The court-ordered publication of “corrective statements” by major U.S. tobacco companies later this month should serve as a reminder that tobacco addiction remains a major health problem in the country and that Big Tobacco has a long history of marketing practices aimed at hooking a new generation on a lethal product, according to an editorial published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
New research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine suggests that the system for choosing transplant recipients in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may underestimate how long a person might survive without a lung transplant and therefore, may mislead clinicians.
When low-income adults were newly covered by Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), they were more likely to quit smoking cigarettes than their counterparts in states that did not offer Medicaid expansion. The findings support a policy-driven approach to reduce high smoking rates among low-income adults by giving greater access to smoking cessation programs.
Two studies by UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers reveal trends in the marketing practices, pricing, delivery methods and other features of online e-cigarette vendors.
A national survey of more than 200 pediatric primary care physicians found that while over three-quarters addressed at least one parental health issue, such as maternal depression or parental tobacco use, during child health visits and a majority recognized the impact of such issues on children’s health, fewer felt responsible for addressing them.
There is a general perception among the public that e-cigarettes or vaping products are safer than conventional cigarettes. While smoking has fallen significantly, public health questions arise about vaping, especially about youth usage and other vulnerable populations. New research presented at the 2017 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Conference suggests a link between VPN use, now a $3.5 billion industry, and neurotoxicity, immune cell suppression, and cardiovascular disease.
Rural counties continue to rank lowest among counties across the U.S., in terms of health outcomes. A group of national organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National 4-H Council are leading the way to close the rural health gap.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute found that a previously dismissed genetic mechanism may contribute to nicotine dependence, and to the withdrawal effects that can make quitting smoking so difficult.
New research presented today at APHA’s 2017 Annual Meeting and Expo examined the effect of marijuana use and dependence on life achievement in young adults.
Online social networks designed to help smokers kick the tobacco habit are effective, especially if users are active participants, according to a new study from the University of Iowa and the Truth Initiative, a nonprofit anti-tobacco organization.
Many people who smoke or chew tobacco can’t seem to escape nicotine’s addictive properties. Studies show that women in particular seem to have a harder time quitting, even with assistance, when compared to men. Now, scientists report in a mouse study published in ACS’ journal Chemical Research in Toxicology that the difference in gender smoking patterns and smoking’s effects could be due to how nicotine impacts the brain-gut relationship.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is one of 29 sites participating in a national study to determine whether a daily transdermal nicotine patch will have a positive effect on attention and early memory impairment in older adults diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Paul Newhouse, M.D., director of the Center for Cognitive Medicine at VUMC is the national director of the study.
As more states consider legalizing recreational marijuana, University of Colorado researchers are launching a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to examine the impact legalization has on career fulfillment, family life, and substance use.
Alfgeir Kristjansson, an assistant professor in WVU’s School of Public Health, is studying data related to teen substance abuse in West Virginia. In 2016, his findings showed that at one high school in Wood County, 27 percent of students had smoked cigarettes, 41 percent had consumed alcohol and 20 percent had smoked marijuana.
Recently many college campuses around the country have banned the use of vaping nicotine products (VPNs) and e-cigarettes. A new study published in Risk Analysis: An International Journal found that people’s opinions of public vaping, are heavily influenced by what they see around them, how risky they think it is and what they think about addiction.
Despite prevention efforts, researchers have found a significant increase over a 10-year period in the percentage of people with stroke who have high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and other risk factors for stroke. The study is published in the October 11, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A new study on cannabis use that involved 1,136 patients (from 18 to 40 years of age) with mental illnesses who had been seen five times during the year after discharge from a psychiatric hospital demonstrates that sustained used of cannabis is associated with an increase in violent behaviour in young people. Moreover, the association between persistent cannabis use and violence is stronger than that associated with alcohol or cocaine.
Individualized medicine — the concept of matching medical care precisely to each patient’s genes, lifestyle and environment is no longer just a theory. Experts in individualized medicine — also known as personalized or precision medicine — will be in Rochester Oct. 9-10, presenting the latest ways to apply precision medicine to all patients. They are available for interviews on groundbreaking discoveries at Individualizing Medicine 2017: Advancing Care Through Genomics, which will be held at Mayo Civic Center.
Up to 6.6 million cigarette smokers will live substantially longer if cigarette smoking is replaced by vaping over a ten-year period, calculates a research team led by investigators from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. In all, cigarette smokers who switch to e-cigarettes could live 86.7 million more years with policies that encourage cigarette smokers to switch completely to e-cigarettes.
If the minimum age for buying tobacco legally were changed to 21, it could save more than 35,000 lives in Texas, 15,000 in Florida and more than 12,000 in Michigan by 2100, according to a new web application.
A new UCLA study found that healthy nonsmokers experienced increased adrenaline levels in their heart after one electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) with nicotine.
The findings are published in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
A new study by scientists in the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions has shown that pregnant smokers are more likely to quit if they can learn to manage negative emotions that lead to smoking.
The number one cause of preventable death is on the decline, but not for everyone. A new report led by a West Virginia University public health expert shows that despite a drop in cigarette smoking nationwide, minority groups are at higher risk for tobacco-related diseases than others.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have preliminary evidence in laboratory-grown, human airway cells that a condensed form of cigarette smoke triggers so-called “epigenetic” changes in the cells consistent with the earliest steps toward lung cancer development.
