THURSDAY, Nov. 12 (HealthDay News) — After decades of progress, the number of Americans who smoke hasn’t budged over the last five years and actually rose slightly from 2007 to 2008, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over the longer term, smoking rates have declined. From 1998 to 2008, the percentage of smokers in the United States dropped from 24.1 to 20.6 percent. Read More
TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) — Experts have long known that “low-tar” and “light” cigarettes aren’t any healthier than regular cigarettes, and new research suggests they have another drawback: People who switch to them are less likely to quit, even those who switch specifically because they want to stop smoking.
In fact, “switching to ['light' cigarettes] for any reason is associated with continuing to smoke,” said study author Dr. Hilary Tindle, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh’s Division of General Internal Medicine. Read More
MONDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) — The first head-to-head comparison of different quit-smoking products finds that a nicotine patch combined with a nicotine lozenge had the most success.
More than other methods, including antidepressants, this combination best mimics the actual highs and lows of smoking to help smokers kick their habit, experts said.
“The study shows that, yes, one therapy came out on top, the patch and the lozenge [together],” said Dr. Jonathan H. Whiteson, co-director of the Joan and Joel Smilow Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. Read More
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) — Smoking just one cigarette stiffens the arteries of young adults by 25 percent, says a new study.
The stiffer a person’s arteries, the greater their risk for heart disease or stroke, noted researcher Dr. Stella Daskalopoulou, an internal medicine and vascular medicine specialist at McGill University Health Center in Montreal. Read More
SUNDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) — Women may be more vulnerable than men to the carcinogens and other noxious substances in cigarette smoke, a growing body of research suggests.
In one study of nearly 700 people with lung cancer, Swiss experts found that women tended to be younger when they received the diagnosis, even though they smoked less than the men who developed lung cancer.
In another study, researchers from Harvard University and the University of Bergen in Norway evaluated more than 950 men and women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), known to be linked to smoking. The result: The women with COPD were younger when they got the diagnosis and had smoked less than the men with the respiratory ailment. Read More
THURSDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) — Bans on smoking in public places really do work at reducing heart attacks from secondhand smoke, a major study finds.
Smoke-free policies can reduce the risk of heart attack by up to 47 percent and significantly reduce the likelihood of other heart problems, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM).
The report also found compelling evidence that even a brief exposure to secondhand smoke can trigger a heart attack. Read More
FRIDAY, Oct. 2 (HealthDay News) — The smoking cessation drug varenicline (Chantix) does not increase the risk for self-harm or depression, according to a new British study.
In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated that the drug carry a “black-box warning” on its packaging, indicating that people who use it face increased risk for “serious neuropsychiatric symptoms,” including changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts and behavior and attempted suicide. Read More
THURSDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) — If women need yet another reason to avoid smoking during pregnancy, researchers now say that tobacco use by expectant mothers may raise the risk that their children will develop psychotic symptoms.
The new research, published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, doesn’t prove that smoking during pregnancy causes the psychotic behavior, but it does suggest a link.
In the study of 6,356 children in the United Kingdom, more than 11 percent of the 12-year-olds appeared to have definite or suspected symptoms of psychosis. Read More
TUESDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) — Young people who enjoy a hint of vanilla, berry or chocolate when they light up are about to have their favorite smokes snuffed out. A new federal law banning fruit- and candy-flavored cigarettes takes effect Sept. 22.
The prohibition is part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, legislation that grants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products. President Barack Obama signed the measure into law June 22. Read More
MONDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) — Even a little bit of poison in the air — the smoke from a couple of cigarettes, traces of carbon monoxide from auto exhaust — can do a lot more damage to the heart and lungs than most people think, two new studies show.
One study finds that the biggest increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease comes from smoking three or fewer cigarettes a day. The other finds a marked association between levels of carbon monoxide well below those set by environmental standards and hospital admissions for heart problems among the elderly. Both are published in the Aug. 31 issue of Circulation. Read More
