French Oncologist: Alternative Smoking Reduces Mortalities but Still Harmful

An international expert in medical oncology said the concerned organizations should adopt a more realistic approach to banish smokers from cigarettes. AP
An international expert in medical oncology said the concerned organizations should adopt a more realistic approach to banish smokers from cigarettes. AP
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French Oncologist: Alternative Smoking Reduces Mortalities but Still Harmful

An international expert in medical oncology said the concerned organizations should adopt a more realistic approach to banish smokers from cigarettes. AP
An international expert in medical oncology said the concerned organizations should adopt a more realistic approach to banish smokers from cigarettes. AP

The World Health Organizations (WHO) estimates that there are around one billion smokers worldwide, a number that is not expected to decline in the foreseeable future and will likely remain steady until 2025.

An international expert in medical oncology said the concerned organizations should adopt a more realistic approach to banish smokers from cigarettes using an effective scientific methodology.

Dr. David Khayat, a renowned professor of oncology and medical oncologist in France, told Asharq Al-Awsat that “smoke-free alternatives could deliver a 10-fold reduction in smoking-attributable deaths; however, they are not harm free,” noting that “non-contagious diseases are the leading cause of death in the Middle East, accounting for 72 percent of mortalities.”

He also said “some common practices such as online shopping, regular dining in restaurants and humid weather encourage a lazy lifestyle.”

“The fundamental approach we adopted over the three past decades essentially relied on chemotherapy and hormone interventions. But the scientific research and innovation led us to advanced, more precise alternatives like the targeted therapy and immunotherapy,” he said. Khayat hailed “the discovery of another cancer-fighting treatment that targets the mutating proteins by killing the cells that contain them. These proteins are believed to be the reason behind the ability of endless division that some cancerous cells have.”

The French oncologist said “it’s important to know that cancer survives through mutations and single-cell DNA repair turnovers, which could be fought with targeted therapies,” adding that “other newly-discovered treatment methods, including stereotactic radiotherapy (or radiosurgery) help destroy tumors with high precision.”

The oncology professor said “in 2016, two researchers from Japan and the US discovered why cells sleep. Cancer is so malignant that it secretes somnifera - a sleeping pill - into the white blood cells, which causes them to go dormant. Then, scientists developed an innovative new approach: immunotherapy, a treatment method that contains antibiotic drugs to prevent lymphocytes from becoming inactive. This solution has changed the diagnosis of many cancers, including those found in the lungs, stomach and skin.”

“Nicotine, although addictive, is not the primary cause of smoking-related diseases such as cancer; smoking a cigarette means inhaling the smoke and the resulting burning ash, and this combustion process is the main reason behind many risks and toxins,” said Khayat.

Products that prevent combustion, such as electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and oral nicotine pouches, are “a less harmful alternative to conventional smoking.”

“While nicotine, the addictive substance, is still present in different levels in these alternatives, and thus does not make them completely risk-free, it is sufficient to shift smokers' interest away from inhaling cigarette smoke,” he concluded.



Japan Births in 2024 Fell Below 700,000 for First Time 

People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
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Japan Births in 2024 Fell Below 700,000 for First Time 

People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)

The number of births in Japan last year fell below 700,000 for the first time on record, government data showed Wednesday.

The fast-ageing nation welcomed 686,061 newborns in 2024 -- 41,227 fewer than in 2023, the data showed. It was the lowest figure since records began in 1899.

Japan has the world's second-oldest population after tiny Monaco, according to the World Bank.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called the situation a "quiet emergency", pledging family-friendly measures like more flexible working hours to try and reverse the trend.

Wednesday's health ministry data showed that Japan's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman is expected to have -- also fell to a record low of 1.15.

The ministry said Japan saw 1.6 million deaths in 2024, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier.

Ishiba has called for the revitalization of rural regions, where shrinking elderly villages are becoming increasingly isolated.

In more than 20,000 communities in Japan, the majority of residents are aged 65 and above, according to the internal affairs ministry.

The country of 123 million people is also facing increasingly severe worker shortages as its population ages, not helped by relatively strict immigration rules.

In neighboring South Korea, the fertility rate in 2024 was even lower than Japan's, at 0.75 -- remaining one of the world's lowest but marking a small rise from the previous year on the back of a rise in marriages.