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New research reveals what motivates people to smoke

A new study - designed to understand why people smoke and help develop more effective quitting programmes for smokers - has revealed that only half of smokers say enjoyment and coping with stress were reasons why they smoke. The new Cancer Research UK study is published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research* today (Wednesday).

28 Jul 2009

Smokeless tobacco use carries little or no risk of cancer

A large meta-analysis, published in the open access journal BMC Medicine, has shown that snuff as used in Scandinavia has no discernible effect on the risk of various cancers. Products used in the past in the USA may have increased the risk, but any effect that exists now seems likely to be quite small.

28 Jul 2009

Experts warn about electronic cigarettes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that a laboratory analysis of electronic cigarette samples has found that they contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze.

22 Jul 2009

Rates of secondhand smoke exposure high among college students

Secondhand smoke (SHS) is not only a nuisance, but a potential health concern for many college students, and administrators should be taking steps to reduce students' exposure, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

21 Jul 2009

Child’s IQ can be affected by mother’s exposure to urban air pollutants

A mother's exposure to urban air pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can adversely affect a child's intelligence quotient or IQ, a study reports. PAHs are chemicals released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco. In urban areas motor vehicles are a major source of PAHs.

21 Jul 2009

Governors question Medicaid expansion while some states do more with CHIP

The New York Times reports that "The nation's governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voiced deep concern Sunday about the shape of the health care plan emerging from Congress, fearing that Washington was about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without money to pay for them.

20 Jul 2009

What happens in the womb dictates how well a child does at school

Australian scientists have found that a person's intelligence starts before birth and they say healthy fetal growth helps to improve a child's performance at school.

20 Jul 2009

Xerostomia linked to use of multiple medications

Approximately ninety-one percent of dentists say patients complaining about dry mouth are taking multiple medications, according to a nationwide member survey conducted by the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).

9 Jul 2009

ECOSOC's agenda should include noncommunicable disease threat in developing countries

"[E]xplicit indicators to measure progress in reducing heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases" are missing from the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) agenda as it meets in Geneva this week "to focus on implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to public health," and the "omission needs to be urgently addressed if the intent is to have a major impact on reducing poverty by 2015," Ala Alwan, WHO's assistant director-general for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health; George Alleyne, PAHO's director emeritus; and Martin Silink, president of the International Diabetes Federation write in an opinion piece in the Hindu.

8 Jul 2009

U.S., Russia to cooperate on health goals

The White House announced on Monday that the U.S. and Russia have signed on to a "memo of understanding" to cooperate on several public health and medical science projects, ModernHealthcare.com reports.

7 Jul 2009

‘Roll-your-own’ cigarettes as deadly as ‘ready mades’

Roll-your-own (RYO) cigarettes expose smokers to similar levels of cancer-causing chemicals as manufactured cigarettes according to a new study by Cancer Research UK now published in Addiction Biology*.

6 Jul 2009

Adolescent cocaine use in Northern Ireland

Research conducted by the Institute of Child Care Research at Queen's School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work has found that 7.5% of young people who took part in the Belfast Youth Development Survey had tried cocaine at least once by the age of 16.

30 Jun 2009

Soy consumption and risk of COPD and respiratory symptoms

People who eat lots of soy products have better lung function and are less likely to develop the smoking-associated lung disease COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). A study published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Respiratory Research has shown that consumption of a wide variety of soy products can be associated with a reduction in the risk of COPD and other respiratory symptoms.

28 Jun 2009

Smoking provokes migraine attacks

Tobacco acts as a precipitating factor for headaches, specifically migraines. This is indicated in a study which shows that smokers have more migraine attacks and that smoking more than five cigarettes a day triggers this headache. The work has appeared in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

24 Jun 2009

Direct link found between smoking and brain damage

New research which suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry. Researchers, led by Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC), have found that a compound in tobacco provokes white blood cells in the central nervous system to attack healthy cells, leading to severe neurological damage.

23 Jun 2009

Obama signs anti-smoking measure

President Barack Obama in the Rose Garden with a number of lawmakers and other guests today "signed the strongest anti-smoking measure ever, calling it an extraordinary accomplishment that will help keep children from getting hooked on cigarettes," the Associated Press reports (6/22).

22 Jun 2009

Study exposes tobacco industry's ‘shonky’ behaviour

Researchers in the United States have revealed that tobacco companies have continually changed the ingredients and the design of their cigarettes over time without alerting smokers.

21 Jun 2009

Study shows school-based prevention program reduces problem behaviors in fifth-graders

A study suggests that school-based prevention programs begun in elementary school can significantly reduce problem behaviors in students. Fifth graders who previously participated in a comprehensive interactive school prevention program for one to four years were about half as likely to engage in substance abuse, violent behavior, or sexual activity as those who did not take part in the program.

18 Jun 2009

A long ‘to-do’ list for FDA Chief Hamburg

The Washington Post details Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg’s to-do list, noting that during her brief tenure the agency has announced nearly-daily warnings about various consumer products and created an internal task force to recommend ways to release more information about FDA decisions and policies.

18 Jun 2009

Six 'major health agencies' form alliance to address chronic diseases in developing countries

A group of "major health agencies" from Australia, Canada, China, the U.K. and the U.S., which "together control 80 percent of the world's public health-research funding," have joined together to form the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) to combat chronic diseases in developing countries, Time reports (Walsh, Time, 6/16).

17 Jun 2009