Three Leisure Stocks to Buy as People Increasingly Travel and Fly
Three leisure stocks to buy as people increasingly travel and fly feature a giant amusement park and entertainment giant that just lured back an esteemed…
Three leisure stocks to buy as people increasingly travel and fly feature a giant amusement park and entertainment giant that just lured back an esteemed former chief, an aquatic entertainment company and global mountain resort operator.
Increased energy costs and a shift toward leisure spending have become trends that should continue in the months ahead, according to BofA Global Research. Pent-up interest in leisure as the economy grows and employment remains high could propel each of these companies that endured the fallout of a global pandemic from the 2020 until now.
However, aggregated BC credit and debit card data, total card spending slowed in Septemberacross goods categories, and spending on leisure services was flat, which may signal the reopening tailwinds on discretionary services are fading, according to BofA. The BofA US Economics team expects a recession, accompanied by a labor market slowdown and further weakness in consumer spending during first-quarter 2023.
Return of Bob Iger to Lead Disney Lifts One of Three Leisure Stocks to Buy
Walt Disney Co., (NYSE: DIS), a Burbank, California-based media and entertainment company, enticed Robert A. Iger, its former chief executive officer, to return to that role effective Sunday night, Nov. 20. Iger, who spent more than four decades at the company, including 15 years at the helm, agreed to serve as Disney’s CEO for two additional years, accepting a mandate from the board of directors to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to develop a successor to lead the company at the completion of his term.
Iger replaces Bob Chapek, his hand-picked successor, who stepped down from his position in a surprise move. BofA wrote a research report that rated Disney a buy and gave the company a $115 price objective that offers roughly 25% upside from current levels. Iger is expected to fully re-evaluate several of the recent strategic initiatives and corporate restructurings.
The company’s share price had been trending down for the past year but perked up after news spread about Iger’s return.
Successor Struggled Amid COVID Crisis and Political Fallout Due to Controversial Content
Chapek, who took over the helm at Disney in February 2020, incurred concurrent crises shortly after he began that included the COVID-19 pandemic, significant management turnover and several public relations missteps, such as contract disputes with talent and a public battle with the governor of Florida about the company’s content. The leadership change comes on the heels of “disappointing” results in the company’s latest quarter, BofA wrote.
“To Chapek’s credit, he oversaw several transformational changes in Theme Parks, which drove a healthy recovery in revenue and operating profit exiting the pandemic,” BofA reported. “Chapek also took over as CEO during a very challenging time for the industry as it managed the transition toward streaming.”
Despite Iger’s track record and experience at the company and industry, he is expected to fully re-evaluate several recent strategic initiatives and corporate restructurings since his departure. As a result, investors should expect some near-term uncertainty about the company’s direction.
Iger Could Rejuvenate Disney as One of Three Leisure Stocks to Buy
Iger’s first priority likely will be to articulate his strategic priorities for Disney, BofA wrote. Several of Chapek’s recent initiatives and restructurings will be reviewed. They include a move to restructure the company’s Media and Entertainment Distribution segment to centralize budgetary power for content and distribution, as well as raise prices in Theme Parks and DIS+.
“Iger has made public comments recently on the secular challenges in the linear TV ecosystem, which, coupled with accelerating linear subscriber declines, could signal a potential openness to reevaluate strategic alternatives,” BofA wrote. “We also would not be surprised if this announcement prompts another wave of management turnover.”
Near-term catalysts for Disney could include any update on the strategic direction of the company, continued robust theme park demand with several levers for future growth, price increases for Disney+ and Hulu, the roll-out Disney+’s ad-supported tier on Dec. 8 and possible sports betting at ESPN, BofA forecast.
SeaWorld Jumps Among Three Leisure Stocks to Buy
Mark Skousen, who leads the Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter and advisory services that include Home Run Trader, recommends SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE: SEAS), of Orlando, Florida. The theme park and entertainment company is a “big beneficiary” of the new post-pandemic economy, he added.
SeaWorld’s revenue hit $1.7 billion over the last 12 months, while its third-quarter earnings jumped 32% on an 8.4% increase in sales. Plus, shares of SeaWorld have soared nearly 300% over the past five years, despite the pandemic, Skousen said.
With the lockdowns over and consumers choosing to spend more on experiential services, the outlook for SeaWorld is exceptional, Skousen recently wrote to his Home Run Trader subscribers.
