Tobacco and Health
Volume:2 Issue: 4, Dec 2023

Nicotine addiction and smoking are chronic conditions that increase the risk of various diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Hence, it is highly recommended for all nicotine addicts to quit smoking. Pharmacotherapy along with psychotherapy is important in helping people quit smoking. Several medications, such as nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline, and bupropion are used for this purpose. Different delivery systems for nicotine replacement therapy are available, such as transdermal patches, gums, lozenges, and sublingual tablets. Bupropion and varenicline are widely used as therapeutic options in smoking cessation pharmacotherapy. In this paper, we have reviewed the clinical use of pharmacotherapeutic options available to aid smoking cessation in patients.

Although the harmful effects of smoking on the musculoskeletal system, especially bone effects, are well identified, the data on the relationship between smoking and cartilage disorders are limited. This review discovered associations between smoking and cartilage disorders.

A literature search was conducted in the following three databases in September 2023 for related articles in English without time limitation: Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. In the initial search, 285 documents were recorded. Eventually, 20 studies were involved in this review, and the required data were extracted from the full text. 

Our review study provided evidence for the association between smoking and different knee/spine cartilage disorders, such as augmented cartilage size, declined strain ratio, weak postoperative outcome, low fusion rate, and risk for spinal reoperation. 

As the use of tobacco products is a crucial global public health concern, additional research to comprehend the mechanisms of the effects of smoking on musculoskeletal system disorders is highly recommended.

With reducing the immune function of the pulmonary, smoking is considered a risk factor for contracting other infections with more severe outcomes. The present study investigates a meta-analysis of the association between smoking and the progression of COVID-19 infection in Iran.

The online databases of PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science were searched on August 23, 2022, with the following terms: (‘‘COVID-19’’ OR ‘‘SARS-CoV-2’’ OR ‘‘Coronavirus’’), AND (‘‘smoking’’ OR ‘‘smoker*’’), AND (“Iran”). In this review, we included the studies with molecular-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the outcome of death. The Mantel-Hensel meta-analysis method with random effects was used to investigate the relationship in the data.

We identified 8 papers with a total of 9199 COVID-19 patients, of whom 1861(20.2%) had the outcome of death, and 1105(12%) had a history of smoking. A total of 274 patients with a history of smoking (24.7%) were dead. The meta-analysis showed a significant association between smoking and death related to COVID-19 (odds ratio=1.22, 95% confidence interval [1.03-1.44], P=0.001). Therefore, the probability of death in COVID-19 patients with a history of smoking is about 22% higher than other people.

Smoking is a risk factor for the progression of COVID-19, with smokers having higher odds of COVID-19 progression than non-smokers.

Young individuals, such as students, are threatened by the use of tobacco products. Emotional intelligence and religiosity are protective factors against risky behaviors, such as smoking. This study investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence and spiritual health on nursing students’ attitudes toward smoking.

This correlational-descriptive study was conducted for three months with the available sampling method on all qualified undergraduate nursing students in 2022. A total of 283 nursing students willing to participate in the study completed the questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and linear regression in the SPSS software, version 21.

The Mean±SD age of the students was 22.74±3.26 years. There was a positive and significant relationship between spiritual well-being and attitude toward smoking (r=0.35, P<0.001) and also between emotional intelligence and attitude toward smoking (r=0.26, P<0.001). The data from multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that among the demographic information (spiritual well-being and emotional intelligence), spiritual well-being contributed more to explaining the attitude toward smoking (β=0.52, P<0.001).

Based on the results of the present study, the attitude toward tobacco is related to various factors, such as age, history of smoking, having an addicted friend, emotional intelligence, and spiritual well-being. Accordingly, by holding educational workshops, university officials can play an effective role in strengthening and developing the components of spiritual well-being and emotional intelligence to prevent students from smoking.

Tobacco smoking is an essential factor that affects people’s quality of life. Numerous studies have suggested that tobacco smoking has considerable harmful effects on the musculoskeletal system. In addition, it has a high prevalence in Hormozgan Province, Iran. Accordingly, this research investigates the consumption of tobacco products and its relationship with the prevalence of symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders in service workers of Bandar Abbas City, Iran. 

