THURSDAY, Feb. 22, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Menthol cigarette bans promote smoking cessation, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online Feb. 21 in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Sarah D. Mills, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues examined the impacts of banning the sale of menthol cigarettes at stores in a systematic review of the literature. Studies that assessed the impact of real-world or hypothesized menthol cigarette bans were included in the review.

A total of 78 studies were included in the review; the meta-analysis included 16 studies. The researchers found that after a menthol ban, cessation rates were high among menthol cigarette smokers. Pooled results showed that 24, 50, 12, and 24 percent of menthol cigarette smokers quit smoking, switched to nonmenthol cigarettes, switched to other flavored tobacco products, and continued smoking menthol cigarettes after a menthol ban, respectively. The hypothesized quitting and switching rates were quite close to rates from real-world studies. Tobacco industry attempts to undermine menthol bans were seen in some studies. Compared with local or state menthol bans, national menthol bans seemed more effective.

"This literature is an evolving area as more localities and countries implement menthol bans, the tobacco industry responds to the changing regulatory environment with new products, and the longer-term impacts of menthol bans emerge," the authors write.

One author disclosed being a paid expert consultant representing plaintiffs in litigation against e-cigarette and tobacco companies.

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WEDNESDAY, Feb. 21, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- In an Endocrine Society position statement published online Feb. 21 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, guidelines are presented to help health care providers (HCPs) recognize the perspectives of people with diabetes (PWD) in order to achieve optimal disease management.

Rita R. Kalyani, M.D., from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues examined gaps in the management of diabetes and its complications and identified tools needed for HCPs and PWD to address these challenges.

Priority targets for addressing challenges for PWD include effective communication during clinical interactions at diagnosis and through the disease course; addressing the emotional and psychosocial needs of PWD; navigating available therapeutic options and explaining complex regimens to support medication taking; and the use of telehealth in the appropriate clinical setting. The authors describe tools that are available to help HCPs, including guided communication styles for facilitating effective communication; guidance on preferred and nonpreferred language; clinical screening tools for assessing psychosocial conditions and directories to assist in referrals for mental health providers; patient education resources to help navigate aspects of living with diabetes, including pharmacotherapies; and checklists to determine the appropriateness of telehealth use for individual patients.

"In the ever-changing landscape of diabetes and its management, both health care providers and people with diabetes will continue to need new and evolving tools to help address the common challenges they face," Kalyani said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical and other industries.

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TUESDAY, Feb. 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly $6 billion in funding will soon be spread through every U.S. state and territory as part of a massive, ongoing effort to clean up the nation's water supply, the Biden Administration announced Tuesday.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to announce the latest infusion of funding, the White House said in a news release.

Projects underway in that city -- including efforts to remove lead water pipes -- are among several across the country that are being funded through bipartisan legislation passed in 2021 that devoted $50 billion to improving the nation's water supply.

“With $50 billion in total, the largest investment in water infrastructure in our nation’s history, EPA will enable communities across the nation to ensure safer drinking water for their residents and rebuild vital clean water infrastructure to protect public health for decades to come,” Regan said in an agency news release.

Instead of choosing which projects to fund, the federal government will deliver the money to states, territories and tribes through the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs, the EPA said.

Many of the country’s water infrastructure problems stem from a general lack of investment, according to the EPA.

Local governments typically can’t afford to update water systems on their own. Even when changes are made, that can still prompt crises like the one in Flint, Mich., where scientists learned residents had high blood lead levels due to corroded pipes from a new drinking water source.

New lead pipes have been banned in the United States since the 1980s, but the EPA estimates there are still at least 9.2 million lead service lines carrying water to American homes.

The funding announced Tuesday will be used to clean drinking water, improve wastewater and sanitation and remove contaminants, and it will also be used to replace lead pipes, the EPA said.

Over $1 billion from the latest round of funding will help cities and states clean up another toxin in Americans’ drinking water: PFAS, "forever" chemicals that are considered dangerous to human health, CNN reported.

Almost half of the tap water in the United States is contaminated with PFAS, according to a study published in 2023.

PFAS exposure is linked to problems like cancer, obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, decreased fertility, liver damage and hormone suppression, according to the EPA.

In June 2022, the EPA issued health advisories that said the chemicals are much more hazardous to human health than scientists first thought.

This month, the EPA proposed labeling nine of the PFAS chemicals as hazardous. If the agency officially makes the change, it will be easier for the government to address PFAS as a part of its cleanup program, CNN reported.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about clean drinking water.

SOURCE: EPA, news release, Feb. 20, 2024; White House, news release, Feb. 20, 2024; CNN

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