Insider Buying Boosts the Second of Three Leisure Stocks to Buy
SeaWorld’s Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Michelle Adams recently purchased 39,000 shares at $51.03, an investment of nearly $2 million. She now owns more than 75,000 shares.
In addition, Chief Commercial Officer Christopher Finazzo purchased 8,950 shares a couple weeks later. He owns over 72,000 shares.
These are “two savvy insiders,” Skousen wrote to his subscribers. He advised that they own the stock, too.
Another reason Skousen said he likes SeaWorld is that his daughter Hayley, a professional figure skater, is performing in a principal role in SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration in Orlando, Florida. She provided the following link that shows her doing a backflip. Her husband, Pablo, also works there as a musician.
The company’s recognized brands include SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Sea Rescue. The latter unit saves and rehabilitates marine animals that are ill, injured or abandoned, with the goal of returning them to the wild.
During SeaWorld’s 50-year history, it has built 12 destination and regional theme parks in key markets across the United States, hosting an average of more than 20 million visitors a year.
SeaWorld Shines as One of Three Leisure Stocks to Buy
Guests to SeaWorld attractions receive a variety of up-close experiences with wildlife, as well as thrill rides and shows. Unlike the controversy Disney has encountered, SeaWorld has produced Parent’s Choice and Emmy-Award-winning shows like Sea Rescue and The Wildlife Docs that celebrate the natural world.
“The pandemic was a big negative for entertainment parks, of course, as they were forced to shut down,” Skousen wrote to his subscribers. “But most of them are coming back in a big way. And SeaWorld is no exception.”
Revenue hit $1.67 billion over the last 12 months and sales are up 15% year-over-year, Skousen noted. With the pandemic receding, the outlook remains positive, he added.
Skousen not only recommended the stock, but call options, too. His Home Run Trader service offers both ways to profit.
Vail Resorts Joins Three Leisure Stocks to Buy
Another BofA recommendation that also is favored by the Baron Funds is Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN), of Broomfield, Colorado. Vail’s focus includes using data to drive a unique, advanced customer commitment for a recurring business model. MTN is also well positioned to benefit from high-end, pent-up leisure demand in the coming ski season.
One shareholder of Vail Resorts is the Baron Growth Fund (BGRFX). BofA rates Vail Resorts as a buy, as does Michelle Connell, the chief executive officer of Portia Capital Management, of Dallas, Texas.
Connell’s key reasons for investing in MTN include:
Strong growing revenues in a softening economy. Despite MTN increasing ticket prices 7.5%, the company’s revenue from ski passes was already up 7% year through the end of September 2022.
$320 Million Invested for Improved Consumer Experience. Just in time for the 2022-23 ski season, MTN has invested $320 million to install 19 new chair lifts across 14 of its resorts.
Investment in Data Infrastructure. MTN has also invested heavily so that the online experience of its consumers is smoother and faster.
MTN should appeal to the environmentally conscious young investor who also skis. The company is ahead of schedule to meet its target of 2030 to have a zero net (carbon) operating footprint.
Vail Resorts has a long history in the ski industry, starting with the opening of Vail Mountain in 1962. It now has 37 resorts in 15 states and three countries, including some of the world’s most iconic destinations, as well as travel-centric retail and hospitality businesses.
The company’s subsidiaries operate destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas such as Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada; Perisher, Falls Creek and Hotham in Australia; Stowe, Mount Snow, Okemo in Vermont; Hunter Mountain in New York; Mount Sunapee, Attitash, Wildcat and Crotched in New Hampshire; Stevens Pass in Washington; and Liberty, Roundtop, Whitetail, Jack Frost and Big Boulder in Pennsylvania. Vail Resorts owns and operates a variety of world-class luxury resorts for spa vacations or adventurous mountain lodges for relaxing after a day on the slopes.
Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine Could Lift Leisure Activities Due to Enhanced Protection Against New Variant
The new bivalent COVID-19 booster provides superior protection against the omicron BA.5 variant, now the predominant strain of the virus. I received the new booster on Oct. 16 after it became available at pharmacies near my house.
However, 200-plus million Americans who are eligible have yet to accept the syringe of that new booster. New cases and deaths can hurt demand for leisure activities, so a bivalent booster could enhance both public health and the economy.
