• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.245-251
• /
• 2006

Nitric oxide(nitrogen monoxide, NO) plays important physiological roles, but excessive generation can be toxic. NO is present in cigarette smoke at up to 1,000 ppm, and probably represents one of the greatest exogenous sources of NO to which humans are exposed. We investigated whether cigarette smoking reduces the production of endogenous NO and whether it influences the action of lipopolysaccharide(LPS) to induce nitric oxide synthase activity in mouse brain. Mice(C57BL6/J) were exposed to cigarette smoke for 8 weeks. LPS was injected intraperitoneally in single or combination with the exposure to cigarette smoke. Six hours after the injection of LPS, mice were sacrificed and sera and brains were collected. Serum concentrations of nitrate and nitrite were not charged by 4-week smoke exposure, but were significantly increased by 6 and 8 weeks of smoke exposure. Interestingly, cigarette smoke reduced the elevation in serum nitrate and nitrite concentrations produced by LPS after 4-week smoking exposure. NO synthase(NOS) activity in brain was upregulated by LPS-administration. However, cigarette smoke exposure remarkably and consistently decreased the LPS-induced activity in mouse brain. This result suggests that cigarette smoking may affect against overproduction of the endogenous NO by LPS through the inhibition of NOS activity induced by LPS in brain or by modulation of the LPS action for the induction of NOS activity. We also suggest the possibility that the exogenous NO evolved in cigarette smoke enables feedback inhibition of NOS activity or other possibility that it attenuates the toxicity of endotoxin LPS in vivo by unknown mechanisms, which should be further studied.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.185-197
• /
• 1999

For the past 10 years, the number of male smokers has dwindled. On the other hand, the number of female smokers has increased abruptly. Cigarette smoking is more hazardous to a woman than to a man because it can affect her health and her fetus during pregnancy. Many studies show that cigarette smoking is one of the most important risk factors determining the mortality and the morbidity of various kinds of diseases such as lung cancer and pharyngeal cancer. But, it is also known to be one of the risk factors we can handle and prevent easily. The subjects of this study consisted of 263 female nursing students in Seoul and Chonbuk Province. Using questionnaires, we were collected data from December 1 to December 10 1998. The questionnaire included 24 questions related to environmental factors and 14 questions related with self-efficacy. The statistical analysis was done with SPSS ver. 8.0(SPSS Inc. U.S.). The results of this study are as follows. 1) Cigarette smoking in women was influenced by her family or friends. That is to say, the higher number of her friends or family members who smoked cigarettes, the more likely a woman was to become a smoker. Economic status and knowledge level about the risks of cigarette smoking were also related to women smoking. So, women with lower levels of economic status and less knowledge about the risks of cigarette smoking were the more likely to become smokers. 2) Woman with higher levels of self-efficacy were less likely to become smokers. 3) The factors influencing a woman's smoking were whether her friends smoked, whether her mother smoked and her self-efficacy in that order. Environmental factors, self-efficacy were found to be important factors influencing smoking in women. It is suggested a quit-smoking program for women college students, be based on consideration of these environmental factors and self-efficacy.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.40 no.5
• /
• pp.371-380
• /
• 2007

Objectives: To determine the impact of cigarette prices on the decision to initiate and quit smoking by taking into account the interdependence of smoking and other behavioral risk factors. Methods: The study population consisted of 3,000 male Koreans aged ${\ge}20$. A survey by telephone interview was undertaken to collect information on cigarette price, smoking and other behavioral risk factors. A two-part model was used to examine separately the effect of price on the decision to be a smoker, and on the amount of cigarettes smoked. Results: The overall price elasticity of cigarettes was estimated at -0.66, with a price elasticity of -0.02 for smoking participation and -0.64 for the amount of cigarettes consumed by smokers. The inclusion of other behavioral risk factors reduced the estimated price elasticity for smoking participation substantially, but had no effect on the conditional price elasticity for the quantity of cigarettes smoked. Conclusions: From the public health and financial perspectives, an increase in cigarette price would significantly reduce smoking prevalence as well as cigarette consumption by smokers in Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.30 no.3 s.58
• /
• pp.540-554
• /
• 1997

