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New Study Shows Many Unplanned Quit Smoking Attempts Are Successful 

Data published in the journal, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, shows that many U.S. quit attempts are unplanned and can be a successful route to cessation. In the study, almost 40 percent of subjects reported that their most recent quit attempt started without any advance planning, suggesting that for some smokers, setting an advance quit date may not be as necessary as once thought.

While a period of planning prior to quitting has long been thought to allow smokers time to prepare themselves for their quit attempt, the study explores the various reasons as well as demographic and psychographic data which may contribute to a smoker deciding to quit spontaneously.

"The study examines the possibility that while quit attempts may seem like spontaneous efforts on the surface, they may actually be the result of prolonged subconscious dissatisfaction with or concern about one's smoking. The results do not discredit planning out a quit attempt, however, a smoker needs to determine what may be the best approach to ensure long-term cessation," said Dr. Saul Shiffman, professor in the departments of psychology and pharmaceutical science at the University of Pittsburgh and study co-author. "All smokers should consider ways to manage tough situations such as cravings and withdrawal symptoms to ensure long-term success."

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• Smoking--Medicines To Help You 

You are a woman. You are a smoker.

You are not alone. Approximately 18% of adult women smoke. More than half of all smokers want to quit. There is help.

Read this guide … even if you are not ready to quit now. Learn more about products and medicines to help you quit smoking. Read tips to help you make a quit smoking plan that may work for you. Use this guide to help you talk to your pharmacist or doctor.

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MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Nicotine withdrawal 

Nicotine withdrawal involves irritability, headache, and craving for cigarettes or other sources of nicotine. These symptoms occur when a nicotine-dependent individual suddenly stops smoking or using tobacco, or cuts back on the number of cigarettes or tobacco products used.

Almost all people who try to quit have some form of nicotine withdrawal. Generally, people who smoked the longest or smoked a greater number of cigarettes each day are more likely to have withdrawal symptoms.

People who are regular smokers tend to have particularly strong cravings and worsening of withdrawal symptoms at certain times, places, or situations associated with smoking.

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EDITORIAL: There's a reason why Big Tobacco helped write this legislation 

Purportedly, banning flavored tobacco products will reduce youth smoking rates, because teenagers love candy.

To that end, we're going to offer two hypotheticals that we think our lawmakers failed to consider when signing this noble legislation. ("We voted against Big Tobacco! Hurray!"). . . .

Todd: "Well, I just don't know, Jack. I really don't want to get hooked."

Jack: "But the FDA reduced nicotine levels in cigarettes. Plus, look at the cool skull and crossbones on the package. It's a really relevant design for rebellious youth like us. It's like the FDA wants us to start smoking now! Besides, like you said, you only smoke when you drink..."

Todd: "Okay, just this one time won't hurt."

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Letting go of the 'stress' excuse: How smokers like President Obama can kick the habit for good 

BILL: One result of our “War on Drugs” is the U.S. has the highest jail rate in the world. And now, thanks to the new anti-tobacco laws just signed by President Obama amid a lot of fanfare about his own nicotine struggles, cigarette smokers are the next drug outlaws. Are we about to see cops on the 6 o’ clock news, writing “smoking in public” citations? Drug Enforcement Agents transferred from the Mexican border to the lawless wilderness of the Virginian tobacco fields?

DR. DAVE: Since I know you never went in for cigarettes or pot, why are you are so worked up about this, Bill?

BILL: Alcohol is at least as harmful as either cigarettes or marijuana, but just as Prohibition didn’t stop people drinking, these puritanical anti-cigarette laws are going to get more kids smoking than ever.

DR. DAVE: And the evidence on which you base this no doubt scientific observation is? . . .

BILL: Dave, I’m embarrassed to ask this. Would you recommend Obama try nicotine replacements - for instance, Nicorette gum?

DR. DAVE: Bill, aren’t you being a bit puritanical yourself? If Nicorette works, sure, why not? I’d also recommend that he no longer share his story with the public until he has gone the last 5% into tobacco cessation.

BILL: I have to say amen to that. You know, Dave, I wish you didn’t always win these arguments!

