Smoking News and Research

RSS

Updated guidelines provide definitive answers on HRT, aspirin, supplements

Health care professionals should focus on women's lifetime heart disease risk, not just short-term risk, according to updated American Heart Association guidelines.

20 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

Where you live influences risk of heart attack or stroke

Sure you think about diet and exercise as key to heart disease prevention. But what about the neighborhood you live in?

18 Feb 2007

New assessment tool gives more accurate prediction of which women are at risk of heart disease

Researchers in the United states have developed a more accurate method of predicting if a woman is at risk of heart disease.

14 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

New oral blood thinner

A new oral blood thinner is being compared to an old standby to see if it works as well and is easier to manage long term, researchers say.

13 Feb 2007

Maraviroc to receive accelerated review in U.S. and Europe

Pfizer announced today that marketing authorization applications for maraviroc will receive accelerated review in both the United States and Europe. Accelerated reviews are granted to potential medicines that, if approved, would represent significant improvements over current therapies.

13 Feb 2007

Indicators for risk of heart disease are higher in passive smokers

Exposure to second-hand smoke at work, home or elsewhere results in a disproportionate rise in markers that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, University of Nottingham researchers have found.

12 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

High-dose Lipitor therapy cuts risk of hospitalizations for heart failure

Patients with coronary heart disease who took Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) 80 mg tablets reduced their risk of hospitalizations due to heart failure compared to patients taking the 10 mg dose of Lipitor, according to a new analysis of a subset of patients from the five-year TNT (Treating to New Targets) study, published in today's issue of Circulation.

7 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

Selenium reduces prostate cancer risk in men taking extra vitamin E

A new study is suggesting that for certain groups of men a high dietary intake of selenium may reduce their risk of prostate cancer.

6 Feb 2007

Severely mentally ill have increased risk of death from coronary heart disease and stroke

A large British study indicates that individuals with severe mental illnesses are significantly more likely to die from coronary heart disease and stroke, but not cancer, than those without mental illnesses, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

6 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

Nicotine addiction depends on a healthy insula

Smokers with a damaged insula - a region in the brain linked to emotion and feelings - quit smoking easily and immediately, according to a study in the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Science.

29 Jan 2007

Folic acid appears to reduce risk of cleft lip and palate

A new study finds that women who take folic acid supplements early in their pregnancy can substantially reduce their baby's chances of being born with a facial cleft.

28 Jan 2007

$After low-trauma fracture, older men and women have similar and substantial risk of subsequent fracture$

After low-trauma fracture, older men and women have similar and substantial risk of subsequent fracture

Despite substantial evidence that a prior fracture results in an increased risk of subsequent fracture, less than 30 percent of postmenopausal women and less than 10 percent of men with prior fracture are treated to help lower this risk.

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

Simple diagnostic test detects genetic signs of lung cancer in sputum

DNA coughed up along with phlegm could point to lung cancer, say researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who are developing an inexpensive and non-invasive gene probe to help diagnose early stage lung cancer in current and former smokers.

18 Jan 2007