Nicotine News and Research

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Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants (''Solanaceae'') which constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots, and accumulating in the leaves.

Counseling by student-dentists helps patients quit smoking

Students in most dental schools are taught to refer tobacco-using patients they encounter in their clinical training to call a "quit line."

27 Mar 2007

Race affects passive smoke absorption in children

New research suggests that a child's race may be a factor in determining his/her susceptibility to tobacco toxins associated with environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).

13 Mar 2007

Women in the U.S. too tired for sex

It seems American women have a problem with sleep and are not getting enough of it.

7 Mar 2007

FDA chief speaks out against regulating nicotine content of cigarettes

The head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, says plans by the government to regulate the amount of tobacco in cigarettes runs the risk of backfiring.

6 Mar 2007

Nicotine use is highly addictive in primates

Tobacco dependence is the leading cause of mortality in Canada. Although most smokers express a desire to stop smoking, only a small number are able to succeed.

27 Feb 2007

Dissecting secret formula of nectar

The sugar-containing nectar secreted by plants and consumed by pollinators shares a number of similarities to fitness drinks, including ingredients such as amino acids and vitamins. In addition to these components, nectar can also contain secondary metabolites such as the alkaloid nicotine and other toxic compounds.

27 Feb 2007

High exposure to secondhand smoke from cigarettes detected in Baltimore bars

Workers and patrons of Baltimore bars are exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke, according to two studies conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

26 Feb 2007

Chantix versus Zyban

Researchers in the United States say smokers who fail to quit smoking by using pills, should not be disheartened and should try again.

25 Feb 2007

Health care professionals should focus on women's lifetime heart disease risk

The 2007 Guidelines for Preventing Cardiovascular Disease in Women -- published today in a special women's health issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association -- also include new directions for using aspirin, hormone therapy and vitamin and mineral supplements in heart disease and stroke prevention in women.

20 Feb 2007

Smoking produces biochemical changes in human brain

New research shows for the first time that smoking produces long-lasting biochemical changes in the human brain similar to those changes previously seen in the brains of animals that used cocaine, heroin, and other illicit drugs.

20 Feb 2007

Updated guidelines provide definitive answers on HRT, aspirin, supplements

Health care professionals should focus on women's lifetime heart disease risk, not just short-term risk, according to updated American Heart Association guidelines.

20 Feb 2007

Genetic variations contribute to a person's risk for nicotine dependence

Americans are bombarded with antismoking messages, yet at least 65 million of us continue to light up. Genetic factors play an important role in this continuing addiction to cigarettes, suggest scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

18 Feb 2007

Indicators for risk of heart disease are higher in passive smokers

Exposure to second-hand smoke at work, home or elsewhere results in a disproportionate rise in markers that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, University of Nottingham researchers have found.

12 Feb 2007

Nicotine addiction depends on a healthy insula

Smokers with a damaged insula - a region in the brain linked to emotion and feelings - quit smoking easily and immediately, according to a study in the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Science.

29 Jan 2007

Successful lung cancer surgery not enough to break nicotine dependence in many smokers

A new study has found that close to half of 154 smokers who had surgery to remove early stage lung cancer picked up a cigarette again within 12 months of their potentially curative operation, and more than one-third were smoking at the one year mark. Sixty percent of patients who started smoking again did so within two months of surgery.

12 Dec 2006

Chronic use of nicotine can reinforce the rewarding effects of alcohol

When sober alcoholics are tempted to fall off the wagon, the same receptor is stimulated as is activated by nicotine in their brain.

2 Dec 2006

High dopamine transporter levels not linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Results from a brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in collaboration with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York indicate that levels of a brain protein proposed as a diagnostic marker for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not positively correlated with the disease.

2 Dec 2006