“Deadly Disguise: How Candy-Like Nicotine Pouches Led to a 763% Spike in Child Poisonings”

A new study has revealed that ingestions of nicotine pouches by young children have surged in recent years. Researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center analyzed calls to U.S. poison centers and found a staggering 763% increase in the rate of reported nicotine pouch ingestions among children younger than 6 years old from 2020 to 2023.

Nicotine pouches, which contain nicotine powder and are placed in the mouth, were not tracked in national poison center data until 2020. However, between 2020 and 2023 (the most recent year of data from the study), the rate of unintentional ingestion of nicotine pouches by young children increased at a fast rate – even as ingestion rates for other formulations of nicotine declined.

“The rapid increase in the number and comparative severity of nicotine pouch ingestions is a reminder of the public health challenges of the changing nicotine product market,” said Hannah Hays, MD, co-author of the study and medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center. “This is why we need to continue ongoing surveillance and increase our efforts to prevent nicotine ingestions among young children.”

The study, published in Pediatrics, also investigated other nicotine products and formulations. Researchers examined nearly 135,000 cases of nicotine ingestions among children younger than 6 years old that were reported to U.S. poison centers from 2010 through 2023. Most ingestions occurred at home and involved children under the age of 2 years.

While most exposures resulted in minor or no effects, there were 39 cases with major medical outcomes and two deaths. The overall rate of all nicotine ingestions increased 59% from 2010-2015 before decreasing 34% from 2015-2023. This rate was primarily driven by the ingestion rate for liquid nicotine and nicotine solid formulations such as tablets, capsules, and caplets.

The study’s findings have significant implications for public health policy and prevention strategies. “Many nicotine products are flavored and sold in colorful packaging that may be attractive to a young child,” said Gary Smith, MD, DrPH, senior author of the study and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s. “Banning flavors in all nicotine products helps reduce unintentional ingestions by young children as well as discourage use among teens.”

Researchers also shared a few safety tips for parents and caregivers of young children. The safest choice is to keep all nicotine products out of the home. If you choose to have them in your home, you can lower the risk by following these steps:

* Store nicotine products safely and securely.
* Keep an eye on your child at all times when they are in the same room as nicotine products.
* Be aware of the potential for accidental ingestion and take immediate action if it occurs.

By taking these precautions, parents and caregivers can help prevent nicotine poisonings among young children.

Cancer cells have a notorious ability to multiply rapidly and spread easily throughout the body. One of the reasons they are so successful is their ability to undergo a process called epithelial-to-mesenchymal plasticity, which makes them resistant to elimination by anticancer therapies. In an effort to find new ways to combat this resistance, researchers have been searching for newer anticancer agents that can target these “rogue” cancer cells.

A team of scientists led by Dr. Hideyuki Saya, Director of the Oncology Innovation Center at Fujita Health University in Japan, has made a groundbreaking discovery about the potential of benzaldehyde to halt therapy-resistant pancreatic cancer. This sweet-smelling molecule is responsible for the aroma of almonds, apricots, and figs, but it also has potent anticancer properties.

The researchers were driven by a desire to uncover the mechanism behind benzaldehyde’s anticancer effects, particularly after learning that one of their colleagues had demonstrated its potential back in the 1980s. The first author of the study, Dr. Jun Saito, was motivated by her parents’ pioneering work on benzaldehyde and its derivatives.

The team conducted extensive research using a mouse model grafted with growing pancreatic cancer cells. They found that benzaldehyde inhibited the growth of these cancer cells, even when they had become resistant to radiation therapy and treatment with osimertinib, an agent blocking tyrosine kinases in growth factor signaling.

Their findings revealed that benzaldehyde exerts its anticancer effects by preventing interactions between a key signaling protein called 14-3-3ζ and histone H3. This interaction is crucial for cancer cell survival and treatment resistance. By blocking this interaction, benzaldehyde reduced the expression of genes related to epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity.

The study also showed that benzaldehyde synergized with radiation therapy to eliminate previously resistant cancer cells. Furthermore, a derivative of benzaldehyde was found to inhibit the growth of pancreatic tumors and suppress epithelial-to-mesenchymal plasticity, preventing metastasis.

Dr. Saya’s team believes that their results suggest that inhibition of the interaction between 14-3-3ζ and its client proteins by benzaldehyde has the potential to overcome the problem of therapy resistance. This study opens up possibilities for using benzaldehyde as a combinatorial anticancer agent, alongside molecular-targeted therapies.

The implications of this research are significant, offering new hope for patients with therapy-resistant pancreatic cancer. Further studies will be necessary to confirm these findings and explore their potential applications in the clinic.

The diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often sparks controversy when it comes to adults. While originally developed for children, the diagnostic criteria can be difficult to apply in grown-ups. This is partly because the criteria are based on child behavior, and when diagnosing adults, these criteria rely heavily on subjective experiences such as difficulty concentrating or being impulsive.

A recent study from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil shed light on this issue, examining how 292 credible studies on ADHD diagnosed their adult subjects. The researchers found that half of the studies did not ensure a thorough diagnostic assessment before the trial to rule out other disorders like depression or schizophrenia. This methodological shortfall is problematic because it makes it impossible to know which disorders and symptoms the treatment investigated in these trials potentially had an effect on.

Moreover, over half of the studies included subjects who had already been diagnosed with other mental disorders, making the diagnosis even more challenging. The researchers pointed out that this lack of consistency in diagnostic assessment can make research results from many clinical trials difficult to utilize. Despite being considered particularly trustworthy, the results of these trials may inform guidelines used to treat adult ADHD patients.

The study’s findings emphasize the need for consistent and robust diagnoses in psychiatric research. One of the problems with the diagnostic assessment in many of the clinical trials was that it seemed to have been carried out by individuals without proper training or using methods that were not thorough enough. In some cases, the assessment and diagnosis were made by the subject themselves, or even with the help of a computer.

As Julie Nordgaard highlighted, “In psychiatry, we really need all diagnoses, not just ADHD, to be made with the same uniform criteria and by trained professionals.” This is especially crucial in situations where a diagnosis like adult ADHD is increasing. Without thorough diagnostic assessments, people may receive incorrect diagnoses, and thus, ineffective or unnecessary treatment that can cause side effects.

The study’s conclusion serves as a reminder of the importance of rigorous methodology and consistency in psychiatric research. By prioritizing accurate diagnoses and thorough assessments, researchers can ensure that their findings are reliable and useful for informing guidelines and treatments for patients with complex mental health conditions like adult ADHD.