Healthline Blogs
-
Should You Get A Chest Cat Scan?
For years, physicians have tried to figure out a way to screen for lungcancer in people who are or have been smoking. In the past we have tried everything from xrays to testingthe sputum for cancer cells. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be able t...
-
Nicotine and smoking effects on the brain
I was recently asked to review a new textbook on Nicotine Psychopharmacology, containing 18 very thorough chapters describing the latest evidence on the effects of smoking and nicotine on the brain and behavior. Much of it, though interesting, wa...
-
Smoking and suicide
It has long been known that people who smoke are at greater risk of attempting and committing suicide than people who don’t smoke. On the face of it this doesn’t seem particularly surprising as people who sometimes think that they would rather not...
-
Institute of Medicine Report: Ending the Tobacco Problem (1)
Last week the Institute of Medicine issued a 400-page report produced by its 14-member Committee on Reducing Tobacco Use, which presents a blueprint for reducing smoking so substantially over the next 20 years that it is no longer a significant pu...
-
Is cannabis smoking more harmful than cigarette smoking?
A study published in the journal, Thorax, recently hit the headlines as demonstrating that smoking a cannabis joint was at least twice as harmful to lung function as smoking a cigarette. So what are the dangers of smoking cannabis and how do these...
-
US national smoking rates flat across past 5 years.
On November 13th I commented on a new report on smoking rates and secondhand smoke exposure by state. I was relatively positive in that article, largely because my own state of New Jersey continued to show lower smoking rates (now consistently 3r...
-
A Year of Smoking Takes 3 Months Off Your Life
Last Friday (July 6th) a new paper was published in the British Medical Journal by two British experts on smoking cessation: Dr Paul Aveyard and Professor Robert West. That paper primarily aimed to inform health professionals of the best ways to h...
-
What is in cigarette smoke?
More than 4000 different chemicals have been identified in cigarette smoke. Most of us have a very basic idea that these chemicals can be harmful to health and that the mechanisms whereby this complex mixture of toxins contained in tobacco smoke l...
-
Suicidal thinking while taking varenicline or bupropion
There has been considerable discussion, including on this blog, about the potential for the latest smoking cessation medicine, varenicline (Chantix) to cause severe depression and suicidal thinking. The Food and Drug Administration issued addition...
-
The Great American Smokeout
Millions of Americans are expected to take part in the 30th anniversary of the American Cancer Society's "Great American Smokeout" tomorrow. For three decades, the third Thursday in November has been designated as a day for smokers across the Unit...
