It’s not every day one contributes to a surgeon general’s report. But that’s exactly what UW-CTRI Director of Research Tim Baker did in recent months. The fruits of his labor were published in chapter four of How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease, released Dec. 9, 2010 by U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin. How does one come to contribute to such an important document for public health?

Here’s how it went down. Dorothy Hatsukami, a lead researcher at the University of Minnesota, was named editor of the fourth chapter. Hatsukami has partnered with UW-CTRI on research in the past.

“She asked different people to write different parts of the chapter, and asked me to take responsibility for part of it,” Baker said. “The authors pretty much worked on their sections independently, but then ultimately saw what the other authors had prepared so that we could ensure that there was compatibility across the sections. After we were satisfied with our sections, Dorothy went over them and made edits and gave feedback and suggestions.

“We responded to those revisions and then the various sections went out for outside review. The reviewers made suggestions/comments on everything from style to content. One of my reviewers pointed me to literature that was relevant, but that I had not used.”

Baker said he couldn’t have done it alone. “The person who was most helpful in this whole process was UW-CTRI Researcher Wendy Theobald, who assisted tremendously in different aspects of the writing and the use and citation of the literature.” In the chapter, Nicotine Addiction Past and Present, Baker and other authors conclude that evidence suggests there may be psychosocial, biologic and genetic determinants associated with different trajectories observed among population subgroups as they move from experimentation to heavy smoking. Inherited genetic variation contributes to the differing patterns of smoking behavior and cessation. Nicotine, of course, is the key chemical compound that causes and sustains the powerful addicting effects of commercial tobacco products in the brain.

Other parts of the Surgeon General’s report stated that there are actually 7,000 harmful chemicals in cigarettes—nearly double the previous number calculated by scientists. What’s more, even low levels of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke lead to a rapid and sharp increase in endothelial dysfunction and inflammation, which are implicated in acute cardiovascular events and thrombosis. To read the complete report, watch a TV ad about how smoking causes damage, view a fact sheet, watch the archived media event, and download booklets for consumers or clinicians,
click here.