Brain Scan Study of Smokers Reveals Signature of Craving
Not all smokers are alike when it comes to cravings, and a new study conducted by researchers at Duke University Medical Center suggests the difference may lie in their brains' sensitivity to drug cues. The researchers found that smokers who report a greater urge to smoke after a period of abstinence also exhibit stronger brain activity after viewing smoking-related images, such as others smoking...Successful lung cancer surgery not enough to break nicotine dependence in many smokers
A new study has found that close to half of 154 smokers who had surgery to remove early stage lung cancer picked up a cigarette again within 12 months of their potentially curative operation, and more than one-third were smoking at the one year mark. Sixty percent of patients who started smoking again did so within two months of surgery. The study, led by researchers at Washington Univers...Many smokers fail to quit after cancer diagnosis
A new report says despite a growing body of evidence that continued smoking after a cancer diagnosis has substantial adverse effects on treatment effectiveness, overall survival, risk of other cancers, and quality of life, up to one-half of cancer patients who smoke continue to do so or relapse after trying to quit. The report, published in the January 1, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-revi...New MRI technique shows emphysema in asymptomatic smokers
-A new imaging method has revealed early signs of emphysema in smokers with no external symptoms of the disease, according to a study published in the June issue of Radiology. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, details a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that appears to be much more sensitive to lung changes than even the current modality of choice, computed t...Smokers invite to test vaccine against nicotine addiction
UCSF's Habit Abatement Clinic is testing a vaccine that enlists help from the immune system to keep nicotine away from the brain. The vaccine is designed to help smokers quit and to limit the urge to start smoking again. Called NicVax, the investigational vaccine is being developed by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals to prevent and treat nicotine addiction and to help people quit smoking. Normally...Half of world's children are passive smokers - damning disclosure from WHO
The world health organisation has come out with a damning disclosure that half the world's children are passive smoke. In a message on "No Tobacco Day 2001," World Health Organization chief Gro Harlem Brundtland said 700 million children were exposed to the health hazard because most governments still allowed smoking in public places. She added that scientists around the world agreed that there w...Glaxo launches pills to help smokers quit in 7-12 weeks
GLAXO SmithKline India has launched an oral treatment for smoking, called Zyban. The pill (generic - Bupropion Hydrochloride) is reportedly the first product aimed at stopping smoking and is available at Rs. 40 per tablet. Speaking to newspersons, Mr. Kalyanasundaram, Director (Pharmaceuticals), Glaxo India Ltd, said the complete treatment osts about Rs. 5000 and takes about 7-12 weeks....Pregnant smokers could harm their child
The children of women who smoke during pregnancy are predisposed to experimenting with tobacco at a young age, claim researchers. Among 10-year-olds who said they had experimented with cigarettes in a survey, the majority had mothers who had smoked while pregnant. The researchers at the University of Pittsburgh say the link may be caused by damage done to the foetus by tobacco smoke while i...Smokers children likely to develop caries
Children whose parents smoke are more prone to develop dental caries, according to a study from the University of Rochester's Strong Children's Research Center.//"This study should serve as a pragmatic wake-up call to parents who still don't see the danger in smoking around their children," said pediatrician Andrew Aligne, M.D., 3,873 children participated in the survey. The childre...