Nicotine News and Research

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Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants (''Solanaceae'') which constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots, and accumulating in the leaves.

IPSY programme leads children to say 'no' to cigarettes and alcohol

Their numbers are rising, but their age is dropping: children and young adults who drink so much that they have to go to the hospital. Binge-drinking is sadly fashionable amongst the under 20-year-olds. But how can adolescents be effectively protected from alcohol and substance abuse?

20 Apr 2011

Cigarettes leave toxins on surfaces that can endanger prenatal and postnatal infants

Stepping outside to smoke a cigarette may not be enough to protect the lungs and life of a pregnant woman's unborn child, according to a new study in the American Journal of Physiology.

20 Apr 2011

“Possible” Smoking ban inside homes: Cancer Council SA

The Cancer Council of South Australia is planning to ban smoking inside Australian apartments and calls this plan “entirely possible and even probable.” Earlier this month an eight-unit apartment block in western Sydney introduced a by-law making the premises, including balconies, completely smoke-free.

19 Apr 2011

New research confirms cigarettes' toxic impact on environment

Each year more than 360 billion cigarettes are smoked in the United States. Where do all those butts go? Public roads, waterways, parks and beaches. New research released today further demonstrates the negative impact that cigarette filters and discarded cigarette butts have on the environment.

19 Apr 2011

Study highlights deceptive potential of 'slim', 'silver' and 'gold' cigarette brands

Despite current prohibitions on the words 'light' and 'mild', smokers in Western countries continue falsely to believe that some cigarette brands may be less harmful than others. In fact, all conventional brands of cigarette present the same level of risk to smokers, including 'mild' and 'low-tar' brands.

12 Apr 2011

Biological Psychiatry publishes Omeros' PPAR-gamma addiction program

Omeros Corporation today announced that research on the PPAR-gamma agonists it is developing in its Addiction franchise has been published in the April 1, 2011 issue of the Journal of Biological Psychiatry.

7 Apr 2011

Water pipe smoking is on the rise

The number of people smoking water pipes is rising dramatically throughout the world. A large proportion of new users are young, and many believe - contrary to facts - that water pipe smoking is less dangerous than cigarettes. Research into why people start smoking water pipes is under way at Uppsala University.

7 Apr 2011

Scientists demonstrate how cigarette smoke produces different 'metabolites' in individuals

Smoke from cigarettes can affect nearly every organ in the body by promoting cell damage and causing inflammation, but no one has understood which smoker is or is not susceptible to disease development.

7 Apr 2011

Study: AI/AN youths in the U.S. have high lifetime smoking rate

Youths identified as American Indian or Alaska Native have the greatest lifetime smoking rate of all racial groups, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

7 Apr 2011

Cigarette packaging in olive green to deter smokers

In a bid to reduce smoking rates in Australia, all cigarette packs will be packaged olive green. Under the new laws to be proposed in federal parliament, all logos will be removed from cigarette packs and brand names displayed in a specific font.

6 Apr 2011

Study: Hookah use may spread among youth in the U.S.

An alternative and harmful form of tobacco use, known as the hookah or water pipe, may be spreading among youth in the United States according to researchers from the University of California, San Diego's Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and San Diego State University. This trend is emerging even as cigarette smoking among high school students is on the decline nationally.

6 Apr 2011

TZDs might serve as new agents for addiction treatment

Thiazolidinediones are a class of medications that are commonly prescribed to treat type-2 diabetes, while fibrates are a structurally-related class of medications that are prescribed to modulate lipid levels in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

6 Apr 2011

Nicotine has no effect on lung cancer tumor incidence, frequency or size

Nicotine at doses similar to those found in most nicotine replacements therapies did not increase lung cancer tumor incidence, frequency or size, according to results of a mouse study presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6.

5 Apr 2011

Researchers suggest link between dopamine-related genes and person's risk of addiction

There is growing evidence that the risk factors for addiction change throughout the lifespan. The risk factors for developing addiction in adolescence are the most intensively studied because this life phase is associated with the highest addiction risk.

31 Mar 2011

Study finds continued smoking after cancer diagnosis among patients, family caregivers

Nicotine is so addictive for many people that even a cancer diagnosis doesn't help them - or their family members and caregivers - throw the cigarettes away.

31 Mar 2011

Individuals with asthma 1.26 times more likely to have been a smoker

New research out of the University of Cincinnati suggests that being diagnosed with asthma is significantly associated with a greater risk for a lifetime history of daily smoking and nicotine dependence.

31 Mar 2011

Study highlights tobacco smoke exposure among babies

"Passive smoking is the leading preventable cause of childhood death in developed countries", Guadalupe Ortega, lead author of the research study and coordinator of the Atenció Primària Sense Fum programme at the Department of Health of the Generalitat de Cataluña tells SINC.

29 Mar 2011

Study establishes strong link between nicotine and diabetes complications

Scientists today reported the first strong evidence implicating nicotine as the main culprit responsible for persistently elevated blood sugar levels - and the resulting increased risk of serious health complications - in people who have diabetes and smoke.

28 Mar 2011

Diabetic smokers beware - Nicotine raises blood sugar: Study

U.S. researchers have found that nicotine in cigarettes may be responsible for serious complications in smokers with diabetes. They have shown that nicotine is strongly linked to persistently raised blood sugar levels among diabetics and scientists say they should make every effort to quit. There may also be implications for diabetics attempting to give up the habit who use nicotine-replacement therapy for extended periods.

27 Mar 2011

Smoking during pregnancy increases risk of children becoming smokers too

New research has revealed that prenatal exposure to nicotine increases the vulnerability to nicotine self-administration in adolescent mice. The results support the hypothesis that adolescents with prenatal nicotine exposure are more likely to start smoking earlier than their peers and that they are also more susceptible to the addictive effects of nicotine, especially as a result of stress and peer pressure.

21 Mar 2011