Smoking Addiction News and Research

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Study reveals how brain protein KCC2 influences reward learning

A new finding from researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center shows that the learning process of associating cues with rewards can be altered by increased or decreased activity of a specific protein in the brain.

9 Dec 2025

Combined use of alcohol and cannabis could fuel addiction risks

Many young adults drink alcohol and use cannabis together, at the same time, as a coping mechanism or to relieve stress.

10 Apr 2025

Want to quit smoking? New study shows brain stimulation and exercise can help

A new study finds that combining transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with aerobic exercise significantly reduces cigarette cravings and smoking-related brain activity in chronic smokers. The combination also boosts motivation to quit, offering a promising path for future smoking cessation therapies.

16 Mar 2025

Flavored e-cigarettes cut smoking rates and toxic exposure in high-risk groups

Access to participant-preferred flavored e-cigarettes significantly reduces smoking rates and exposure to carcinogens among high-risk populations in a recent study.

10 Sep 2024

Simplified smoking test proves reliable for predicting abstinence in cancer patients

Data from nearly 6000 smokers with cancer show that it may be easier to predict who will stop smoking than was previously thought.

20 Aug 2024

Simplified test effective in predicting smoking addiction in cancer patients

Data from nearly 6000 smokers with cancer show that it may be easier to predict who will stop smoking than was previously thought.

12 Aug 2024

Study sheds light on the interplay of genes in smoking addiction

Take a puff of nicotine for the first time, and your DNA plays an important role, alongside social and environmental factors, in shaping what happens next.

26 Mar 2024

E-cigarettes as a first-line aid for smoking cessation in adults

Should electronic cigarettes, or vapes, be accepted more widely as an effective and respected tool for treating adult smokers’ nicotine addiction?

20 Feb 2023

How does vaping affect your health?

According to the significant review, using nicotine e-cigarettes increases the risk of various adverse health outcomes, especially in youth, including taking up smoking, addiction, poisoning, seizures, burns, and lung injury.

6 Feb 2023

Researchers localize specific brain circuit mediating addiction remission

In the United States, substance use disorders are a leading cause of death among young people. Treatments such as deep brain stimulation hold promise for helping people overcome addiction, but many questions remain about what brain areas should be targeted.

13 Jun 2022

UCLA clinical trial shows efficacy of varenicline on heavy-drinking smokers

A recent UCLA clinical trial has shown encouraging results in helping daily smokers who are also heavy drinkers quit smoking and cut down their alcohol intake.

15 Jun 2021

Mental distress increases among smokers in England during COVID-19 pandemic

Scientists have conducted a survey in England to investigate the association between smoking habits and distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Dec 2020

French scientists suggest nicotinic agonists could treat COVID-19

Contrary to the warnings issued by health agencies worldwide against cigarette smoking amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a new paper suggests the possibility that nicotine, a component of tobacco, could prevent coronavirus infection.

28 Apr 2020

Managing nontraditional risk factors to improve outcomes after cancer surgery

In a study of 142 patients preparing for cancer surgery, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have evidence that psychological or social risk factors such as depression, limited resilience and lack of emergency resources along with standard medical risk factors such as high blood pressure or diabetes are linked with higher risks of surgical complications.

12 Mar 2019

Smoking at record lows in New York

New York has successfully achieved a record low rate of smoking with only 14.2 percent of people smoking.

22 Feb 2018

Worldwide report on tobacco control measures - progress over last 10 years

According to a latest report from the World Health Organization on the worldwide epidemic of tobacco addiction, the efforts to control tobacco use has increased notably over the last ten years.

19 Jul 2017

Researchers identify altered activity in distinct areas of the brain during hypnosis sessions

Your eyelids are getting heavy, your arms are going limp and you feel like you're floating through space.

28 Jul 2016

Integrative Body-Mind Training helps reduce smoking

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that 15.1 percent of American adults smoked cigarettes in 2015, down almost 2 percent from the year before. This is the lowest recorded smoking rate in the country's history.

26 May 2016

Research finds high prevalence of smoking, low cessation rates in people with schizophrenia

Smoking addiction in schizophrenia can be explained by significantly increased activation of the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a region involved in the brain reward system. These new data, the result of a study by researchers at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal and the University of Montreal confirms the tendency to smoke and low smoking cessation rates of people with schizophrenia.

18 Apr 2016

People in addiction treatment programs more likely to use tobacco

People in addiction treatment programs around the world use tobacco at two to three times the rate of people who are not being treated for addiction, according to a review of research studies from 20 countries other than the United States.

23 Sep 2015