The effects of cigarette smoking on the psychosocial distress, the absenteeism, the occupational injuries, and on the prevalence for the accidents were assessed in 795 male workers who had been employed since March 1994. The results show that the prevalence of current smokers were higher in young men, lower educational level, lower income, single men(unmarried or divorced), alcohol drinkers, and blue collar workers. In the bivariate analyses, the workers with the high job demand and low work control were more likely to smoke, although the relationship was not strong. Those who reported lower satisfaction on his job tended to smoke more. Mean scores of psychosocial well-being index(PWI) were higher in current smokers than nonsmokers. For the hierarchical multiple regression analyses, interaction terms between cigarette smoking and job stressors(job demand and work control) were not significant. For smokers, the odds ratios for the occupational injuries, and the accidents were 1.40(95% confidence interval 0.77-2.57) and 1.96 (95% confidence interval 0.75-5.09), respectively. The mean absent day were 4.13 for smokers, 3.65 for nonsmokers, although the differences were not statistically significant. It seems that cigarette smoking had not caused any crucial effects on the psychosocial well-being status and the occupational risks. Some considerations for the further research on the relationship of cigarette smoking on the mental health status and the occupational risks were also discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.13-25
• /
• 2019

This study was aimed at ascertaining the level of knowledge of the health effects of cigarette smoking on health and wellbeing among adults. A cross-sectional form of descriptive survey research design was used for this study. Two hundred and seventy copies of the questionnaire collected were analyzed using descriptive statistic of frequency count, normative percentage and grand mean; as well as inferential statistics of chi-square (${\chi}^2$). The level of significant was fixed at 0.05. Appropriate degrees of freedom were worked out. The influence of gender on the knowledge of the negative effect of cigarette smoking among adults in sokoto. The results shows that 48% agreed on the negative effects of showing among male followed by 29.3% among female, those who undecided 8.8% male and 4.4% females while those who disagree are 6.2% for male and 2.5% for female. The research concluded that the knowledge of negative effect of cigarette smoking among adults in sokoto metropolis was very good across the different variable (marital status, gender, and year in higher institution) with single, male and first year in higher institution showing significantly good knowledge of the negative effect of cigarette smoking.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.18
• /
• pp.7629-7634
• /
• 2014

Background: Cigarette smokers have their own motivation and justification to smoke. For example, smoking reduces their stress or enhances their pleasure. This study aimed to identify the (a) prevalence of cigarette smokers among undergraduates in Malaysia, (b) gender differences in nicotine dependence among current smokers, (c) differences in psychological problems (depression, anxiety and stress) based on the status of smoking cigarettes (current, former and non-smokers) and (d) extent to which precipitating factors (tension reduction, addiction, automatism, handling, social interaction, pleasure, and stimulation) predict the smoking behavior among current smokers. Materials and Methods: In this study 780 undergraduate students participated from a private university in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor state in Malaysia. The Depression, Stress and Anxiety Scale, Modified Reason for Smoking Scale and Fagerstrom Nicotine Dependence Test were used to measure psychological problems, predictors of smoking behavior and nicotine dependency among current smokers. Results: The results showed that 14.7%(n=106) of the students were smokers. Current smokers exhibited more psychological problems (depression, anxiety and stress) compared to former and non-smokers. Addiction, tension reduction, pleasure and automatism were predictors of smoking behavior among the current smoking students. Step wise regression analysis showed that smoking behavior was highly predicted by nicotine dependency or addiction. Smoking students were motivated to smoke cigarettes as they believed that it reduced their tension and enhance pleasure. Conclusions: Hence, there is a need for health promotion and anti-tobacco prevention as cigarette smokers experience more psychological problems. Nicotine dependency or addition was one of the major causes for smoking behavior among the student population in Malaysia.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.114-122
• /
• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between smoking attitude and coping skills toward secondhand e-cigarette smoking among nonsmoking college students. Methods: This study was conducted with 148 students from a University in Seoul, Korea. Participants completed questionnaires and the data were analyzed using a T-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficients. Results: The mean score of smoking attitude is $51.35{\pm}4.73$. The mean score of coping skills is $13.89{\pm}2.53$ in verbal skills, $10.16{\pm}2.37$ in behavioral skills, and $8.32{\pm}2.30$ in assertive skills. Coping skills toward secondhand smoking are noted as being different by current cohabitation smoker. A significant relationship between smoking attitude and behavioral coping skills(r = .23, p= .004) was found, which means that a better smoking attitude was correlated with more active behavioral coping skills. Conclusion: The results showed that nonsmoking college students with better smoking attitude react to the E-cigarette smoking with more active behaviors. Therefore, interventions are needed to be developed to encourage better smoking attitude and coping skills toward secondhand E-cigarette smoking.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.105-112
• /
• 2012

Objectives: Cigarette smoking is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Bilirubin is a potent antioxidant and its concentration decreases in smokers. However, studies about the association between cigarette smoking and bilirubin are scarce and most are limited to total bilirubin. Additionally, bilirubin is highly related to hemoglobin. Therefore, this study evaluates the association between bilirubin subtypes and cigarette smoking in healthy Korean men independently of hemoglobin. Methods: This study included 48 040 Korean men aged 30 to 87 years who visited the Korea Medical Institute for routine health examinations from January to December, 2007. The association of smoking with total, direct, and indirect bilirubin was assessed by logistic regression analysis taking into consideration differences in subjects and smoking characteristics. Results: Current smokers had lower bilirubin concentrations than never-smokers and ex-smokers. Smoking amount and duration were inversely significantly associated with total, direct, and indirect bilirubin. In a multivariable adjusted model, compared to never-smokers, the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of current smokers with the highest number of pack-years were 1.7 (1.6 to 1.9) for total, 1.5 (1.4 to 1.6) for direct, and 1.7 (1.6 to 1.9) for indirect bilirubin. After further adjustment for hemoglobin, this association became stronger (OR [95% CI], 2.1 [1.9 to 2.2] for total; 1.9 [1.8 to 2.0] for direct; 2.0 [1.9 to 2.2] for indirect bilirubin). Conclusions: In this study, bilirubin subtypes are inversely associated with smoking status, smoking amount, and smoking duration in healthy Korean men independently of hemoglobin. Further studies are needed to investigate this association in healthy Korean women.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.581-598
• /
• 2006

In many epidemiological and medical studies, a number of cancer mortalities in categorical classification may be considered as having Poisson distribution with person-years at risk depending upon time. The cancer mortalities have been evaluated by additive or multiplicative models with regard to background and excess risks based on several covariances such as sex, age at the time of bombings, time at exposure, or ionizing radiation, cigarette smoking habits, duration of smoking habits, etc. An interest herein is to examine an additive, synergistic, or antagonistic relationship between radiation exposures and cigarette smoking habits for cancer mortalities. The results revealed a highly significant antagonistic in uence for cancer mortalities from all non-hematologic findings, lung and respiratory system with negative interaction between radiation exposures and cigarette smoking amounts.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.64-70
• /
• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the raise of cigarette prices by KRW 2,000 at the beginning of 2015 on the change in smoking behavior among male office workers, and to analyze the correlation of various factors including their work behaviors and socio-economic factors with their smoking rate. Methods: In this research, a follow-up observation panel was constituted with 420 smokers as targets from among male office workers at a bank located in Daegu, South Korea. A cross-analysis and ANOVA analysis were carried out in order to examine whether changes in smoking status, amount of smoking, stop-smoking motivation, and reasons for smoking cessation failure after the passage of time since the cigarette price hike were statistically significant. The level of statistical significance was P < 0.05. Results: After the cigarette price hike, among the 420 smokers who were the target of the panel the rate of smoking cessation declined at the time-point of the survey to 15.5%, 12.4%, 8.5%, and 5.7% after one month, three months, six months, and 12 months, respectively. As a result of a follow-up observation of 65 smokers who stopped smoking immediately after the price hike, the actual non-smoking rate declined to 15.5%, 8.3%, 4.4%, and 3.1% after one month, three months, six months, and 12 months, respectively. One (1) year after the cigarette price hike, the non-smoking rate among the 420 smokers reached as low as 3.1% (13 persons). The most important reason for the failure of the attempts to quit smoking was stress for more than 60% of the smokers who attempted to stop. Conclusions: It seems that a powerful anti-smoking policy by the state targeting the nation's workers is necessary. For companies, mediation for workers' job stress can become a strategy for the success of non-smoking attempts. The government seems to require a practical policy to reduce the smoking rate by actively carrying out social, economic, and scientific research to come up with a reduction method for the cigarette hazard, an effective price hike policy, and other non-price policies.