Tobacco Documents Online

q0 ; *~. eo Iiard 'G C 4 L__ PUBUIC RELATIONS COUNSEL hn u / a n dAssociates,InG P' 0: BOX 523 • 13 LINCOLN ROAD • GREAT NECK, N!Y: 111021 • (212) 895-7445 FOR: THE COUNCIL FOR TOBACCO RESEARCH-U.S.A., Inc. FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1973 PROCRESS IN TOBACCO-HEALTH RESEARCHIACHIEVED : MACHINES THAT SIMULATE HUMAN SMOKING New York -- Progress in smoking and health studies has been achieved with the development of two types of mach~iness that more closely simulate human smoking by animals, The Council for Tobacco Research-U.S.A.,, Inc. dlisclosed'today. One of the types is now being used'in a number of ex- periments and a"considerable increase in the flow of re- search results from direct smoke inhalation studies is to be expected," said The Council's 1972 Annual Report. The importance of smoke inhalation studies is underscored by the growth in such research being sponsored by many agen- cies, the Report noted. The Council itself is presently fi- nancing 17 inhalation projects and several other projects under way will include inhalation when the necessary prelim- inary biological work is completed. The Report described the current status of The Council's intensive research program and said'emphasis remains on studies into cancer, heart diseases, chronic pulmonary ailments, and the "psychopharmacology" of smoking. Since its formation in 1954, The Council has awarded over $23,000,000 in grants to 283 independent scientists in 199 hospitals, universities andiresearch institutions. These sci- entists have published 1,052 reports on their findings in medical and scientific journals. The Council does not itself operate any research facility. (more)

2. The smoking machines, which will continue to be evaluated and improved as needed, seem to meet many or most of the strin- gent criteria that The Council has specified for years. One de- vice is for use where relatively small numbers of small animals are to be studied. The other is for large numbers of small ani- mals or where the use of large animals requires more smoke gen- erating,capacity. "Concentration upon smoke inhalation experiments reflects the conviction that realistic studies must be based upon and evaluated by exposures simulating as nearly as possible those experienced by human smokers," Dr. Robert C. Hackett, The Council's Acting Scientific Director, wrote in the Report. "The present proliferation of smoke inhalation studies in many quarters emphasizes the need for recognized standards to which all such studies must conform, if a great confusion of contradictory findings in the scientific literature is to be avoided," he said. Dr. Hockett said that essentially the same smoking ma- chines can be used in studies targeted toward problems iinvolvedin research into cancer, heart diseases,, pulmonary ailments, metabolism,, pharmacology, and others. The factor of stress is being considered in all smoke ex- posure experiments with animals, he said, because, unlike man, most animals inhale smoke involuntarily while stationed in de- vices that impose restraint, noise, handling,, and other dis- turbing influences. The Report said that in the cancer field, The Council is supporting studies aimed at a better understanding of how ge- netic factors control susceptibility or resistance and how viruses may be involved. Projects are also being sponsored in immunology to learn how the bodily mechanisms that lead to re- jectionlof g,rafted tissues and' organs as "'foreign" material operate in rejecting newly-formed cancer cells and why they sometimes fail. (more)

3- "As with cancer,", the Report continued, ",cardiovascular diseases are of complex etiology (causation) that includes many contributory factors, among which hereditary predispo- sitions may play an important role.'" Studies of twins can be of great value in resolving this question and The Council is supporting exploratory research to determine whether an~in- ternational project in this area can be organizaed. The Council also is supporting extensive research into atherosclerosis, including nicotine studies, chronic carbon monoxide inhalation by primates, and observations in organ cultures of arteries. In the field of epidemiology, analysis of several large existing collections of human data is producing new perspec- tives about the reportedistatistical associations between smoking and the incidence.of heart diseases. Apart from lung cancer, emphysema and chron~ic bronchitis are the respiratory diseases of special interest to The Council, the Report said, and' considerable research into these is be- ing supported. Neither emphysema nor bronchitis is really a single dis- ease and scientists have found subdivisions in each that are distinguishable clinically, saidithe Report. Both these dis- eases or groups of diseases are very incompletely understood! with respect to causation, which may well differ in the dif- ferent subdivisions. Previous statistical studies into them have been confused by poor clinical discrimination. Research also has shown that certain persons have a hered- itary predisposition to emphysema, the Report continued, and studies are being sponsored in this area. "There is also re- cent evidence that emphysema may be an autoimmune disease, caused or aggravated by chemical changes in the lung that cause lung tissue to be recognized by the immune system, as C foreign material and, therefore, subjected to destructive C.7 17~ attack." ~ -END-