Second Hand Smoke Exposure Associated With Pediatric Anesthesia-Related Airway Complications
Nymox TobacAlert™ Product Detects Second-Hand Smoke Exposure
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ (August 10, 2006) Nymox Pharmaceutical's (NASDAQ:NYMX) TobacAlert™product provides an easy-to-use, cost-effective means of on-site testing for second-hand
smoke exposure without the need for instruments, equipment or specialized training. A
prospective study from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston of 405 children undergoing
outpatient surgical procedures found that airway complications during anesthesia or
postanesthetic recovery were far more common in children subjected to second hand smoke
exposure. The study (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2006; 135: 12-6) found
intraoperative laryngospasm and airway obstruction were 490% and 280% the incidence for
exposed versus non-exposed children.
Second-hand smoke poses a serious and pervasive health risk to children and adults
according to a new comprehensive report from the U.S. Surgeon General, The Health
Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. The report highlights how
vulnerable children in particular are to second-hand smoke. Children exposed to secondhand
smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory
infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. The report also links second-hand smoke
to coronary heart disease and lung cancer in adults and notes that even a brief exposure
to second-hand smoke has immediate adverse effects on a person's cardiovascular system.
TobacAlert™ measures levels of cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine described in the
Surgeon General's Report as “the biomarker of choice for assessing secondhand smoke
exposure.” Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
recently reported positive results using Nymox TobacAlert™ technology combined with
complex laboratory testing (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) used in the CDC
laboratory (Journal of Analytical Toxicology November/December, 2005; 29:
814-818).
More information is available at www.tobacalert.com.
More information about Nymox is available at www.nymox.com, email: info@nymox.com, or 800-936-9669.
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” as
defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve
a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will
prove to be accurate and the actual results and future events could differ materially from
management's current expectations. Such factors are detailed from time to time in Nymox's
filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory
authorities.