Cases in the country totaled 98,386,225 and deaths reached 1,077,020, as of Nov. 22. America has the dreaded distinction of amassing the most COVID-19 cases and deaths of any nation. Worldwide COVID-19 deaths totaled 6,623,547, as of Nov. 22, according to Johns Hopkins University. Global COVID-19 cases reached 638,978,541.
Roughly 80.6% of the U.S. population, or 267,476,279, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Nov. 16, the CDC reported. People who obtained the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 228,154,832 of the U.S. population, or 68.7%, according to the CDC. The United States also has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 33,831,057 people who are age 18 and up, accounting for 13.1% of the U.S. population in that age range.
Despite Russia’s leaders calling their country’s attacks against Ukraine that began on Feb. 24 a “special military operation,” firing into Ukraine also killed two Polish civilians to further inflame an already volatile situation. Investors seeking ways to avoid losing money in the markets amid such uncertainty and escalation of violence should consider the
Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine Gives Improved Protection Against New Variant
A new bivalent COVID-19 booster in the United States offers superior protection against the omicron BA.5 variant, now the predominant strain of the virus. I received the new booster on Oct. 16 after it became available at pharmacies not far from my house.
However, 200-plus million Americans who are eligible have yet to seize the opportunity. New cases and deaths can hurt demand for natural gas, so a bivalent booster that becomes widely used could aid both public health and the economy.
Cases in the country totaled 98,301,472 and deaths reached 1,077,020, as of Nov. 18. America has the dreaded distinction of amassing the most COVID-19 cases and deaths of any nation. Worldwide COVID-19 deaths totaled 6,619,779, as of Nov. 18, according to Johns Hopkins University. Global COVID-19 cases reached 637,577,338.
Roughly 80.6% of the U.S. population, or 267,476,279, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Nov. 16, the CDC reported. People who obtained the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 228,154,832 of the U.S. population, or 68.7%, according to the CDC. The United States also has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 33,831,057 people who are age 18 and up, accounting for 13.1% of the U.S. population in that age range.
Despite Russia’s leaders calling their country’s attacks against Ukraine that began on Feb. 24 a “special military operation,” firing into Ukraine also killed two Polish civilians to further inflame an already volatile situation. Investors seeking ways to avoid losing money in the markets amid such uncertainty and escalation of violence should consider the
Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine Gives Improved Protection Against New Variant
A new bivalent COVID-19 booster in the United States offers superior protection against the omicron BA.5 variant, now the predominant strain of the virus. I received the new booster on Oct. 16 after it became available at pharmacies not far from my house.
However, 200-plus million Americans who are eligible have yet to seize the opportunity. New cases and deaths can hurt demand for natural gas, so a bivalent booster that becomes widely used could aid both public health and the economy.
Cases in the United States totaled 98,386,225 and deaths reached 1,077,777, as of Nov. 12. America has the dreaded distinction of amassing the most COVID-19 cases and deaths of any nation. Worldwide COVID-19 deaths totaled 6,623,547, as of Nov. 22, according to Johns Hopkins University. Global COVID-19 cases reached 638,978,541.
Roughly 80.6% of the U.S. population, or 267,476,279, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Nov. 16, the CDC reported. Those who obtained the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 228,154,832 of the U.S. population, or 68.7%, according to the CDC. The United States also has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 33,831,057 people who are age 18 and up, accounting for 13.1% of the U.S. population in that age range.
Despite Russia’s continued attacks against Ukraine that began on Feb. 24 as a so-called “special military operation,” people elsewhere still are able to enjoy leisure activities. Investors interested in a potentially good run may want to consider the three leisure stocks to buy as people increasingly travel and fly.
Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Special Holiday Offer: Paul is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The book is great holiday gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.
An enduring mystery for three years is how Donald Trump came to be the president who shut down American society for what turned out to be a manageable respiratory virus, setting off an unspeakable crisis with waves of destructive fallout that continue to this day.
Let’s review the timeline and offer some well-founded speculations about what happened.
On March 9, 2020, Trump was still of the opinion that the virus could be handled by normal means.
So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!
What changed? Deborah Birx reports in her book that Trump had a friend die in a New York hospital and this is what shifted his opinion. Jared Kushner reports that he simply listened to reason. Mike Pence says he was persuaded that his staff would respect him more. No question (and based on all existing reports) that he found himself surrounded by “trusted advisors” amounting to about 5 or so people (including Mike Pence and Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb)
It was only a week later when Trump issued the edict to close all “indoor and outdoor venues where people congregate,” initiating the biggest regime change in US history that flew in the face of all rights and liberties Americans had previously taken for granted. It was the ultimate in political triangulation: as John F. Kennedy cut taxes, Nixon opened China, and Clinton reformed welfare, Trump shut down the economy he promised to revive. This action confounded critics on all sides.
