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December 3, 2008 12:59:14 PM CST

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14 Stories

Fewer Than 20% of US Adults Smoke, a First

Rate drops, though 43M still light up; 443K die yearly as result

Reuters Reuters Nov 13, 08 2:10 PM CST
(Newser) - Smoking in the US is at its lowest since cigarettes became widespread after World War I, Reuters reports, with fewer than 20% of adults in the country lighting up—the lowest figure on record. Observers credit the gradual decline to awareness, bans on smoking in public places, and prohibitive taxation. Still, smoking is estimated to kill 443,000 people a year. More »

More about:  smoking • tobacco • lung cancer • CDC • smoking cessation • cigarette • American Cancer Society • World War I • decline

FDA May Strengthen Chantix Label

Anti-smoking drug linked to more seizures, accidents

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal Oct 22, 08 5:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - The FDA may beef up its warning for the anti-smoking drug Chantix after an increase in the number of serious incidents linked to the drug, the Wall Street Journal reports. A drug-safety group tallied 1,001 reports of patients suffering seizures, blackouts, and loss of motor control—some while driving—in three months. The figure is more than the combined total of incidents linked to the top 10 prescription drugs. More »

More about:  FDA • drug companies • Pfizer • smoking cessation • side effects • Chantix

'Ex' Smoker Obama Still Lights Up

He 'fesses to bumming cigs when pressure trumps fight to stay fit

People People Oct 9, 08 2:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - It's not easy staying healthy during a grueling campaign, admits Barack Obama, who even fesses up to bumming a few cigarettes. He still manages to squeeze in six 45-minute workouts per week—but the ex-smoker admits giving in to temptation and sucking down the  occasional coffin nail, Obama tells Men's Health . He advises would-be quitters to eliminate key smoking connections, like smoking after a meal. More »

More about:  Barack Obama • Election 2008 • smoking • smoking cessation • cigarette

 E-Cigs Not Safe: WHO 

Devices sold as smoking treatment

Reuters Reuters Sep 20, 08 7:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - Electronic cigarettes are untested and possibly unsafe, the WHO said today. The device—a mock cigarette that releases a fine mist of nicotine, sans fire—has been sold over the internet as a smoking cessation aid, Reuters reports. The problem is that it could release, besides nicotine, “many other toxic compounds which we are not sure of," warns the director of the WHO’s anti-smoking initiative. More »

More about:  smoking • regulation • World Health Organization • smoking cessation • cigarette

 Peer Pressure
 Helps Snuff Habit 

Researchers see group ripple effect for people trying to stop smoking

New York Times New York Times May 22, 08 9:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - New research shows people quit smoking not as individuals but in complex social clusters, each strongly influencing the others. Friends, spouses, relatives, and other social contacts all exercise an overwhelming sway over individual decisions to quit. The study covered 58,000 people from 1971 to 2003, the New York Times reports, when smoking declined precipitously across the US. More »

More about:  smoking • smoking cessation • Harvard Medical School • National Institute on Aging

Quit-Smoking Drug Linked to Heart Trouble, Dizziness

FAA bans pilots and air controllers from using Chantix after report

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal May 22, 08 7:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pfizer smoking-cessation drug Chantix has been linked to nearly a thousand serious incidents in the last quarter of 2007, the Wall Street Journal reports. A report from a drug safety group found that some users of the drug—already linked to depression and suicide—suffered heart trouble, diabetes, or accidents caused by dizziness and confusion. More »

More about:  FDA • Pfizer • pharmaceutical • smoking cessation • medication • side effects • drug safety • Chantix

Quit Sooner, Live Longer

Newly minted nonsmokers see benefits almost immediately

WebMD WebMD May 7, 08 2:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Smokers who kick the habit see their risk of dying drop drastically after 5 years, and their risk level nears that of nonsmokers within 20 years, new research finds. In a study that followed 100,000 women over 3 decades, researchers recorded a 13% drop in death from all causes for ex-smokers 5 years after their last puffs, WebMD reports. More »

