Smoking / Quit Smoking News From Medical News Today

How To Give Up Smoking

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:00:00 PST

"It's easy to quit smoking; I've done it hundreds of times." -- Mark Twain There are many different ways to quit smoking. Some experts advocate using pharmacological products to help wean you off nicotine, others say all you need is a good counselor and support group, or an organized program...

Smoking Speeds Up Male Cognitive Decline

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST

A male regular smoker has a higher risk of rapid cognitive decline, compared to his counterparts who do not smoke, researchers from University College London, England, reported in Archives of General Psychiatry...

Teen Secondhand Smoke Exposure Down, But Not Enough

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PST

Secondhand Smoke (SHS) exposure among middle and high school students in the USA has dropped over the last ten years, researchers from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reported in the March edition of Pediatrics...

Within Weeks Of Smoking Cessation, Coughing And Other Respiratory Symptoms Improve

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PST

If the proven long-term benefits of smoking cessation are not enough to motivate young adults to stop smoking, a new study shows that 18- to 24-year olds who stop smoking for at least two weeks report substantially fewer respiratory symptoms, especially coughing...

Barrett's Patients Who Smoke Are Twice As Likely To Develop Esophageal Cancer

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PST

Barrett's esophagus (BE) patients who smoke tobacco are at a two-fold increased risk of developing esophageal cancer, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. BE patients who smoke also double their risk for developing advanced precancerous cells...

Erlotinib Dose-Adjusted For Smoking Status Effective As First Treatment For Head And Neck Cancer

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:00:00 PST

Head and neck cancers respond well to the anti-cancer drug erlotinib when it is administered before surgery and a stronger dose is given to patients who smoke, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, sponsored by AHNS, ASCO, ASTRO and SNM...

Rise In Heart Disease Prevalence In The Gulf States Linked To Rapid Urbanisation As Well As Cultural Habits

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

While the rapid improvement in socio-economic conditions is thought responsible for the high rates of cardiovascular disease in the Gulf states, deep-rooted cultural factors also play a part. "We're sitting on a time bomb," says Professor Hani Najm, Vice-President of the Saudi Heart Association, whose annual conference begins Friday 27 January...

Smoking Cessation In Ethnic Minorities

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PST

Telephone counseling services (also known as quitlines) are an effective intervention for Chinese-, Korean-, and Vietnamese-speaking smokers living in the U.S., and should be incorporated into current smoking cessation services, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Quitlines have played an essential role in helping people quit smoking in the U.S...

What Is Nicotine?

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Nicotine is a nitrogen-containing chemical - an alkaloid, which is made by several types of plants, including the tobacco plant. Nicotine is also produced synthetically. Nicotiana tabacum, the type of nicotine found in tobacco plants, comes from the nightshade family. Red peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes are examples of the nightshade family...

The Biggest Killers Of Japanese Adults Are Tobacco Smoking And High Blood Pressure

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PST

The life expectancy of a person born in Japan is among the highest in the world (82...

Blood Levels Of Lead May Increase Smokers' Risk For Kidney Cancer

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Higher than normal levels of lead in the blood may signal a risk two times higher than average of developing renal cell carcinoma in smokers, according to medical researchers. "Past studies (in cadavers) have shown that, compared with kidneys from individuals without cancer, kidneys from individuals with cancer have higher lead levels," said Emily B...

Smokers Continue Habit After Being Diagnosed With Cancer

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:00:00 PST

According to a study published January 23 online in Cancer, many smokers do not drop the habit after being diagnosed with colorectal or lung cancer. The study by Elyse R. Ph.D., M.P.H.and her team at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston involved 3,063 patients with colorectal cancer and 2,456 with lung cancer. The patients were seen at the time of diagnosis, and also five months later...

After A Cancer Diagnosis, Many People Continue To Smoke

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:00:00 PST

A new analysis has found that a substantial number of lung and colorectal cancer patients continue to smoke after being diagnosed. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study provides valuable information on which cancer patients might need help to quit smoking...

When Kicking The Habit, The Poorest Smokers Face The Toughest Odds

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Quitting smoking is never easy. However, when you're poor and uneducated, kicking the habit for good is doubly hard, according to a new study by a tobacco dependence researcher at The City College of New York (CCNY)...

From Cigarette To Emphysema: Mapping The Destructive Path

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

From the cherry red tip of a lighted cigarette through the respiratory tract to vital lung cells, the havoc created by tobacco smoke seems almost criminal, activating genes and portions of the immune system to create inflammation that results in life-shortening emphysema, said researchers led by those at Baylor College of Medicine and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center...

Identifying Patients With Increased Risk From Throat Cancer

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Independent of other factors, such as smoking history and HPV status, matted lymph nodes appear to signal increased chance of oropharyngeal cancer spreading to other parts of the body Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found a new indicator that may predict which patients with a common type of throat cancer are most likely have the cancer spread to ...

Comparing Alcohol Use And Other Disorders Between The United States And South Korea

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Hazardous alcohol use and depression are among the 10 leading causes of disability and premature death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Many low- to middle-income countries have begun to see a steady increase in alcohol use and have entered the early stages of a tobacco epidemic...

University Of California Announces Blanket Smoking Ban

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:00:00 PST

University of California, which includes campuses in Berkely, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, has announced its intention to implement a total blanket ban on any kind of smoking or tobacco related product anywhere on its grounds, including all outdoor spaces...

Potential New Treatment For Smoking-Related Diseases

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

The discovery, by researchers at the University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia, and the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, US, could dramatically improve treatments and slow the progression of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) which includes the incurable condition emphysema...

Physiological Reactions To Associated Images In Smokers Sees Them 'Salivate' To Cigarettes

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

It is commonly known that, much like Pavlov's dogs salivating in response to hearing the bell they associate with dinner time, smokers feel cravings and have physiological reactions to pictures they associate with smoking. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Neuroscience has shown that a smoker's cravings can also be trained to non-smoking related stimuli...

Tapping The Body's Own Defenses, Researchers Look To Cutting-Edge Gene Therapy For Bladder Cancer

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Bladder cancer, most frequently caused by smoking and exposure to carcinogens in the workplace, is one of the top 10 most common forms of cancer in men and women in the U.S. More than 70 percent of bladder cancers are diagnosed in stage T1 or less and have not invaded the muscle layer...

Identification Of Precancer Markers In Airway Epithelium Cells Of Healthy Smokers

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PST

Smoking may be associated with the development of molecular features of cancer in the large airway epithelium. In the small airway epithelium, molecular cancerization is associated with development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to recent data...

The Effectiveness Of Nicotine Replacement Therapies In Doubt

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) designed to help people stop smoking, specifically nicotine patches and nicotine gum, do not appear to be effective in helping smokers quit long-term, even when combined with smoking cessation counseling, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Massachusetts Boston...

Smoking Marijuana Not Bad For The Lungs

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:00:00 PST

Journal of the American Medical Association put a dent in the arguments against Marijuana smoking today, with release of a new report showing casual pot smokers might even have stronger lungs than non smokers. Researchers say that there is good evidence that occasional marijuana use can cause an increase in lung airflow rates and lung volume...

Statins Linked To Lung Disease Progression In Smokers

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:00:00 PST

Statin use appears to be associated with susceptibility or the progression of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in current and former smokers, according to a study published online in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine...

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