health 47

Results of the study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health are published online in the journal  Drug and Alcohol Dependence . Epidemiologists Hannah Carliner and Deborah S. Hasin used national survey data to reveal that recent trends run counter to past trends in both marijuana and alcohol use, and a narrowing gender gap over time. After years of relatively stable rates of use at around 13 percent of the adult male population and 7 percent of the adult female population, a new trend emerged in 2007, after which prevalence increased by about 4 percent among men and 3 percent among women. "These changes parallel national trends in decreased perceived harmfulness of marijuana use , and legalization of both recreational and medical use in over half of U.S. states," said Dr. Carliner. "However, changes in attitudes and legality do not sufficiently explain why we observe a sharp increase in use in 2007, or why this increase was greater ...

In the U.S., the number of individuals aged 70 years and older is expected to increase from 29.2 million (9.3% of the population) in 2012, to 63.6 million individuals ( 15.9%) in 2050. "U.S. adults aged 70 and older have a very high lifetime prevalence of cigarette smoking, so it's important to examine the risks associated with smoking and the benefits of quitting at older ages among these individuals," explained lead investigator Sarah H. Nash, PhD, who conducted the research as part of her postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD. Investigators reviewed data for more than 160,000 individuals aged 70 and over who participated in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. They completed a questionnaire in 2004-2005 detailing their smoking use, and reported deaths were tracked until the end of 2011. Analyses conducted between 2014 and 2016 correlated age at death with self-reported age at smoking initiation and cessation and amount smoked aft...