chart it
Pediatric nicotine exposure shifts with trends
JAMA Network Open
Between 2016 and 2023, there were more than 92,900 reported instances of nicotine exposure for children between 1 month and 5 years old, per the National Poison Data System. (Exposure is defined as ingesting something like a pouch, or inhaling from a cigarette or vape, though it doesn't capture incidental exposure to secondhand smoke.) An analysis of that data, published yesterday in JAMA Network Open, found that the route of exposure has clearly changed over the years.
Exposure to e-cigarettes increased 243%, while exposure to traditional tobacco dropped by 43%, the study authors found. The trend coincides, they wrote, with a market shift toward disposable and cartridge-based vapes. (Follow STAT's reporting on vaping here.)
first opinion
Is evidence catching up with anecdotes about GLP-1s and addiction?
At least one expert seems to think so. In a new First Opinion essay, physician-researcher Ziyad Al-Aly writes about the results of a study by him and his colleagues, published yesterday in the BMJ. Among more than 600,000 people, they found that GLP-1 drugs were associated with 50% fewer substance-related deaths, 39% fewer drug overdoses, and 26% fewer drug-related hospitalizations.
"Drug noise is the signal these drugs appear to quiet — not for one substance, but for all of them," Al-Aly writes. But he acknowledges a key question: "Why would a drug designed for diabetes quiet drug noise?" Read more for his thoughts on the potential mechanisms.
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