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.

Global Alliance for Chronic Disease to fight against chronic non-communicable diseases

An alliance of institutions collectively managing an estimated 80 percent of all public health research funding worldwide today announced their first targets for concerted action in the fight against "chronic non-communicable diseases" (CNCDs).

17 Nov 2009

Program for childhood cancer survivors to quit smoking

As smokers nationwide struggle to quit the habit, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is offering assistance to those childhood cancer survivors who need help with smoking cessation.

17 Nov 2009

Use nicotine patch along with nicotine gum or lozenges to calm withdrawal symptoms and tobacco cravings

As smokers consider quitting on the Great American Smokeout - Thursday, November 19th - many are frustrated that over-the-counter nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges have not worked for them. Even President Obama admits he still smokes despite using nicotine gum.

13 Nov 2009

Experts recommend nicotine replacement products and counseling to quit smoking

Whether you smoke three cigarettes or three packs of cigarettes a day, kicking the habit is difficult. Various nicotine replacement products are on the market to make quitting easier. But which product is right for you? Experts from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center are here to help.

12 Nov 2009

States are not taking enough efforts to help smokers quit: American Lung Association

As the debate over health care reform dominates the media and political arena, a new American Lung Association report finds that states aren't doing enough to help smokers quit - and policymakers must fix this in the health care reform process.

11 Nov 2009

Academic Health Center receives 128 grants totaling nearly $35 million in federal stimulus money

Academic Health Center scientists, physicians, and research centers have attracted 128 grants totaling nearly $35 million in federal stimulus money (as of Nov. 10) since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was approved in February 2009. This will result in a total economic impact of more than $105 million; according to the National Institutes of Health, $1 of research funding multiplies to more than $2 of goods and services in the economy.

11 Nov 2009

NATC sponsored national quit smoking program to launch second phase of campaign

With the latest research estimating that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco next year, an innovative approach is critical to helping the 43 million Americans who smoke to finally quit. This month, which is observed as Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the national quit smoking program, EX(R) will debut the second phase of advertising and promotions designed to help smokers "re-learn" life without cigarettes.

10 Nov 2009

Smoking has a direct negative impact on postoperative outcomes

With the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout Challenge just a week away, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is giving smokers yet another reason to quit. The scientific evidence is clear -- smoking has a direct negative impact on postoperative outcomes. Quitting smoking is one of the best things people can do to improve their chances of recovering from surgery without complications.

9 Nov 2009

San Francisco and Berkeley miss opportunity to help smokers quit

San Francisco and Berkeley missed an opportunity to help smokers quit when the cities moved all tobacco sales out of pharmacies, according to a new Bay Area health initiative. Instead of having smokers buy cigarettes in convenience stores and at other retailers, smokers should buy cigarettes only at pharmacy counters, says Stuart Skorman, founder of Elephant Pharmacy.

6 Nov 2009

$1.85 million grant to study how digital games can improve players' health behaviors and outcomes

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced more than $1.85 million in grants for research that will offer unprecedented insight into how digital games can improve players' health behaviors and outcomes. With funding from RWJF's Health Games Research national program, nine research teams across the country will conduct extensive studies to discover, for example, how the popular dance pad video game Dance Dance Revolution might help Parkinson's patients reduce the risk of falling, how Wii Active might be most effectively implemented in high schools to help overweight students lose weight, how a mobile phone game with a breath interface might help smokers quit or reduce their tobacco use, or how facial recognition games might be designed to help people with autism learn to identify others' emotions.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 6 Nov 2009

CHANTIX/CHAMPIX raises hope for quitting smoking

New study results showed that 42.3 percent of smokers with mild-to-moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who took CHANTIX/CHAMPIX® (varenicline) were able to quit smoking and remain abstinent during the last four weeks of treatment (weeks 9-12) compared with 8.8 percent of those given placebo (p<0.0001). These findings were presented by investigators at CHEST 2009, the 75th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).

5 Nov 2009

Majority of women smokers unaware of immediate and long term health risks

Many women are aware that smoking can lead to lung cancer, heart disease and premature death. But a recent survey conducted by Angus Reid on behalf of nicotine replacement therapy brands, NICODERM(R) and NICORETTE(R) reveals that the majority of Canadian women who smoke are not necessarily aware of the host of other impacts that smoking can have on their immediate and longer term health.

4 Nov 2009

Propylene glycol in e cigarettes might keep us healthy, says researchers

According to the Centers for Disease Control, during 2000-2004, "An estimated 443,000 persons in the United States died prematurely each year from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke.

4 Nov 2009

NIH awards $4 million research grant to AllTranz

AllTranz, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing drugs to treat a variety of neurologic and inflammatory disorders, today announced that it has been awarded a $4 million research grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to advance the company’s transdermal tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) patch for the treatment of marijuana dependence and withdrawal.

3 Nov 2009

Want to quit smoking? Try a nicotine patch plus a nicotine lozenge

In a comparison of five different smoking cessation medications, a nicotine patch plus a nicotine lozenge appears most effective at helping smokers quit, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

3 Nov 2009

New clinical uses for old hypertension drug leads to several patents

University of South Florida neuroscientist R. Douglas Shytle's discovery of successful new clinical uses for mecamylamine, a drug once used to treat hypertension, has led to several issued patents on mecamylamine and related compounds. Earlier this month, Shytle, associate professor and research scientist at the USF Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair and the USF Silver Child Development Center, received the university's 2009 "Excellence in Innovation" award.

28 Oct 2009

Development of VLN cigarettes for use in smoking cessation continues: 22nd Century

22nd Century Limited, LLC is pleased to announce that it is continuing development of a very low nicotine cigarette for use in smoking cessation. Clinical trial results demonstrate that these cigarettes, also referred to as ‘nicotine-free’ and ‘denicotinized,’ may be more effective for quitting than FDA-approved therapies.

28 Oct 2009

Crushing virtual cigarettes reduces nicotine dependence

Smokers who crushed computer-simulated cigarettes as part of a psychosocial treatment program in a virtual reality environment had significantly reduced nicotine dependence and higher rates of tobacco abstinence than smokers participating in the same program who grasped a computer-simulated ball, according to a study described in the current issue of CyberPsychology and Behavior, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

28 Oct 2009

Even one cigarette has serious adverse effects on young adults, says researcher

Even one cigarette has serious adverse effects on young adults, according to research presented by Dr. Stella Daskalopoulou at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

27 Oct 2009