A month later, Trump said his decision to have “turned off” the economy saved millions of lives, later even claiming to have saved billions. He has yet to admit error.
....My Administration and I built the greatest economy in history, of any country, turned it off, saved millions of lives, and now am building an even greater economy than it was before. Jobs are flowing, NASDAQ is already at a record high, the rest to follow. Sit back & watch!
Even as late as June 23rd of that year, Trump was demanding credit for having followed all of Fauci’s recommendations. Why do they love him and hate me, he wanted to know.
We did a great job on CoronaVirus, including the very early ban on China, Ventilator production, and Testing, which is by far the most, and best, in the World. We saved millions of U.S. lives.! Yet the Fake News refuses to acknowledge this in a positive way. But they do give....
Something about this story has never really added up. How could one person have been so persuaded by a handful of others such as Fauci, Birx, Pence, and Kushner and his friends? He surely had other sources of information – some other scenario or intelligence – that fed into his disastrous decision.
In one version of events, his advisors simply pointed to the supposed success of Xi Jinping in enacting lockdowns in Wuhan, which the World Health Organization claimed had stopped infections and brought the virus under control. Perhaps his advisors flattered Trump with the observation that he is at least as great as the president of China so he should be bold and enact the same policies here.
One problem with this scenario is timing. The Oval Office meetings that preceded his March 16, 2020, edict took place the weekend of the 14th and 15th, Friday and Saturday. It was already clear by the 11th that Trump was ready for lockdowns. This was the same day as Fauci’s deliberately misleading testimony to the House Oversight Committee in which he rattled the room with predictions of Hollywood-style carnage.
On the 12th, Trump shut all travel from Europe, the UK, and Australia, causing huge human pile-ups at international airports. On the 13th, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a classified document that transferred control of pandemic policy from the CDC to the National Security Council and eventually the Department of Homeland Security. By the time that Trump met with Fauci and Birx in that legendary weekend, the country was already under quasi-martial law.
Isolating the date in the trajectory here, it is apparent that whatever happened to change Trump occurred on March 10, 2020, the day after his Tweet saying there should be no shutdowns and one day before Fauci’s testimony.
That something very likely revolves around the most substantial discovery we’ve made in three years of investigations. It was Debbie Lerman who first cracked the code: Covid policy was forged not by the public-health bureaucracies but by the national-security sector of the administrative state. She has further explained that this occurred because of two critical features of the response: 1) the belief that this virus came from a lab leak, and 2) the vaccine was the biosecurity countermeasure pushed by the same people as the fix.
Knowing this, we gain greater insight into 1) why Trump changed his mind, 2) why he has never explained this momentous decision and otherwise completely avoids the topic, and 3) why it has been so unbearably difficult to find out any information about these mysterious few days other than the pablum served up in books designed to earn royalties for authors like Birx, Pence, and Kushner.
Based on a number of second-hand reports, all available clues we have assembled, and the context of the times, the following scenario seems most likely. On March 10, and in response to Trump’s dismissive tweet the day before, some trusted sources within and around the National Security Council (Matthew Pottinger and Michael Callahan, for example), and probably involving some from military command and others, came to Trump to let him know a highly classified secret.
Imagine a scene from Get Smart with the Cone of Silence, for example. These are the events in the life of statecraft that infuse powerful people with a sense of their personal awesomeness. The fate of all of society rests on their shoulders and the decisions they make at this point. Of course they are sworn to intense secrecy following the great reveal.
The revelation was that the virus was not a textbook virus but something far more threatening and terrible. It came from a research lab in Wuhan. It might in fact be a bioweapon. This is why Xi had to do extreme things to protect his people. The US should do the same, they said, and there is a fix available too and it is being carefully guarded by the military.
It seems that the virus had already been mapped in order to make a vaccine to protect the population. Thanks to 20 years of research on mRNA platforms, they told him, this vaccine can be rolled out in months, not years. That means that Trump can lock down and distribute vaccines to save everyone from the China virus, all in time for the election. Doing this would not only assure his reelection but guarantee that he would go down in history as one of the greatest US presidents of all time.
