Smoking Cessation News and Research

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Call for more COPD screening for smokers

Screening smokers with spirometry for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease picks up more cases than symptom-based detection, research suggests.

22 Jan 2013

Current smokers with HIV more likely to get bacterial pneumonia

Bacterial pneumonia is one of the commonest and most serious infections occurring in people infected with HIV. A metanalysis of cohort and case control studies published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine finds that current smokers with HIV were at double the risk of bacterial pneumonia than non-smoking counterparts, but that when people stopped smoking their risk was reduced.

21 Jan 2013

Reviews show little evidence of widespread efficacy of mobile health interventions

"Mobile phone technology is frequently heralded as a solution to many health challenges facing the developing world, but two systematic reviews have found that evidence to back such claims is still largely non-existent," SciDev.Net reports.

17 Jan 2013

EHR implementation with technical support can improve patient care in small physician practices: Study

The relationship between a physician practice's adoption of electronic health records (EHR) and quality improvements in patient care remains unclear.

7 Jan 2013

Prompt smoking cessation important for patients to receive CABG

Smoking cessation even a year prior to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery does not fully normalize the changes smoking has made to the saphenous (leg) veins used for the surgery and may lead to later graft failure, according to a study published in the January 2013 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

2 Jan 2013

Study shows dramatic underuse of basic medical therapy

Patients who quit smoking and took an aspirin and statin before undergoing treatment for blocked leg arteries were less likely to suffer a complication six months later, according to new research led by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center.

21 Dec 2012

Findings emphasize importance of counseling HIV patients on smoking cessation

Among HIV patients receiving well-organized care with free access to antiretroviral therapy, those who smoke lose more years of life to smoking than to HIV, according to a Danish study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online. The findings highlight the importance of smoking cessation efforts in the long-term, integrated care of patients infected with HIV.

19 Dec 2012

Study finds coverage to help kick smoking can be tricky

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: Most people who smoke want to quit, and the 2010 health-care law is supposed to make it easier for them by requiring many insurance plans to cover smoking-cessation treatments with no out-of-pocket cost to members.

19 Dec 2012

Dyslipidaemia: an interview with Prof. Peter Kokkinos

Dyslipidemia is defined as abnormal levels of blood lipids (fats) and cholesterol. The most common dyslipidaemias are high blood cholesterol (Total Cholesterol) and triglyceride levels, high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (‘bad’ cholesterol) and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (‘good’ cholesterol).

17 Dec 2012

Genesee Health Plan joins Disparities and Cardiac Health Program initiative

MPRO, Michigan's Quality Improvement Organization, announced that Genesee Health Plan is joining its Disparities and Cardiac Health Program, a special project headed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

15 Dec 2012

Kaiser Permanente suggests simple steps to improve overall health

Kaiser Permanente Southern California wants you to take a 12 minute break and think about how you're going to achieve total health this New Year to become a better you!

12 Dec 2012

Naltrexone may help avoid weight gain among women smokers

A medication being tested to help smokers kick the habit also may help avoid the weight gain that is common after quitting but only in women, according to a study published in the December issue of Biological Psychiatry. This is the first medication shown to reduce weight gain for up to one year in women smokers who quit.

11 Dec 2012

States cut anti-tobacco efforts despite record revenue from taxes, national settlement

States spend less than 2 percent of what they collect from tobacco taxes and a national tobacco settlement on smoking cessation and prevention efforts, a new report says.

7 Dec 2012

Smoking cessation support: an interview with Robyn Whittaker

Tobacco smoking involves a physiological addiction to nicotine for a lot of people. Quitting can cause some nasty symptoms due to the withdrawal of nicotine.

5 Dec 2012

Health People comments on PEPFAR Blueprint for an AIDS Free World

The Obama Administration's PEPFAR "Blueprint for an AIDS Free World" released yesterday by U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is an impressive and welcome roadmap forward," said Chris Norwood, Executive Director of Health People, Inc. in the South Bronx, where 2% of the adult population has HIV/AIDS.

1 Dec 2012

Smoking and tobacco-cessation campaign to be launched by Texas and Mexico institutions

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the National Institute of Cancer of the United Mexican States, and the Commission of National Institutes and High Specialty Hospitals joined forces today in Mexico City, signing an agreement to develop prevention and control programs to reduce tobacco use in the United States and Mexico, with a focus on Mexican and Mexican-American youth.

30 Nov 2012

First Edition: November 27, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about how increasing the Medicare eligibility age and making other entitlement program changes are a part of the ongoing "fiscal cliff" discourse.

27 Nov 2012

Study examines reasons why smoking is not treated in many cancer patients

It's a sad but familiar scene near the grounds of many medical campuses: hospital-gowned patients, some toting rolling IV poles, huddled in clumps under bus shelters or warming areas, smoking cigarettes.

27 Nov 2012

Behavioural support programme to make TB patients quit smoking receives BUPA Foundation prize

The BUPA Foundation has awarded a high commendation prize for research led by the University of York into effective ways of helping tuberculosis patients in Pakistan to give up smoking.

23 Nov 2012

Pregnant women with mental health disorders face too many barriers to stop smoking

Pregnant women with mental health disorders are facing too many barriers to help them quit smoking during pregnancy despite their willingness to accept support, finds a new study published today (21 November) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

21 Nov 2012