Tag Archive
New technique reduces tobacco smoke damage to lungs in mice
Researchers in Australia have demonstrated that blocking a certain protein can reduce or prevent cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation in mice. Inflammation underlies the disease process of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and many other smoking-related ailments.
The findings have been published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and [...]
Smoking has Immediate, Adverse Effects on the Body
The World Health Organization calls tobacco the leading cause of preventable death in the world. In December, the WHO launched a campaign against cigarette smoking in Africa, saying a rapidly growing population is creating “larger and more accessible markets” on the continent for tobacco companies.
While the risks of cancer and heart disease are generally well-known, [...]
How to Quit Nervous Habits
You know you shouldn’t, but you just can’t help it.
Whether it’s nail-biting, thumb-sucking or overeating, nervous habits plague many individuals, who just can’t seem to stop. But why do we engage in these behaviors, and can they have detrimental effects?
Here’s a look at some of the most common compulsions, as well as ways to make [...]
American Lung Association Offers Seven Tips to Quit Smoking in the New Year
Many people will make New Year’s resolutions to quit smoking this year. With a still uncertain economy, quitting smoking is good both for your health and your wallet. Having a solid smoking cessation plan can greatly improve a person’s chance for success. The American Lung Association offers tips and resources that have helped thousands of [...]
5 things you should know about tobacco
NEW YORK MILLS — Anti-smoking advocate Rick Stoddard wants you to know the toll tobacco takes on lives and families.
Stoddard lost his wife, Marie Stoddard, at the age of 46 to lung cancer caused by the cigarettes she started smoking at age 13.
“I re-live my wife’s death over and over again in the hopes that [...]
Dieting while quitting smoking can work better
Smokers who know they should quit for their health often balk because they don’t want to gain weight – and a new health problem – once cigarettes’ appetite-suppressing nicotine leaves their bodies. Quitting smoking while starting a weight-control program may seem like a recipe for failure, and guidelines for doctors discourage embarking on both simultaneously. [...]
OSDH Issues Warning on Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke
Based on a major new report issued by the Institute of Medicine that concludes avoiding exposure to tobacco smoke reduces heart attack deaths, the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is warning Oklahomans with heart disease or with elevated risk for heart disease to avoid places where smoking is allowed indoors.
“The Institute of Medicine [...]
Doctor’s Word–Tips to Escape the Smoking Trap
Giving up the addictive habit of tobacco is extremely difficult, and Jones’ success depended on the help of a counselor, smoking cessation classes, nicotine replacement patches, and the support of a friend. Here are some things that helped Jones, as well as tips I’ve garnered over the years as a primary care physician.
To succeed at [...]
Sex problems high among pot smokers
MEN who regularly smoke cannabis may be prematurely stubbing out their sex lives, Australian research shows.
Men who smoked pot daily were found to be four times more likely to have trouble reaching orgasm than men who did not inhale, according to the La Trobe University study.
Other daily male cannabis smokers experienced premature ejaculation at [...]
Tobacco sales to minors hit record low
Tobacco sales to California minors dropped to a record low of 8.6 percent this year, state health officials announced Tuesday.
That’s down from 12.6 percent last year and 37 percent in 1995.
“I am very pleased to see the continued drop in tobacco sales to minors,” Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, [...]
Guit smoking: Several tries usually needed before success
Unlike President Barack Obama, Eric Wolbert has been a non-smoker for 30 days.
He quit his pack-a-day habit because he has watched cigarettes hurt too many people, including his grandparents, who died of lung cancer, he said.
Wolbert signed up for a seven-week group therapy program called “Freedom From Smoking” at Washington University in St. Louis.
This is [...]
Nearly any lifetime smoking ups breast cancer risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women taking the next puff of a cigarette might consider this: smoking 100 or more cigarettes may substantially increase their odds of developing breast cancer, researchers report.
Previous studies linked regular exercise, limiting alcohol intake, and avoiding postmenopausal obesity as lifestyle changes that can reduce women’s odds of developing breast cancer, [...]
Smoking ‘myth’ in need of debunking
The myth that quitting smoking is hard for mental health patients needs to be debunked, an Australian academic says.
Dr Sharon Lawn, of Flinders University in South Australia, says it is a “culturally entrenched myth” in the mental health sector that it is too hard for patients to quit smoking because of other challenges they [...]
Seeking New Smoking Cessation Target
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a scientist at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center a $275,000 grant to study a rare brain receptor that may be a new smoking cessation target.
Throughout the next two years, researcher Paul Whiteaker, PhD, and other scientists in the Barrow Neurochemistry Laboratory [...]
