Smoking

Siddhartha Mukherjee talks about his book on Cancer

Washington: Indian American cancer specialist Siddhartha Mukherjee, whose very first book has become a runaway success, advocates a strong anti-smoking campaign and breast cancer screening to battle the growing incidence of the disease in India. Less than a month after publication, Mukherjee's book, "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer", on the history of the disease, features among "The 10 Best Books of 2010" in the New York...  

Obama working very hard on his smoking habits

Washington: US President Barack Obama is working very hard on his smoking habits and has not been seen smoking in probably nine months, a White House spokesman said on Friday. "I've not seen or witnessed evidence of any smoking in probably nine months," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said at his daily news briefing. "This is not something that he's proud of. He knows that it's not good for...  

Secondhand smoke tied to kids' poor mental health

New York: The evidence is piling up that parents who smoke really should quit - or at least not smoke at home, a study said. Children who breathe secondhand smoke are more likely to struggle with mental health problems, especially hyperactivity and "bad" behavior, according to the study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. While the findings add urgency to the push for parents to quit smoking...  

Surgeon general: 1 cigarette is 1 too many

Washington: Think the occasional cigarette won't hurt? Even a bit of social smoking - or inhaling someone else's secondhand smoke - could be enough to block your arteries and trigger a heart attack, says the newest surgeon general's report on the killer the nation just can't kick. Lung cancer is what people usually fear from smoking, and yes, that can take years to strike. But Thursday's report says there's no...  

When the state paid, people stopped smoking

Washington: When Massachusetts started paying for stop-smoking treatments, people not only kicked the habit but also had fewer heart attacks, researchers reported on Tuesday in the first study to show a clear payoff from investing in smoking prevention efforts. Smoking dropped by 10 percent among clients of Medicaid, the state health insurance plan for the poor, and nearly 40 percent of Medicaid patients who smoked used benefits to get nicotine...  

Leniency on R-rated films linked to kids' smoking

New York: Kids whose parents let them watch R-rated movies may be up to three times more likely to start smoking compared to their more restricted peers, according to a new study. The Dutch and U.S. researchers suggest that parents' leniency regarding movies could trigger smoking both by exposing kids to actors showcasing the habit and by simply opening the door to more thrill-seeking risky behaviors. "By being strict regarding...  

Quitting smoking improves your mood

London: Many smokers reach for a cigarette to ease their anxiety during stressful periods. But US researchers have found that quitting smoking makes people happier, and the effect lasts for as long as they manage to kick the habit. The team from Brown University and the University of Southern California said it showed quitting is not, as many smokers fear, a psychological sacrifice made for the sake of their physical...  

Cabinet to decide on tobacco industry request

New Delhi: Union cabinet is likely to take a decision on a request from the tobacco industry to increase the duration of display of a set of pictorial warning in cigarette and other tobacco products. The Union Health Ministry approached the Cabinet for a direction in this regard to seek clarity about the demands being made by other ministries who are facing the brunt of decrease in tobacco production in...  

Passive smoking kills 6 lakh people every year

London: Passive smoking kills over 600,000 people, including more than 165,000 children under five, every year in the world, according to a new study. The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, is the first to estimate worldwide impact of passive smoking. It found more than half of the deaths are from heart disease, followed by deaths from cancer, lung infections, asthma and other ailments. Researchers who analysed data...  

Guzaarish: Ash's cigarette act creates storm

Panaji: Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who will be seen lighting up in her forthcoming release Guzaarish, has set the anti-tobacco lobby aflame with anger. "The display of the posters showing Aishwarya smoking raises worries in our mind that they could be trend-setters," said a statement released on Tuesday by Dr. Shekhar Salkar, general secretary of the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE). He said the group has written to...  

"Evening types" more likely to smoke: study

New York: Night owls may be more likely than early birds to smoke, and less likely to kick the habit over time, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among more than 23,000 twin pairs followed for up to 30 years, those who described themselves as "evening types" -- usually alert at night and bleary-eyed in the morning -- were more likely to be current smokers and less likely to...  

Fight against Tobacco, the silent killer

Nearly 0.9 million tobacco-related deaths occur in India annually as compared to 5.5 million world wide. ...

Most Indian smokers use tobacco at 17: poll

New Delhi: More than a third of Indians regularly chew or smoke tobacco, reveals the Global Adult Tobacco Survey of India released by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday. "Eight to ten lakh people die of tobacco related diseases every year and this reflects a higher mortality than the combined deaths resulting from other major diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV AIDS and malaria," Azad added. Nearly 0.9 million...  

Half of cardiac patients in India are below 40

Mumbai: Here’s a shocker on the World Heart Day -- doctors in India say almost half their cardiac patients today are below 40! More than 2 million Indians died of cardiac related problems last year. And 23-year-old Pramod never saw any warning signs. Pramod, who had a heart attack at the age of 23, said: “It was my 23rd birthday and I was returning home from my party. Suddenly, I...  

Drink, smoke more, says Russian Minister

New York: Russia's Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Wednesday asked citizens to smoke and drink more, saying that higher consumption would help lift tax revenues for spending on social services. "If you smoke a pack of cigarettes, that means you are giving more to help solve social problems such as boosting demographics, developing other social services and upholding birth rates," Kudrin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency....  

Nicotine linked to breast cancer for first time

London: Nicotine that makes smoking addictive is one of the chemicals in cigarettes that can trigger breast cancer, says a new research. Normal cigarettes are known to contain at least 60 cancer-causing compounds, including carbon monoxide, tar and arsenic, but until now nicotine had not been on the list, reports the Daily Mail. Researchers looked at both breast cancer cells and normal cells to see if nicotine spurred tumour growth...  

Give up smoking for better sex life: Study

Hong Kong: Giving up smoking can dramatically improve flagging sex lives, according to a study conducted by a Hong Kong university. The University of Hong Kong study found 53.8 per cent of smokers being treated for impotence said that their problems eased within six months of stubbing out their nicotine habits. That figure compared to just 28.1 percent of men treated for erectile dysfunction who continued smoking, meaning quitters have...  

Hrithik Roshan kicks the butt

The actor announced his decision on Twitter ...  

Quit-smoking drug linked to suicides

Melbourne: Many smokers who take pills to quit the habit have developed suicidal tendencies and at least 15 have committed suicide while on medication since 2008, Australian drug-control authority has said. Hundreds of people have considered killing themselves while taking the popular quit-smoking pill Champix and 15 have in fact committed suicide, the statistics show. In an update sent to doctors, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said 206 "suicide-related events"...  

Nutrients may be why some smokers avoid cancer

Smokers who have higher levels of vitamin B6 and certain essential proteins in their blood have a lower risk of getting lung cancer. ...