Smoking

Have you seen a photo on social media recently that appears to show a man in 1980s-style clothes smoking a cigarette in McDonald’s? The image has gone viral, racking up over 21 million views at the time of this writing. But it’s completely fake. The image was made using generative AI.ChatGPT’s Creator Buddies Up to Congress | Future TechThe image, which features a man with long curly brown hair and a mustache, instantly grabbed attention when it was first posted to X on Tuesday. The man looks like he’s smoking a cigarette…

Smoking has a significant and long-lasting impact on immune responses, with effects enduring years after cessation, a study by the Institut Pasteur reveals. Credit: SciTechDaily.comResearch indicates smoking’s prolonged influence on immunity, linked to epigenetic changes, persists even after quitting.Like other factors such as age, sex, and genetics, smoking has a major impact on immune responses. This is the finding recently made by a team of scientists at the Institut Pasteur using theMilieu Intérieurcohort of 1,000…

Numerous factors shape how a person’s immune system reacts to infections and other challenges. Age, sex and genetics are fundamental contributors—as the COVID pandemic highlighted. Now a new study shows that smoking has an equally important impact on certain immune responses, with some of its effects possibly lasting well beyond when a person quits.To explore which environmental factors had the biggest role, researchers measured the production of cytokines—key messenger molecules that mediate inflammation—in the blood of…

To figure out why and how the effect lasts for years after someone smokes their last cigarette, Duffy’s team turned to their donors’ DNA. Seemingly everything from wildfire smoke to your parents’ trauma has been linked to epigenetic changes—physical manipulations of the DNA molecule that switch genes on or off. Sure enough, the long-term effect of smoking on the immune response also appears to be linked to epigenetics.Duffy admits that interpreting these effects can get weird. It’s tempting to think of the more reactive…

United Airlines had to ground its new Airbus A321neo planes, not due to a major safety issue, but because the light-up “no smoking” signs are automated.A 1990 ruling mandates that the signs on aircraft must be manually operated by the crew. Airbus A321neo features software that automatically displays the signage during a flight, so the crew doesn’t switch it on and off. Bear in mind that smoking was fully banned from both domestic and international flights nearly 25 years ago.Even more frustratingly, automated signage…

It's never too late to reap the benefits of a smoke-free life.No matter at what age a person quits smoking cigarettes, they are likely to add years to their life expectancy, according to a large new analysis from researchers in Canada and Norway."Quitting smoking is ridiculously effective in reducing the risk of death, and people can reap those rewards remarkably quickly," says public health scientist Prabhat Jha from the Center for Global Health Research at Unity Health Toronto.If a smoker can stay away from the highly…

United Airlines briefly of brand-new Airbus A321neo planes, This had nothing to do with safety, as was the case with that Rather, it was due to the aircraft running afoul of a 1990 regulation regarding “no smoking” signs.The 1990 ruling mandates that “no smoking” signs found on aircraft must be manually operated by the crew. The newly-designed Airbus A321neo features software that automatically displays the signage during a flight, so the crew doesn’t switch it on and off. That’s pretty much it. Meanwhile, smoking…

After causing a stir by mysteriously grounding its new Airbus A321neo planes on Monday, United Airlines wants people to know the decision has nothing to do with safety and isn’t even that exciting. Rather, it has to do with the aircrafts’ “No Smoking” signs, which are required by a 1990 law to be operated by the flight crew.Former NASA Astronaut Leland Melvin on the “Overview Effect”That’s not the case on the A321neo, which has software that keeps the “No Smoking” sign turned on continuously during flights, like many…

A study conducted by the University of Toronto at Unity Health Toronto has shown significant life expectancy benefits for individuals who quit smoking, with effects visible within a few years.Quitting smoking significantly increases life expectancy, with a study revealing that individuals who quit before age 40 nearly reach the life span of non-smokers. The research underscores the importance of cessation efforts and support from healthcare professionals and government policies to enhance public health.People who quit…

People with bipolar disorder are four to six times more likely to die prematurely than those without the condition, according to a study that compared data on thousands of people with and without the disorder.What really puts the results in perspective is that bipolar disorder increased a person's risk of death far greater than a history of smoking, or even, to some extent, age.The research team analyzed data from a large, long-term study, called the Prechter Longitudinal Study of Bipolar Disorder, as well as data from…