Cigarette News and Research

RSS

Viewpoints: Giving states responsibility for 'essential benefits'; The cost of proton beam treatment; Health spending in 2012

The Obama administration surprised supporters and critics when it decided to let states define the "essential health benefits" that must be provided to their citizens under health care reform. ... Federal health officials will need to monitor developments during the transition period to make sure consumers and employers can easily compare the benefit packages offered by private insurers.

3 Jan 2012

Smokers prefer cold turkey - launch of study into quitting smoking including popular cold turkey method

Cold turkey is the preferred method for giving up smoking according to public health researchers at the University of Sydney. With more than two-thirds of smokers giving up permanently this way the research team wants to know why.

2 Jan 2012

More than half smokers unaware of health risks: NHS Survey

The figures come from NHS Smokefree research that showed that 53% of smokers underestimate the number of annual deaths from smoking-related diseases by at least 70,000. The actual number of such deaths is more than 80,000.

2 Jan 2012

Geisinger system: We won't hire smokers

News outlets reported that the big Pennsylvania health care company announced the decision, though the policy won't affect current employees.

2 Jan 2012

Britain mulling on cigarette plain packaging to discourage smoking

Britain wishes to follow Australia’s footsteps in banning all eye-catching designs and branding from cigarette packs to stop young people being lured into smoking. Australia meanwhile is poised to become the first nation to introduce so-called “plain” packaging on tobacco products by the end of 2012. The packs will show graphic health warnings about smoking but banish attractive colors and logos. The proposed law was cleared by parliament in November and is being closely watched by governments considering similar moves in Europe, Canada and New Zealand.

1 Jan 2012

Geisinger stops hiring users of tobacco products

Starting Feb. 1, 2012, Geisinger will no longer hire job applicants who use tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, and chewing or smokeless tobacco.

31 Dec 2011

Free, low-cost strategies to maintain good health in the new year

With the start of a new year, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute experts are encouraging people to ring in new healthy habits and offer a number of free and low-cost strategies to help people maintain good health and possibly reduce various cancer risks.

29 Dec 2011

Initial results from 22nd Century's X-22 Phase II-B smoking cessation trial

22nd Century Group, Inc., a company focused on smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction products, today announced X-22, a prescription smoking cessation aid in development consisting of very low nicotine (VLN) cigarettes, showed a reduction of smoking from baseline over the 6-week treatment period in the company's Phase II-B clinical trial.

26 Dec 2011

Researchers use functional MRI scans to perform brain decoding

At UCLA's Laboratory of Integrative Neuroimaging Technology, researchers use functional MRI brain scans to observe brain signal changes that take place during mental activity. They then employ computerized machine learning (ML) methods to study these patterns and identify the cognitive state - or sometimes the thought process - of human subjects. The technique is called "brain reading" or "brain decoding."

22 Dec 2011

Early intervention mitigates risk of substance abuse among pregnant women

A program for women at risk of substance abuse during pregnancy could save nearly $2 billion annually in health care costs if implemented nationwide, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology.

21 Dec 2011

Lostartan can reduce cigarette smoke-induced lung injury

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is among the most common causes of death in the US. It is a smoking-related disease for which there are currently no disease-altering therapies. However, hope that one could be developed is now provided by the work of Enid Neptune and colleagues, at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, in a mouse model of lung disease caused by exposure to cigarette smoke.

20 Dec 2011

Smoking in women associated with skin cancer: Study

A new study has found a link between tobacco use and skin cancer especially in women. The study found that women who had squamous cell skin cancer were more likely to have smoked than those who were free from the disease. And those who smoked at least 20 years were twice as likely to develop squamous cell skin cancer - a less aggressive form of skin cancer as melanoma.

19 Dec 2011

Tanning beds raise risk of skin cancer – kids need to be barred

The issue regarding the banning of under-18s from tanning beds has come up again. Manitoba MP James Bezan is pushing for it. The Conservative MP introduced a private members’ bill Thursday that would bar anyone under the age of 18 from using a tanning bed, as well as require tanning salons to improve the warning signs and labels on and around their machines.

18 Dec 2011

Washington state's tobacco prevention and cessation programs reduce health care costs

The following is a statement by Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: A study published Thursday by the American Journal of Public Health provides some of the strongest evidence yet that tobacco prevention and cessation programs not only reduce smoking and save lives, but also save money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs.

17 Dec 2011

Cancer-causing potential of fetal exposure to carcinogens can vary substantially

The cancer-causing potential of fetal exposure to carcinogens can vary substantially, a recent study suggests, causing different types of problems much later in life depending on the stage of pregnancy when the fetus is exposed.

16 Dec 2011

MTF survey shows large decline in teen smoking

Cigarette and alcohol use by eighth, 10th and 12th-graders are at their lowest point since the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey began polling teenagers in 1975, according to this year's survey results. However, this positive news is tempered by a slowing rate of decline in teen smoking as well as continued high rates of abuse of other tobacco products, marijuana and prescription drugs.

15 Dec 2011

Study: Ex-smokers are more satisfied with their lives and feel healthier

Life without cigarettes is not all doom and gloom. In fact, successful quitters are more satisfied with their lives and feel healthier, both one year and three years afterwards, than those who continue to smoke. That's according to new research by Dr. Megan Piper, from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in the US, and her team.

14 Dec 2011

Tips for parents to protect children from holiday dangers

The holidays are an exciting and busy time of year as parents race to finish the shopping, decorating and baking. As the number of days left in the calendar year winds down, be sure to allow plenty of time in that hectic schedule for playing with your child and sharing holiday traditions as a family. Nationwide Children's Hospital reminds parents to keep alert to various holiday dangers.

12 Dec 2011

Innovative taxes can be used to fill AIDS funding gap, UNAIDS head says

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that donors looking to fund the fight against AIDS "could raise funds through taxes," according to the news agency.

9 Dec 2011

Women with non-melanoma skin cancers more likely to have smoked cigarettes

Women who have non-melanoma skin cancers are more likely to have smoked cigarettes compared to women without skin cancer, said researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published study results in a recent issue of Cancer Causes & Control.

9 Dec 2011