This meeting might only have lasted an hour or two – and might have included a parade of people with the highest-level security clearances – but it was enough to convince Trump. After all, he had battled China for two previous years, imposing tariffs and making all sorts of threats. It was easy to believe at that point that China might have initiated biological warfare as retaliation. That’s why he made the decision to use all the power of the presidency to push a lockdown under emergency rule.
To be sure, the Constitution does not allow him to override the discretion of the states but with the weight of the office complete with enough funding and persuasion, he could make it happen. And thus did he make the fateful decision that not only wrecked his presidency but the country too, imposing harms that will last a generation.
It only took a few weeks for Trump to become suspicious about what happened. For weeks and months, he toggled between believing that he was tricked and believing that he did the right thing. He had already approved another 30 days of lockdowns and even inveighed against Georgia and later Florida for opening. He went so far as to claim that no state could open without his approval.
For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect....
There is another fascinating feature to this entirely plausible scenario. Even as Trump’s advisors were telling him that this could be a bioweapon leaked from the lab in China, we had Anthony Fauci and his cronies going to great lengths to deny it was a lab leak (even if they believed that it was). This created an interesting situation. The NIH and those surrounding Fauci were publicly insisting that the virus was of zoonotic origin, even as Trump’s circle was telling the president that it should be regarded as a bioweapon.
Fauci belonged to both camps, which suggests that Trump very likely knew of Fauci’s deception all along: the “noble lie” to protect the public from knowing the truth. Trump had to be fine with that.
Gradually following the lockdown edicts and the takeover by the Department of Homeland Security, in cooperation with a very hostile CDC, Trump lost power and influence over his own government, which is why his later Tweets urging a reopening fell on deaf ears. To top it off, the vaccine failed to arrive in time for the election. This is because Fauci himself delayed the rollout until after the election, claiming that the trials were not racially diverse enough. Thus Trump’s gambit completely failed, despite all the promises of those around him that it was a guaranteed way to win reelection.
To be sure, this scenario cannot be proven because the entire event – certainly the most dramatic political move in at least a generation and one with unspeakable costs for the country – remains cloaked in secrecy. Not even Senator Rand Paul can get the information he needs because it remains classified. If anyone thinks the Biden approval of releasing documents will show what we need, that person is naive. Still, the above scenario fits all available facts and it is confirmed by second-hand reports from inside the White House.
It’s enough for a great movie or a play of Shakespearean levels of tragedy. And to this day, none of the main players are speaking openly about it.
Jeffrey A. Tucker is Founder and President of the Brownstone Institute. He is also Senior Economics Columnist for Epoch Times, author of 10 books, including Liberty or Lockdown, and thousands of articles in the scholarly and popular press. He speaks widely on topics of economics, technology, social philosophy, and culture.
Why children are less likely to become severely ill with COVID compared with adults is not clear. Some have suggested that it might be because children are less likely to have diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, that are known to be linked to more severe COVID. Others have suggested that it could be because of a difference in ACE2 receptors in children – ACE2 receptors being the route through which the virus enters our cells.
Some scientists have also suggested that children may have a higher level of existing immunity to COVID compared with adults. In particular, this immunity is thought to come from memory T cells (immune cells that help your body remember invading germs and destroy them) generated by common colds – some of which are caused by coronaviruses.
We put this theory to the test in a recent study. We found that T cells previously activated by a coronavirus that causes the common cold recognise SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) in children. And these responses declined with age.
Early in the pandemic, scientists observed the presence of memory T cells able to recognise SARS-CoV-2 in people who had never been exposed to the virus. Such cells are often called cross-reactive T cells, as they stem from past infections due to pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2. Research has suggested these cells may provide some protection against COVID, and even enhance responses to COVID vaccines.
What we did
We used blood samples from children, sampled at age two and then again at age six, before the pandemic. We also included adults, none of whom had previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2.
In these blood samples, we looked for T cells specific to one of the coronaviruses that causes the common cold (called OC43) and for T cells that reacted against SARS-CoV-2.
We used an advanced technique called high-dimensional flow cytometry, which enabled us to identify T cells and characterise their state in significant detail. In particular, we looked at T cells’ reactivity against OC43 and SARS-CoV-2.
We found SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive T cells were closely linked to the frequency of OC43-specific memory T cells, which was higher in children than in adults. The cross-reactive T cell response was evident in two-year-olds, strongest at age six, and then subsequently became weaker with advancing age.
