Smoking Cessation Health Center

News Related to Smoking Cessation

'Light' Cigarettes Hurt Quit-Smoking Effort

Nov. 5, 2009 -- Want to quit smoking? Your chances may be better if you don't switch to a "light," "ultra-light," or "low-tar" cigarette before you try. In a newly published study, smokers who traded in their so-called "full-flavor" cigarettes for cigarettes with these labels made more attempts to k
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More Smokers Quit With Patches and Lozenges

Nov. 2, 2009 -- Smokers who want to kick the habit are more likely to succeed when they use a combination of long-acting and immediate-delivery nicotine-replacement products, a study shows. Study participants who used nicotine patches plus nicotine lozenges were more successful than participants who
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Smoking's Damage Swift, Irreversible

Oct. 27, 2009 -- Cigarette smoking starts inflicting “very significant” damage on the arteries with the very first puffs taken by otherwise healthy young smokers, new research shows. The damage worsens as time passes and is impossible to reverse, says researcher Stella Daskalopoulou, MD, of the McGi
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Expert Panel: Smoking Bans Save Lives

Oct. 15, 2009 -- Even limited exposure to secondhand smoke can increase the odds of heart attacks in people who have heart disease or are at risk, an expert panel report commissioned by the CDC confirms. Another major finding by the panel: Smoking bans work. “The report confirms that eliminating smo
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Phone Counseling Aids in Smoking Cessation

Oct. 12, 2009 -- Proactive telephone counseling and individually tailored motivational interviews help teen smokers kick the habit, new research indicates. Two studies, published in the Oct. 12 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, indicate smoking-cessation programs that inv
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Study: Chantix Has Little or No Suicide Risk

Oct. 1, 2009 -- The antismoking drug Chantix has been linked to suicide and suicidal thoughts, but a new study shows that if such a risk exists it is likely to be very small. Researchers from the U.K.'s drug regulatory agency and the University of Bristol compared the incidence of suicide and self-h
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FDA Bans Flavored Cigarettes

Sept. 22, 2009 -- As of today, it's illegal in the U.S. to buy or sell most flavored cigarettes. However, the FDA ban does not include the most popular cigarette flavor: menthol. It does cover every other conceivable flavor, including candy, spice, herb, cola, fruit, and coffee flavors. The flavored
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Smoking Bans Reduce Heart Attacks

Sept. 21, 2009 -- Smoking bans cut heart attacks, two separate studies show. Each of the studies combined data from all previous studies of the effects of smoking bans on heart attacks. Each came up with the same finding: Overall, smoking bans cut heart attacks by 17% -- and this effect increases ov
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Nicotine Patch 'Turns On' Itchy Feeling

Sept. 16, 2009 -- If you've tried to quit smoking using nicotine patches or similar therapies, you might have been left with an itchy feeling. Such smoking cessation aids commonly cause skin, mouth, and nose irritation. The side effects often prompt patients to stop using the products. Now researche
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Cigarette Smoking Dulls Taste

Aug. 21, 2009 -- Cigarette smoking not only causes cancer and cardiovascular disease, it also dulls taste, making food less palatable, a new study suggests. Scientists in Greece enlisted 62 young men of the country’s military forces, about half of whom were smokers, to test for taste sensitivity and
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