More about:  public health • heart disease • smoking • lung cancer • smoking cessation • health risks

Closet Smokers Might Get Canned

Factory workers who lied on insurance
forms may lose jobs

Associated Press Associated Press Apr 23, 08 4:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - A group of factory workers who lied about their smoking habits could be fired. The Whirlpool company charges lower premiums for health insurance to nonsmoking workers—and relies on the honor code when employees sign up. Now 39 workers at an Indiana factory have been suspended and face losing their jobs after being spotted smoking or chewing, reports the AP. More »

More about:  smoking • health insurance • smoking cessation • workers' rights • Whirlpool

 Best Ways to Avoid Cancer 

LiveScience identifies healthy behaviors that reduce risk

LiveScience LiveScience Apr 8, 08 7:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - It's not all in the genes: About half of all cancer deaths are preventable, says the American Cancer Society. Follow LiveScience's 10 healthy behaviors to reduce risk: Quit smoking! Limit alcohol consumption to one drink per day for women, two drinks per day for men (and no, you can't "save them up" for the weekend). More »

More about:  diet • exercise • smoking cessation • American Cancer Society • cancer prevention • healthy habits

Your Boyfriend Does Mind
If You Smoke

German man turns
fire extinguisher on girlfriend, cigarette

Der Spiegel Der Spiegel Feb 19, 08 12:09 PM CST
(Newser) - A German man was so sick of his girlfriend's smoking that he turned a fire extinguisher on her, Der Spiegel reports. The 42-year-old gave a few warning shouts before spraying the apartment the two share, and he hadn't stopped yelling by the time police arrived to escort him to the station. More »

More about:  Germany • smoking • smoking cessation • cigarette

Smoking Deaths Rocket in India

Study predicts 1 million will die annually from tobacco-related illnesses

BBC BBC Feb 14, 08 11:05 AM CST
(Newser) - Tobacco use is the smoking gun in 900,000 deaths annually in India, and the numbers are on the rise as the nation grapples with its epidemic-scale cigarette addiction, reports the BBC. At least 1 million Indians will die annually from smoking-related illnesses in the next decade unless the nation takes action soon, warns a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. More »

More about:  India • public health • smoking • cigarettes • tobacco • smoking cessation

Anti-Smoking Poster Boy Still Lights Up

'I'm afraid to quit' despite amputation, heart attacks, stroke

ABC News ABC News Jan 12, 08 7:26 PM CST
(Newser) - New Yorkers have grown to know Skip Legault's face well from anti-smoking ads in the subway and on TV over the past few weeks. A smoker since he was eight, Legault has lost a leg to blood clots, suffered two heart attacks in his twenties, and had a debilitating stroke. Worst of all, ABC reports, he can't quit—a detail not made clear in the ad campaign. More »

More about:  health • heart disease • smoking • cigarettes • tobacco • smoking cessation • amputation

Healthy Steps Add 14 Years to Your Life

Exercise, don't smoke, go easy on drinking, and eat your veggies

LiveScience LiveScience Jan 9, 08 7:43 PM CST
(Newser) - Doing all those things you know you should be doing already can add 14 years to your life, a new study says. People who exercise, don't smoke, limit drinking, and eat fruits and vegetables lead longer lives by that amount, LiveScience reports. The European study is said to be the first to look at the combined benefits of those four healthy habits. More »

More about:  health • diet • exercise • smoking cessation

Firms Help Workers Kick Butts

Seeking savings, employers offer programs, incentives

New York Times New York Times Oct 26, 07 10:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - Smoking, everybody's favorite target, is now drawing fire from employers looking to cut medical costs by helping workers kick the habit, the New York Times reports. Employers gain significantly when employees quit, because a typical smoker racks up $16,000 in additional lifetime medical costs and saps productivity with smoking breaks and absenteeism. More »

More about:  health care • smoking • health insurance • lung cancer • health care reform • smoking ban • smoking cessation

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