tobacco industry develop "safer" cigarettes by eliminating such substances in the smoke.
"With the five-year survival rate for people with lung cancer at a dismally low 15.5 percent, we hope this study will provide better insight into the identification of new therapeutic targets," senior author Tzipora Goldkorn said in a prepared statement.
In this laboratory study, the researchers exposed different sets of human lung cells to cigarette smoke or hydrogen peroxide and then incubated the cells for one to two days. The cells were then compared to unexposed airway cells. The cells exposed to cigarette smoke and those exposed to hydrogen peroxide showed the same molecular signatures of cancer development. The unexposed cells showed no such changes.
The findings are published in the March issue of The FASEB Journal, published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Guns kill, bombs kill and cigarettes kill," Dr. Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal, said in a prepared statement. "While biologists can't do much about the first two, studies like this will help in the fight against tobacco-related death and disease. These experiments not only pinpoint new molecular targets for cancer treatment, but also identify culprits in cigarette smoke that eventually will do the smoker in."
Cigarette smoking, which causes more than 400,000 deaths a year in the United States (about one in five of all deaths) is the leading preventable cause of premature death in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking causes 90 percent of all lung cancer deaths in men and about 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in women.
Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, including 43 that are know to cause cancer, according to a U.S. Surgeon General report released in 2000.
We have consensus!
I thought it was the benz-alpha-pyrene and methyl chrysene, who knew?
And then there was the polonium theory, and the “tar” and nicotine...
I'm sure there are a lot of very nervous blondes in the nation tonight.
Is the hydrogen peroxide produced in the burning process?
Well, Nicotine does speed tumor growth, no doubt. But these are in growths already established.
Sigh.. wonder what these 'researchers' will find next to contradict this finding.
Take it out and give the cigarettes back at a reasonable price.
Congrats. I'm at 7 months. I admit, though, my first thought when reading this was, "Take out the hydrogen peroxide and let me smoke my cigarettes again".
Yes. And maybe someone more familiar with the process involving cig smoke condensation which activates HP can explain it.(Hes says hopefully) Can't imagine the formaldehyde is esp healthful either.
Guns, without a human agent, do not kill. Most bombs, without a human agent, do not kill (there are a few unstable bombs that do detonate “on their own,” but it was a human that created that instability).
“Take it out and give the cigarettes back at a reasonable price.”
Lung cancer is just one of many diseases that cigarettes cause. Cigarettes should have no place in a healthy society just like cocaine, meth, and other agents of death. With at least cocaine and meth, you can say they legally sold for profit.
Hydrogen peroxide is nothing but water with an extra O, but I guess if they can declare ozone a terrible polluntant, they can call hydrogen peroxide a carcinogen.
Huh?
Are you high?
And if it turns out that the hydrogen peroxide is not present in second hand smoke ... or is significantly reduced in content by the time it gets to someone else’s nose ... then we can make a stronger case against second hand smoke being a cancer causing agent.
If you don't like such things then don't do them. Leave the state out of it please.
So where does Freedom fall into your little healthy Scenerio ? while your telling us what we should be allowed to have in a healthy society what would you propose to do with those who wish to be free to do as they please healthy or no ?
Not meant to be a flame i'm just curious ....
They are not intoxicating so it’s no one’s business.
Fat people are more expensive.
And if it turns out that the hydrogen peroxide is not present in second hand smoke ... or is significantly reduced in content by the time it gets to someone else’s nose ... then we can make a stronger case against second hand smoke being a cancer causing agent.
***************************************************
You can count on it Hydrogen Peroxide is a strong oxidizer ,, thats how it disinfects ,, same as good old ozone is an oxidizer.. they are unstable and react with the first thing they touch and are no more...
So glad you did not say alcohol :-)
Hmmmm, isn't this what the dentist said to rinse my mouth out with after oral surgery?
But we're worth it!
I think sagar a word out.
"..... today is my 4 month quit date,...."
WONDERFUL! Congratulations on your resolve, keep up the good work! My husband quit a year ago September after many, many years of smoking.
".... I used to know a girl named Mila along time ago,ever live in Virgina?"
No sorry :), I've never had the pleasure of living or visiting in Virginia.
Sorry for the late response. Here it goes.
“Responsible” consumers should be able to purchase cocaine and meth; free market should determine their price and distribution. Why is the government involved in restricting free market for stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine? I thought America was a free country where entrepreneurs should be able to produce and sell anything to the market.
I am being sarcastic, but my point is a valid one. If cigs cause all kinds of cancers and ailments (#1 cause of preventable death), then why are they even allowed and protected as consumer good?
Nicotine addiction caused by cigs is very hard to break; addicts can NOT act “responsibly” if their brain chemistry and nicotine receptors tell them to pump toxic fumes down their esophagus. Ask any smoker if they can “choose” not to smoke — they go crazy for a few weeks and most of them revert back to being slaves to the fumes.
Besides, it is a terrible price to pay for own health, and financial burden to themselves and NON SMOKERS who have to pay higher amount than needed to cover the addicts who “decide” to smoke every 2 hours to maintain their nicotine levels.
It isn’t about freedom. It is slavery.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.