We don’t know for sure if the presence of these T cells translates to protection against COVID, or how much. But this existing immunity, which appears to be especially potent in early life, could go some way to explaining why children tend to fare better than adults with a COVID infection.
Our study is based on samples from adults (26-83 years old) and children at age two and six. We didn’t analyse samples from children of other ages, which will be important to further understand age differences, especially considering that the mortality rate from COVID in children is lowest from ages five to nine, and higher in younger children. We also didn’t have samples from teenagers or adults younger than 26.
In addition, our study investigated T cells circulating in the blood. But immune cells are also found in other parts of the body. It remains to be determined whether the age differences we observed in our study would be similar in samples from the lower respiratory tract or tonsil tissue, for example, in which T cells reactive against SARS-CoV-2 have also been detected in adults who haven’t been exposed to the virus.
Nonetheless, this study provides new insights into T cells in the context of COVID in children and adults. Advancing our understanding of memory T cell development and maturation could help guide future vaccines and therapies.
Marion Humbert received funding from KI Foundation for Virus Research (Karolinsk Institutet, Sweden) and Läkare mot AIDS (Sweden).
Annika Karlsson receives funding from the Swedish Research Council (Dnr 2020-02033), CIMED project grant, senior (Dnr: 20190495), and Karolinska Institutet (Dnr: 2019-00931 and 2020-01599).
HAMILTON, ON – Mar 24, 2024– Tobacco users in Canada are exposed to higher levels of cyanide than smokers in lower-income nations, according to a large-scale population health study from McMaster University.
Credit: McMaster University
HAMILTON, ON – Mar 24, 2024– Tobacco users in Canada are exposed to higher levels of cyanide than smokers in lower-income nations, according to a large-scale population health study from McMaster University.
Scientists made the discovery while investigating the molecule thiocyanate – a detoxified metabolite excreted by the body after cyanide inhalation. It was measured as a urinary biomarker of tobacco use in a study of self-reported smokers and non-smokers from 14 countries of varying socioeconomic status.
“We expected the urinary thiocyanate levels would be similar across regions and reflect primarily smoking intensity. However, we noticed significant elevation of thiocyanate in smokers from high-income countries even after adjusting for differences in the number of cigarettes smoked per day,” says Philip Britz-McKibbin, co-author of the study and a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at McMaster.
Tobacco-related illness remains the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in Canada, contributing to approximately 48,000 deaths annually. According to researchers, the findings could be caused by the type of cigarettes smoked in high-income countries like Canada.
“The cigarettes commonly consumed in Canada are highly engineered products with lower tar and nicotine content to imply they’re less harmful. Heavy smokers with nicotine dependence compensate by smoking more aggressively with more frequent and deeper inhalations that may elicit more harm, such as greater exposure to the respiratory and cardiotoxin, cyanide.”
Smoking rates in Canada have declined from 26 per cent in 2001 to 13 per cent in 2020. But participation in smoking cessation programs has declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to concern about a potential uptick in smoking rates, including cannabis use and a plethora of vaping of products popular among young adults.
Researchers say urinary thiocyanate can serve as a robust biomarker of the harms of tobacco smoke that will aid future research on the global tobacco picture, since most smokers now reside in developing countries. As smoking rates have decreased here in Canada, at-risk groups like youth and pregnant women have been prone to underreport their tobacco use when surveyed, making a reliable biomarker more valuable.
“Historically assessing tobacco behaviors have relied on questionnaires that are prone to bias, especially when comparing different countries and local cultures. The idea is to find robust methods that can quantify recent tobacco smoke exposure more reliably and objectively, which may better predict disease risk and prioritize interventions for smoking cessation.” says Britz-Mckibbin.
The study was published in the latest issue of Nicotine and Tobacco Research and received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Genome Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation,Hamilton Health Sciences New Investigator Fund, and an internal grant from the Population Health Research Institute.
-30-
For more information please contact:
Matt Innes-Leroux
Media Relations
McMaster University
647-921-5461 (c)
leroum2@mcmaster.ca
Photos of Philip Britz-McKibbin can be found here
Credit: McMaster University
Journal
Nicotine & Tobacco Research
DOI
10.1093/ntr/ntad027
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Validation of Urinary Thiocyanate as a Robust Biomarker of Active Tobacco Smoking in the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Study
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