Tobacco News and Research

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Heart attack rates drop following national smoking bans in France

French researchers announced a striking 15% decrease in admissions of patients with myocardial infarction to emergency wards since the public ban on smoking came into effect in restaurants, hotels and casinos in France last January.

27 Feb 2008

Step-parents influence teenage smoking behaviour

Smoking by a non-biological parent is as influential as smoking by biological parents in determining whether their teenager smokes, reveal the results of a Cancer Research UK study published in the journal Addiction.

27 Feb 2008

Call for more to be done to curb teen binge drinking

According to a major new report commissioned by the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD), alcohol is the most widely used substance by young people with the exception of tobacco.

26 Feb 2008

Annual cancer statistics show substantial declines in mortality rates

The American Cancer Society's annual cancer statistics report finds that death rates from cancer in the United States have decreased by 18.4 percent among men and by 10.5 percent among women since mortality rates began to decline in the early 1990s, which translates to the avoidance of more than half a million cancer deaths (534,500) in the United States.

21 Feb 2008

Genetic and environmental hormonal response to stress in children depends on family context

A study conducted on 346 19-month-old twins by an international team led by Universite Laval professor of psychology Michel Boivin reveals that the genetic and environmental bases of hormonal response to stress depend on the context in which a child grows up.

21 Feb 2008

PM says binge drinking an epidemic across Australia

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said binge drinking in Australia has reached "epidemic" proportions and action needs to be taken to combat the growing problem of alcohol abuse.

21 Feb 2008

Booze and smokes damage men's sperm

According to the latest research exposure to environmental toxins can damage sperm and the resulting defects can be passed down for generations.

20 Feb 2008

Screening for colorectal cancer should start at 40

New evidence suggests screening for colorectal cancer, which is now recommended to begin at age 50 for most people, should start five to 10 years earlier for individuals with a significant lifetime exposure to tobacco smoke, a University of Rochester Medical Center study said.

14 Feb 2008

Additional similarities found between nicotine and opiate addiction

"That was good!" "Do it again."This is what the brain says when people use tobacco, as well as 'hard drugs' such as heroin.

14 Feb 2008

NSW bottom of the league when it comes to public health spending

Figures in the latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare have revealed a few surprises.

13 Feb 2008

New findings show additional similarity between opiate and nicotine addiction

"That was good!" "Do it again." This is what the brain says when people use tobacco, as well as ‘hard drugs' such as heroin.

13 Feb 2008

Potential method for repairing misspelling in DNA code that causes spinal muscular atrophy

Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered a novel technique - that acts like a "spell-checker" for correcting a misspelling in the DNA code - to repair the defective gene that causes spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

12 Feb 2008

New Handbook of Cancer Prevention

A new publication designed to help individuals, doctors and governments reduce the global burden of cancer has been announced by Europe's leading society for medical oncologists.

12 Feb 2008

First reported acute asthma death associated with work-related environmental tobacco smoke

A young asthmatic woman who collapsed and died shortly after arriving for her shift as a waitress at a bar may be the first reported death to be reported nationally from acute asthma associated with environmental tobacco smoke.

11 Feb 2008

WHO warns of one billion death toll from tobacco

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a stark warning about smoking saying that unless urgent action is taken, by the year 2100 tobacco could kill one billion people.

11 Feb 2008

Women and smoking

A study carried out at the Department of Anthropology of the University of Granada has examined, both at a quantitative and a qualitative level, the reasons for the increase in the use of cigarettes among women experienced in Spanish society during the last 50 years.

8 Feb 2008

Review of psychosocial quit-smoking interventions for patients with coronary heart disease

Psychosocial interventions like counseling, telephone support and self-help materials can assist heart disease patients who are trying to give up cigarettes, but the most successful cessation treatments last a month or more, according to a new review of studies.

8 Feb 2008

Seniors more likely to deny smoking when asked

More elderly adults are lighting up cigarettes and not reporting their nicotine habits to doctors and others, according to findings from one of the first studies to examine the accuracy of self-reported smoking habits by age, race and gender of adults 18 years and older by researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and other university collaborators.

8 Feb 2008

Regular use of marijuana increases risk for gum disease

Regular use of marijuana (cannabis) in young adulthood is associated with periodontal (gum) disease, according to a study in the February 6 issue of JAMA.

7 Feb 2008

New research allays some panic about suspected cancer-causing agents

A risk assessment tool has been developed through the Cancer Control Program at South Eastern Sydney & Illawarra Health (SESIH) by a University of New South Wales (UNSW) researcher, Professor Bernard Stewart.

7 Feb 2008