Smoking Cessation News and Research

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Phone counseling can help hazardous-drinking smokers quit smoking

Smokers who drink heavily have a tougher time quitting cigarettes than smokers who drink moderately or not at all. However, a multi-center study led by researchers in Yale Cancer Center and Yale School of Medicine found that modifying tobacco-oriented telephone counseling to help hazardous drinkers can help them quit smoking.

24 Nov 2014

FIRS mobilizes members to raise awareness on COPD

On World COPD Day (19 November 2014), the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is mobilizing its members to raise awareness of the disease and help prevent the risk factors that cause it.

21 Nov 2014

Small financial incentives double smoking cessation rates, study reveals

Offering small financial incentives doubles smoking cessation rates among socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers, according to research from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

18 Nov 2014

Community pharmacies can help identify COPD at early stage, save £264 million

Using community pharmacies to identify undiagnosed cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at an early stage could save £264 million a year according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

12 Nov 2014

Prescription opioids involved in 67.8% of nationwide ED visits in 2010, find researchers

Researchers from Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals and the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that prescription opioids, including methadone, were involved in 67.8 percent of (or over 135,971 visits to) nationwide emergency department (ED) visits in 2010, with the highest proportion of opioid overdoses occurring in the South.

12 Nov 2014

Cigarette smoking increases risk of developing second smoking-associated cancer

Results of a federally-funded pooled analysis of five prospective cohort studies indicate that cigarette smoking prior to the first diagnosis of lung (stage I), bladder, kidney or head and neck cancer increases risk of developing a second smoking-associated cancer. This is the largest study to date exploring risk of second cancers among current smokers.

11 Nov 2014

Smokers are three times more likely to develop chronic back pain than nonsmokers, study finds

If you want to avoid chronic back pain, put out the cigarette. A new Northwestern Medicine study has found that smokers are three times more likely than nonsmokers to develop chronic back pain, and dropping the habit may cut your chances of developing this often debilitating condition.

4 Nov 2014

Group encourages approval of lung cancer screening for eligible Medicare patients

As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Committee on Coverage studies the decision to cover lung cancer screening for eligible individuals, today's Online First section of the journal CHEST published Components for High Quality Lung Cancer Screening: American College of Chest Physicians and American Thoracic Society Policy Statement.

31 Oct 2014

NIH announces 11 awards to improve public health outcomes related to substance use, addiction

More than $11 million over three years will be used to support research exploring the use of social media to advance the scientific understanding, prevention, and treatment of substance use and addiction.

20 Oct 2014

Newborns of mothers who smoke during pregnancy have altered stress hormones, DNA

Researchers from The Miriam Hospital have studied the effects of smoking during pregnancy and its impact on the stress response in newborn babies. Their research indicates that newborns of mothers who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy show lower levels of stress hormones, lowered stress response, and alterations in DNA for a gene that regulates passage of stress hormones from mother to fetus.

20 Oct 2014

Coordinated care by physician anesthesiologists can benefit knee replacement patients

Knee replacement patients go home sooner, are highly satisfied and incur less cost when a physician anesthesiologist coordinates care, suggests research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting.

16 Oct 2014

Cardiometabolic health intervention urged for schizophrenia patients

Research shows high cardiometabolic risk, particularly increased dyslipidaemia and smoking, but little related medical treatment in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.

15 Oct 2014

Combination of behavioral support and medication helps people stop smoking

Numerous randomized clinical trials have shown the effectiveness of the two major forms of smoking cessation treatment - behavioral support and medication - in helping smokers quit. Researchers have now demonstrated that this approach can successfully translate to the "real world" and that a combination of the two treatments offers almost a threefold chance of success over attempts to quit without using a cessation aid.

8 Oct 2014

E-cigarettes fail to help cancer patients give up smoking

In a new study of cancer patients who smoke, those using e-cigarettes (in addition to traditional cigarettes) were more nicotine dependent and equally or less likely to have quit smoking traditional cigarettes than non-users.

24 Sep 2014

Current smokers at increased risk of developing SPLC

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survivors who never smoked or who are former smokers at the time of diagnosis have a lower risk of developing secondary primary lung cancers (SPLC) compared to those who are current smokers, suggesting that increased tobacco exposure is associated with a higher risk of SPLC, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's 56th Annual Meeting.

17 Sep 2014

The Miriam Hospital receives Primary Stroke Center certification for fifth consecutive year

The Miriam Hospital has for the fifth time been designated by the Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center.

16 Sep 2014

Benefits of blood pressure lowering drugs for low risk patients 'still open to question'

Dr Stephen Martin and colleagues argue that this strategy is failing patients and wasting healthcare resources. They call for a re-examination of the threshold and urge clinicians to be cautious about treating low risk patients with blood pressure lowering drugs.

16 Sep 2014

Scientists measure responses to rewards during nicotine withdrawal across species

Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide and is associated with approximately 440,000 deaths in the United States each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population continues to smoke cigarettes.

15 Sep 2014

FDA approves Contrave extended-release tablets for chronic weight management

Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. and Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc. jointly announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Contrave® extended-release tablets as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in adults with an initial body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or greater (obese), or 27 kg/m2 or greater (overweight) in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition.

11 Sep 2014

Weekly text message reminder can help many people to make healthy food choices

Many people are unaware that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's mandated nutrition labels are based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, but a simple weekly text message reminder can greatly improve that awareness, according to a new study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

10 Sep 2014