Smoking Cessation News and Research

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Use of nicotine patches or Zyban drug during pregnancy benefits both mother and child

The results of a study conducted by Dr. Anick Bérard, Professor and Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé Research Chair on Medications and Pregnancy, at the University of Montreal's Faculty of Pharmacy and the Ste-Justine University Hospital demonstrate that the use of nicotine patches or the drug Zyban has positive effects for the unborn child and allows pregnant women to stop smoking during and after pregnancy.

19 Jul 2016

Study finds sex differences in smoking cessation with medications

A new study led by Assistant Medical Professor Philip Smith of The City College of New York's Sophie Davis Biomedical Education/CUNY School of Medicine, and conducted in collaboration with researchers at Yale University and Yeshiva University, found important differences between women and men in their ability to quit smoking when taking medications commonly prescribed to help smokers quit.

17 Jul 2016

UNC experts advise against routine recommendation of e-cigarettes for smokers

The health benefits of quitting smoking are widely accepted, but researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have taken issue with the suggestion that doctors should routinely recommend e-cigarettes as an alternative to cigarettes for their patients who smoke.

12 Jul 2016

New study aims to measure behaviors, attitudes of smokers who use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes

The use of electronic cigarettes ("e-cigarettes") has increased dramatically in recent years. The majority of new "vapers" were already cigarette smokers.

11 Jul 2016

NCX1 protein could help prevent progression of heart failure

A protein known to be crucial for maintaining the balance of calcium in cells could prove useful in halting the progression of heart failure.

24 Jun 2016

Young cancer survivors more likely to be current cigarette smokers

Researchers at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have found that cancer survivors who were diagnosed at adolescent and young adult ages are more likely to be current cigarette smokers than people who have not had cancer. The findings of this study are currently available in Cancer.

14 Jun 2016

$One-third of osteoporotic women taking oral bisphosphonates have elevated risk for bone fracture$

One-third of osteoporotic women taking oral bisphosphonates have elevated risk for bone fracture

More than 53 million Americans age 50 and older, primarily women, have osteoporosis or are at high risk for the condition due to low bone density. A recent study of oral bisphosphonates, the most commonly prescribed osteoporosis treatment, found that approximately a third of women prescribed these drugs continue to be at elevated risk for bone fracture, an outcome that may have several origins.

7 Jun 2016

REGARDS study shows persistence of racial disparities in stroke incidence, mortality

Blacks between the ages of 45 and 54 die of strokes at a rate that is three times greater than their white counterparts, according to the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, which looked at stroke incidence and mortality of nearly 30,000 participants over the age of 45 from an ethnically and demographically diverse sample of the U.S. population.

3 Jun 2016

Luteal phase of menstrual cycle may help thwart smoking behavior in women

Women who want to quit smoking may have better success by carefully timing their quit date with optimal days within their menstrual cycle, according to a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

1 Jun 2016

Hospital-initiated smoking cessation interventions may improve patient outcomes, decrease re-hospitalization

A new study from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, in collaboration with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, has established that greater adoption of hospital-initiated tobacco cessation interventions improve patient outcomes and decrease further healthcare utilization.

25 May 2016

Telephone-based intervention helps reduce menopause-related insomnia, hot flashes

Chatting on the phone with a "sleep coach" and keeping a nightly sleep diary significantly improve sleep quality and reduce insomnia in women through all stages of menopause, according to a new study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.

24 May 2016

Text messaging intervention may help smokers abstain from smoking relative to controls

A new study from The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine found that smokers who received a text messaging intervention were more likely to abstain from smoking relative to controls. The paper is published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research mHealth and uHealth.

24 May 2016

Counseling on child's second hand smoke exposure helps parents quit smoking

Parents who smoke are more likely to quit smoking after receiving motivational smoking cessation counseling following a "teachable moment" (TM) such as witnessing their child experience an asthma attack.

17 May 2016

Exercise may significantly lessen cervical cancer risk in women

Even 30 minutes of exercise per week has the potential to significantly reduce a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer, according to a study from scientists at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The case-control study was recently published in the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease.

11 May 2016

Nicotine metabolism linked with chronic alcohol abuse may contribute to poor smoking cessation rates

For smokers who are addicted to alcohol, chronic alcohol abuse may increase the rate of nicotine metabolism and contribute to poor smoking cessation rates. When smokers stop drinking the nicotine metabolism rates decline significantly, according to a study conducted by an international research team led by Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The research was a collaboration of scientists from Roswell Park, the University of California, San Francisco, and the Medical University of Silesia and Center of Addiction Treatment in Poland.

29 Apr 2016

Nurse scientist asks health-care systems to set patients up for mortality cliff

Longer lifespans, due to advances in medicine and public health, mean people are living longer with multiple chronic conditions.

28 Apr 2016

Bupropion, varenicline drugs do not increase risk of serious neuropsychiatric adverse events

Compared to the nicotine patch and a placebo, the smoking cessation aids varenicline (marketed as Chantix in the U.S.) and bupropion (Zyban) do not show a significant increase in neuropsychiatric adverse events, reports an international team of researchers in a study published online April 22 in the journal The Lancet.

25 Apr 2016

Research finds high prevalence of smoking, low cessation rates in people with schizophrenia

Smoking addiction in schizophrenia can be explained by significantly increased activation of the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a region involved in the brain reward system. These new data, the result of a study by researchers at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal and the University of Montreal confirms the tendency to smoke and low smoking cessation rates of people with schizophrenia.

18 Apr 2016

Stanford study reveals that smokers remain unemployed longer compared to nonsmokers

A one-year longitudinal study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine strongly suggests that smokers remain unemployed longer than nonsmokers. And when smokers do find jobs, they earn substantially less than nonsmokers.

12 Apr 2016

Breast cancer medication letrozole could increase ovulation in women with PCOS

A medicine used in breast cancer treatment is now considered the best option for treating the most common cause of infertility.

6 Apr 2016