BLACKS ABSORB MORE NICOTINE THAN OTHERS, STUDIES SAY

Findings suggest greater vulnerability to addiction

Chicago -- Black smokers absorb more nicotine per cigarette than people of
other races, suggesting they may be more vulnerable to nicotine addiction,
according to two new studies in today's Journal of the American Medical
Association.

The findings could explain why blacks have more trouble quitting smoking
than people of other races and why they develop more lung cancer, said the
authors of one study, led by Ralph S. Caraballo of the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.

The study measured blood levels of a chemical called cotinine, a byproduct
of the breakdown of nicotine in the body, in a nationally representative
sample of U.S. adult smokers from 1988 to 1991.

Cotinine was measured instead of nicotine because it stays in the body much
longer and scientists have developed a highly sensitive test for measuring it.

"Black smokers had cotinine concentrations substantially higher at all
levels of cigarette smoking than did white or Mexican-American smokers," the
researchers said, after taking into account differences that could skew the
results, such as age, sex, weight, number of other smokers in the home and
smoke exposure at work.

Previous research indicates that black smokers are more likely to try to
quit smoking but have a lower success rate than white smokers and are at
higher risk of developing and dying from lung cancer.

In a related study, a separate team of researchers compared rates of
metabolism -- the body's process of breaking down food to make energy or
tissue -- and nicotine intake among 40 black and 39 white smokers.

Cotinine blood levels per cigarette smoked were significantly higher in
black smokers than in white smokers, according to the researchers, led by
Eliseo J. Perez-Stable of the University of California-San Francisco. The
researchers noted there were several possible explanations for the higher
cotinine levels in blacks:

Blacks may smoke differently than whites, inhaling more deeply even though
they smoke fewer cigarettes a day.

Blacks are far more likely to smoke menthol-flavored cigarettes than whites,
which may cause them to inhale more deeply or may contribute to some
differences in how the body takes in and clears nicotine.

Blacks may have physical differences that cause them to metabolize the
products of cigarette smoke differently.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett