Smoking Addiction News and Research

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E-cigarette use among American high school students is at an all time high

A new government report has shown that the use of electronic cigarettes has tripled among American high school students between 2013 and 2014, raising concerns that the fight against teen smoking is failing...

17 Apr 2015

New NCCN Guidelines for Smoking Cessation published

Tobacco-related diseases are the most preventable cause of death worldwide; smoking cessation leads to improvement in cancer treatment outcomes, as well as decreased recurrence. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2015, nearly 171,000 of the estimated 589,430 cancer deaths in the United States--more than 25 percent--will be caused by tobacco smoking.

16 Mar 2015

The growing evidence on standardised packaging of tobacco products

The scientific journal Addiction has today published a collection of peer-reviewed research papers and commentaries that bring together key parts of the evidence base for standardised packaging of tobacco products from 2008 to 2015.

17 Feb 2015

Electronic cigarettes and smoking cessation: an interview with Professor Peter Hajek

The electronic cigarette has been invented by Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik in 2003. The rise in electronic cigarettes (EC) popularity was initially a grass root phenomenon. EC are estimated to be at least 95% safer than cigarettes and they appeal to smokers who cannot or do not want to stop smoking, but who want to reduce the risks smoking poses to their health.

5 Feb 2015

Emerging evidence suggests electronic cigarettes can help smokers quit

New Cochrane review finds emerging evidence that smokers who use electronic cigarettes can stop or reduce their smoking.

17 Dec 2014

Electronic cigarettes reduce smoking habits

Electronic cigarettes offer smokers a realistic way to kick their tobacco smoking addiction. In a new study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, scientists at KU Leuven report that e-cigarettes successfully reduced cravings for tobacco cigarettes, with only minimal side effects.

20 Nov 2014

Blood test can predict recurrence of HPV-linked oral cancers

Research published yesterday indicates that recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced cancers affecting the oropharynx (the area of the throat just behind the mouth) can be predicted by blood and saliva tests that screen for DNA fragments from HPV that have been shed by cancer cells.

1 Aug 2014

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease flare-ups: an interview with Dr. MeiLan Han, University of Michigan and Scott Cerreta, Director of Education, COPD Foundation

During a flare-up, symptoms of a patient’s COPD worsen significantly, and breathing becomes more difficult. A persistent increase in shortness of breath, cough and sputum production are typical symptoms.

30 Jul 2014

Women are 10% more likely to use mental health services than men

Women with chronic physical illnesses are more likely to use mental health services than men with similar illnesses; they also seek out mental health services six months earlier than those same men, according to new study from St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

26 Jun 2014

Smoking and cancer: an interview with Dr. Lewis Foxhall, VP of Health Policy, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

The report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General, identified tobacco as the predominant cause of lung cancer in men. This was the first widely disseminated report based on scientific studies showing the clear link between smoking tobacco and serious health conditions including cancer, chronic lung diseases and heart disease.

13 Jan 2014

Smoking-cessation in HIV-positive individuals: an interview with Dr Ellen R. Gritz, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

In the general population, current smoking prevalence is 18%. Persons living with HIV/AIDS smoke at a rate 2 to 3 times higher, up to almost 70% in some studies.

16 Sep 2013

KU researchers receives grant to create new program to help American Indian students stop smoking

The University of Kansas Cancer Center's Cancer Control and Population Health program got a boost in April when Won Choi, Ph.D., and his colleagues were awarded a $2.7 million, five-year NCI grant to create an Internet-based program to help American Indian tribal college students stop smoking.

8 Aug 2013

Smoking prevention and cessation campaigns: an interview with Dr DePinho, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Dr Mohar, National Cancer Institute of Mexico

There are more than 94 million former and current smokers in the United States, and more than 21 million in Mexico, according to the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Fact Sheet.

27 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Republicans reject their own market-based ideas; Analyzing entitlement spending; Access to after-hours care reduces ER visits

It's harder and harder for politicians on the right to think straight about health care. Conservatives once genuinely interested in finding market-based ways for the government to expand health insurance coverage have, since the rise of Obamacare, made choices that are dysfunctional, even from their own perspective. Start with the decision of the vast majority of Republican governors to refuse to set up the state insurance exchanges required under the law.

2 Jan 2013

Smoking cessation support: an interview with Robyn Whittaker

Tobacco smoking involves a physiological addiction to nicotine for a lot of people. Quitting can cause some nasty symptoms due to the withdrawal of nicotine.

5 Dec 2012

Smoking cessation services delivered via mobile phones

Support for quitting smoking via text and video messages can help smokers kick the habit according to a new Cochrane systematic review. The authors of the review found that people were more likely to stay away from cigarettes over a six month period if they received motivational messages and advice to their mobile phones.

14 Nov 2012

EU Tobacco Products Directive: an interview with Professor John Britton

The EU Products Directive is intended to regulate tobacco products to protect consumers and reduce harms to health that come from using tobacco.

14 Nov 2012

Stroke survivors who smoke risk their life

In a study detailed in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke, researchers recruited 1,589 stroke survivors between 1996 and 1999 and examined the occurrence of deaths, recurrent strokes and heart attacks over a 10-year period. They found smokers and former smokers who suffered stroke had greater risk of death, multiple strokes or heart attack when compared to patients who were never smokers.

25 Oct 2012

Pro-smoking content being promoted in smartphone apps

Pro-smoking content, some featuring explicit cigarette brand images, is being promoted in smartphone apps reaching millions of users worldwide, including teenagers and children.

23 Oct 2012

Public health symposium targets smokers most in need

Australia has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world at 15 per cent of the population but there remains a need to further cut rates in prisons, among the mentally ill and ethnic communities, researchers will argue at a public health symposium in Sydney.

13 Sep 2012