Frequent e-cigarette use does help smokers quit — a finding that researchers say supports the use of e-cigarettes as a cessation aid for those trying to quit cigarette smoking. But, they note, an examination of a recent national survey uncovers important clues about who’s successful at quitting and why.
If you're a smoker considering cosmetic surgery, your plastic surgeon will likely require you to stop smoking for at least two weeks before your procedure. A long-term follow-up study finds that many patients receiving these instructions will quit smoking, or at least smoke less, in the years after cosmetic surgery, reports the September issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
According to a recent study led by The University of Kansas Cancer Center researchers, a high proportion of smokers enrolled in bedside tobacco cessation programs who said they had quit were misreporting their smoking status.
Doctors believe there is some good to be found in nicotine, the highly addictive drug in tobacco products. Lung experts at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are testing whether nicotine can help people with a chronic inflammatory lung disease called sarcoidosis.
Because cigarettes are inherently and inescapably harmful and deadly to smokers and to exposed nonusers there cannot be any public health justification for tobacco company efforts to encourage nonsmokers to begin smoking – or for FDA to continue allowing tobacco companies to do so, says Eric Lindblom, former director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products Office of Policy.
A history of smoking significantly increases the chance that survivors will experience recurrence of a brain aneurysm, according to a University of Michigan study. Researchers say it’s a serious reminder about the importance of smoking cessation, especially for patients who undergo endovascular aneurysm treatment.
A new study suggests that a single exposure to e-cigarette (e-cig) vapor may be enough to impair vascular function. Researchers from West Virginia University will present findings today at the Cardiovascular Aging: New Frontiers and Old Friends meeting in Westminster, Colo.
University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center researchers performed a population-level analysis of national surveys conducted from 2001 to 2015 and found that in the United States the smoking cessation rate increased for the first time in 15 years. The study suggests e-cigarettes helped users of the electronic devices to quit smoking traditional cigarettes
African-Americans typically have worse outcomes from smoking-related cancers than Caucasians, but the reasons for this remain elusive. However, scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have taken a big step toward solving this puzzle.
It’s no secret that university life often includes alcohol use, which can sometimes cause harm. Yet harm can also extend beyond the drinker, such as “secondhand harm” that is caused by intoxicated people: accidents or domestic, physical, or sexual violence; interrupted sleep or property destruction; and arguments, problems with relationships, or financial problems. Prior research suggests that more than 70 percent of college undergraduates have experienced harm from other students’ drinking. This study examined the prevalence and types of secondhand harm among Canadian undergraduates, and whether certain personality risks for alcohol use disorder – impulsivity, sensation seeking, hopelessness, anxiety sensitivity – can predict secondhand-harm exposure.
New ACS quality improvement program is linked to a two-thirds decrease in the rate of smoking in patients undergoing cervical and lumbar spine procedures.
Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) who quit smoking will see their condition improve over a period of about 10 years, according to the results of a new study led by the Sinus Center at Mass. Eye and Ear.
A novel project led by the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, and funded by The Greenwall Foundation, will develop the most ethically appropriate, legally viable interpretations of a critical eight-word phrase in the Federal Tobacco Control Act, in addition to other related passages.
Virginia Ramseyer-Winter, assistant professor of social work, found negative body image is associated with increased tobacco and alcohol use, with implications for both young men and women.
The long list of conditions that smoking can cause, contribute to, increase the risk of or worsen runs from high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and stroke to gum disease, arthritis and erectile dysfunction.
Scientists have known for decades that smoking cigarettes causes DNA damage, which leads to lung cancer. Now, for the first time, UNC School of Medicine scientists created a method for effectively mapping that DNA damage at high resolution across the genome.
People who regularly use electronic cigarettes are less dependent on their product than those who regularly use traditional cigarettes, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
While tobacco control advocates are pushing for "a kind of prohibition" on cigarettes, the cannabis community is doing quite the opposite, researchers say.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center and Children’s Mercy Twitter #NoTobaccoChat focused on changing the way healthcare providers treat tobacco dependence.
In a new study published recently in Tobacco Control, Penn researchers found that health warning labels that include images or Pictorial Warning Labels (PWLs) are more effective in gaining and holding the attention of smokers when the image and the text convey similar risks.
On World No Tobacco Day 2017, the American Academy of Nursing announces the designation of Linda Sarna, dean of the UCLA School of Nursing and her collaborator Stella Aguinaga Bialous, associate professor at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing, as Academy Edge Runners for their model, Tobacco Free Nurses (TFN).
In an ATS 2017 International Conference first, respiratory health professionals and patients joined other conference attendees at a rally near the Capitol on Tuesday, May 23 to voice their concerns about recent policies that threaten to undermine many of the ATS’s advocacy priorities including: research funding, tobacco regulation, affordable health care, and clean air. Also participating in the rally was U.S. senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Tom Carper (D-DE).WASHINGTON, DC – May 24, 2017 – In an ATS 2017 International Conference first, respiratory health professionals and patients joined other conference attendees at a rally near the Capitol on Tuesday, May 23 to voice their concerns about recent policies that threaten to undermine many of the ATS’s advocacy priorities including: research funding, tobacco regulation, affordable health care, and clean air. Also participating in the rally was U.S. senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Tom Carper (D-DE).
Since its inception in 1905,
In a new study, CT-measured vascular pruning – the diminution of distal pulmonary blood vessels (vessels on the outer edges of the lungs) – was associated with increased risk of death in smokers without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The study was presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.
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