Snus linked to asthma and sleep problems

(Reuters Health) - Snus, a moist, smokeless tobacco product, may contribute to breathing and sleep problems, Swedish researchers report.
Based on questionnaires answered by more than 16,000 never-smokers in Sweden, researchers found that snus users were over 50 percent more likely than non-users to have asthma. In addition, snus users were 37 to 59 percent more likely to snore and have trouble falling asleep, the study found.
Snus, which was developed in Sweden, usually comes in a small pouch and users tuck a pinch of it between the gums and upper lip.....

Read more here: whtc.com

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Racism aggravates treatment-resistant asthma

Racial discrimination experienced by African-American children and young adults exacerbates a type of asthma known to be resistant to standard treatment, according to a study headed by researchers at UC San Francisco.
The 576 study participants, who were African-Americans with asthma, aged between 8 and 21, were asked if they had been hassled, made to feel inferior or prevented from doing something "because of your race, ethnicity, color or language," in situations including at school, getting medical care and getting services in a store or restaurant. Close to half (281) reported experiences of racial discrimination in any setting at some point in their lives.....

Read more here: medicalxpress.com

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Researchers granted $5 million to study link between paracetamol and childhood asthma

A new decade-long, multimillion dollar trial aims to find out if paracetamol use in babies causes childhood asthma.
Auckland paediatric emergency medicine specialist Dr Stuart Dalziel has received a $4.99 million grant from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) to carry out the first trial of its kind in the world.
Dalziel will lead the trial alongside a team from Auckland and Counties Manukau district health boards, the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand and the universities of Auckland, Otago and Calgary, in Canada.....

Read more here: stuff.co.nz