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Native American artists use art and storytelling to bring cancer statistics to life

As an internist and health-care economist, Scott Ramsey, M.D., Ph.D., is used to looking at cancer statistics in black and white. Lately, however, he's been seeing them in shades of vibrant red and deep blue.

12 Mar 2007

FDA chief speaks out against regulating nicotine content of cigarettes

The head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, says plans by the government to regulate the amount of tobacco in cigarettes runs the risk of backfiring.

6 Mar 2007

Biomarker for lung cancer identified

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a gene expression marker that distinguishes smokers with lung cancer from smokers without the disease. The findings, reported in the March 1, 2007 advanced on-line edition of Nature Medicine, may have immediate clinical relevance and public health impact.

5 Mar 2007

Women who smoke during pregnancy can cause permanent vascular damage in their children

The Netherlands Atherosclerosis Risk in Young Adults (ARYA) study showed that participants who were exposed to smoke when their mothers were pregnant resulted in permanent cardiovascular damage that could be detected in young adulthood.

5 Mar 2007

Indiana House rejects cigarette tax increase to fund health care coverage

The Indiana House on Tuesday voted 52-44 against a bill (HB 1008) that would have raised the state's cigarette tax by 25 cents per pack to fund health coverage for low-income, uninsured residents, the Evansville Courier & Press reports.

4 Mar 2007

University of Bristol to create new medical research centre

The University of Bristol has been awarded £2.7 million by the Medical Research Council (MRC) to create a new research centre which will apply knowledge from genetic analyses to large-scale studies of the health of the population. These investigations will aim to find the factors that are causing disease, which can then be influenced to reduce risk.

4 Mar 2007

Nicotine use is highly addictive in primates

Tobacco dependence is the leading cause of mortality in Canada. Although most smokers express a desire to stop smoking, only a small number are able to succeed.

27 Feb 2007

High exposure to secondhand smoke from cigarettes detected in Baltimore bars

Workers and patrons of Baltimore bars are exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke, according to two studies conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

26 Feb 2007

Federal agencies sued over medical Marijuana statements

The Oakland, Calif.-based advocacy group Americans for Safe Access on Wednesday filed suit in Oakland federal court against HHS and FDA over statements the organizations have made about medical marijuana, citing several studies that found the drug might benefit HIV-positive people, the Los Angeles Times reports.

25 Feb 2007

Genetic variations contribute to a person's risk for nicotine dependence

Americans are bombarded with antismoking messages, yet at least 65 million of us continue to light up. Genetic factors play an important role in this continuing addiction to cigarettes, suggest scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

18 Feb 2007

Marijuana gives relief from chronic pain for AIDS sufferers

Researchers have found that people suffering from chronic foot pain as a result of the AIDS virus gained relief from smoking marijuana.

14 Feb 2007

Maryland lawmakers propose cigarette tax increase to fund health care programs

Maryland House leaders on Wednesday proposed a $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase to extend health insurance coverage to at least 250,000 uninsured state residents, the Washington Post reports.

12 Feb 2007

African-American women three times more likely to deliver babies prematurely

African-American women are three times more likely to deliver babies three to 17 weeks prematurely than Caucasian women, according to a review of Missouri birth statistics by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

11 Feb 2007

Graphic warnings on cigarette packs DO help smokers quit

According to the latest research the best way to discourage people from smoking is to plaster big, graphic warnings on cigarette packets, and the bigger they are the better.

7 Feb 2007

Health effects of passive somking studied in first-of-a-kind clinical study

Until bans on in-flight smoking took effect, beginning in 1988, flight attendants were regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.

1 Feb 2007

Multiple behavioral risk factors among adolescent cancer survivors

A significant number of young survivors of childhood cancers smoke, are physically inactive and/or don't use sunscreen, according to researchers at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

23 Jan 2007

Health inequalities in Britain

Tackling health inequalities in Britain needs closer co-ordination between all major policy areas including health, education, housing, employment and taxation, according to the authors of a new Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) publication.

23 Jan 2007

Medicare begins to cover ultrasounds to detect aortic aneurysms

Medicare on Jan. 1 began to cover ultrasounds to detect abdominal aortic aneurysms in beneficiaries at high risk for the condition, the Charlotte Observer reports.

7 Jan 2007

Successful lung cancer surgery not enough to break nicotine dependence in many smokers

A new study has found that close to half of 154 smokers who had surgery to remove early stage lung cancer picked up a cigarette again within 12 months of their potentially curative operation, and more than one-third were smoking at the one year mark. Sixty percent of patients who started smoking again did so within two months of surgery.

12 Dec 2006

U.S. residents slightly healthier than in 2005

U.S. residents overall are slightly healthier than they were last year, but the rate of improvement has leveled off since 2000, according to a report released on Tuesday by the UnitedHealth Foundation, the Washington Times reports.

5 Dec 2006