This was a descriptive-analytical epidemiological study with cross-sectional data. The population comprised 351 urban service workers employed in Bandar Abbas City, Iran. In the present research, musculoskeletal disorders over the past 12 months were investigated using the Nordic questionnaire in each of the nine body parts.

The mean age of the participants was 37.66±7.9 years. More than half of the studied population (52%) smoked tobacco, and all of them experienced more musculoskeletal problems compared to the other group. Musculoskeletal disorders in tobacco smokers showed a significant difference in four parts of the body, including the elbow, lower back, hip, and knees, with P<0.05 when compared to individuals who did not smoke tobacco.

Individuals who smoked tobacco experienced higher pain in their muscles and bones compared to the other group, which can arise from the adverse effects of tobacco products on muscles, tendons, cartilage, and ligaments. Hence, suitable policies and plans are required to prevent and reduce tobacco consumption in the province, especially in occupations that are susceptible to musculoskeletal disorders.

One of the most essential requirements for economic and political development and stability is considering the health of the society. Annually, about 13% of people worldwide die because of smoking (use of tobacco). Tax is a price tool to reduce tobacco use; however, the effectiveness of tax on smoking may vary according to the socio-economic status of different societies. This study investigates the effects of four components of absolute price (AP), affordability change (AC), tax share (Sh), and tax structure (St) on the percentage of smokers at a global level. 

This investigates the data provided by the Tobacconomics team, including four components on tobacco use. A total of 58 countries were selected and analyzed based on data availability. Since data for some countries was not available for some years, 2018 (most of the data for this year is available) was considered the reviewed year. Cross-sectional data have been used to estimate the model. This study uses the ordinary least squares regression for the model.

The results showed that AP and tax did not affect the percentage of smokers in the sample countries; however, St had a negative impact on smoking, while AC had a positive and significant effect on the number of smokers. Also, smoking increased due to increasing poverty. As a result, the price alone did not affect the percentage of smokers, but the relative and AC became important in smoking. In addition, St affected smoking more than tax.

The estimation results of the model showed that Sh had no significant effect on the percentage of smokers. Meanwhile, Sh had no reducing impact on the percentage of smokers. In addition, increasing Sh can lead to an increase in cigarette smuggling. The results showed that tax alone cannot be a factor in reducing smoking; however, a suitable St can be considered an essential factor in reducing smoking. Hence, countries should focus more on the structure of the tax system than on the tax rate or revenue.

Depression has been a psychological problem in people’s lives for centuries. This disorder has become the basis of other chronic diseases with changes in the person’s lifestyle in the form of reducing physical activity, increasing smoking, appetite, or weight, or creating problems in the optimal control of other diseases accompanied by chronic.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 in the Cardiology Department of Shahid Mohammadi Hospital in Bandar Abbas City, Iran. The data collection tool was a demographic form and the standardized Beck questionnaire.

A total of 63.4% of people were women, and 36.6% were men. Most participants were between 41 and 60 years old and had a bachelor’s degree or were illiterate. Of the studied subjects, 29.2% were smokers, and 31.5% were passive smokers.

Based on age and educational level, there is a strong correlation between smoking and depression in ischemic heart patients.

Mental diseases are one of the problems in communities. People with mental health disorders face premature death. More than 700000 deaths occur due to suicide annually. Accordingly, considering the high prevalence of suicide and the importance of drug and alcohol abuse in this incidence, this research investigates the amount of drug, stimulants, and alcohol abuse in hospitalized patients who attempted suicide in Shahid Mohammadi Hospital in Bandar Abbas City, Iran, in the second half of 2022.

This descriptive-cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted on 193 patients who were admitted to Shahid Mohammadi Hospital in Bandar Abbas City, Iran, with a diagnosis of suicide. Of this population, 38 patients were considered the statistical population.

According to the results of the survey, the prevalence of drug, stimulant, and alcohol abuse among the participants was 63.2%. Meanwhile, the prevalence of abuse in men was higher than in women. The highest prevalence of abuse was related to married people, and individuals who had an income of 5-10 million Tomans per month had a higher prevalence of abuse. Most of them lived in the city.

The findings demonstrated that the prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse and concurrent drug and stimulant utilization was significantly higher in men compared to women. The mean age of stimulant-using patients was considerably higher; however, there was no difference between the drug alcohol and tobacco groups.