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Changes in Cigarette Use and Nicotine Dependence in the United States: Evidence from the 2001-2002 Wave of the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcoholism and Related Conditions  

Objectives. We examined the roles of gender and poverty cigarette use and nicotine dependence among adults in the United States. . . .

Conclusions. Despite recent declines in cigarette use, the prevalence of nicotine dependence has increased among some groups and has remained steady overall, which may be hampering public health initiatives to reduce cigarette use. Efforts to study or curb cigarette use should therefore take nicotine dependence into account.

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Nicotine dependence remains prevalent despite recent declines in cigarette use 

Despite recent declines in cigarette use in the U.S., nicotine dependence has remained steady among adults and has actually increased among some groups. The finding by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health suggests that public health initiatives have been far more successful in preventing Americans from taking up smoking than in persuading hard-core smokers to stop. The study is available online in the American Journal of Public Health and will be published in the August 2009 issue.

Previous studies have found that since the 1964 U.S. Surgeon General report, the number of people who smoke cigarettes has declined. The Mailman School of Public Health study takes this research a step further by distinguishing occasional smokers from heavy smokers. "Regular, heavy cigarette use frequently characterizes nicotine dependence and is the pattern of use thought to be the most detrimental to health and longevity, but it has not been addressed in previous estimates of the decline in smoking prevalence," says Renee Goodwin, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study. "Rather, earlier research mainly addressed tobacco use or cigarette smoking per se rather than examining the frequency and duration of cigarette use in detail."

The new study finds not only that the number of nicotine-addicted Americans has held steady over the past several decades, but also that the proportion of cigarette smokers who are addicted to nicotine nowadays is greater than in previous generations. Dr. Goodwin cites a possible explanation for this latter finding. She suggests that fewer people are taking up smoking, perhaps because of anti-cigarette campaigns, leaving the ranks of current smokers filled with the nicotine dependent.

Another factor that has changed dramatically in the epidemiology of tobacco consumption and dependence over the past several decades is gender. Smoking has been far more common among men than among women for most of the past forty years, though recent evidence suggests that the gender gap has narrowed, and the current study finds increases in smoking among women in several recent generations.

It is also thought that socioeconomic status is a factor in cigarette use. The current study finds that younger women living in poverty had the highest rates

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Why Smoking Increases The Risk Of Heart Disease And Strokes 

Researchers at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona have discovered a reason why smoking increases the risk of heart disease and strokes.

The study, which was presented at The Endocrine Society's 91st annual meeting in Washington, D.C., found that nicotine in cigarettes promotes insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition that raises blood sugar levels higher than normal. People with pre-diabetes are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Theodore Friedman, MD, Ph.D., chief of the endocrinology division at Charles Drew University, said the findings help explain a "paradox" that links smoking to heart disease.

Smokers experience a high degree of cardiovascular deaths, Friedman said. "This is surprising considering both smoking and nicotine may cause weight loss and weight loss should protect against cardiovascular disease."

The researchers studied the effects of twice-daily injections of nicotine on 24 adult mice over two weeks. The nicotine-injected mice ate less food, lost weight and had less fat than control mice that received injections without nicotine.

"Our results in mice show that nicotine administration leads to both weight loss and decreased food intake," Friedman said. "Mice exposed to nicotine have less fat. In spite of this, mice have abnormal glucose tolerance and are insulin resistant (pre-diabetes)."

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Nicotine induces prediabetes, likely contributes to high prevalence of heart disease in smokers 

Researchers have discovered a reason why smoking greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Nicotine promotes insulin resistance, also called prediabetes, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, according to the new study, which was presented at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Additionally, the study authors were able to partially reverse this harmful effect of nicotine in mice by treating them with the nicotine antagonist mecamylamine, a drug that blunts the action of nicotine.

The study, which the National Institutes of Health funded, was conducted by researchers at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif.

Their results may explain why cigarette smokers have a high cardiovascular death rate, even though "smoking causes weight loss, which should protect against heart disease," said the study's lead author, Theodore Friedman, MD, PhD, chief of the endocrinology division at Charles Drew University.

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NCTOH: Addiction is addiction is addiction 

This is a series of special reports from the National Conference on Tobacco or Health in Phoenix, AZ.

Erik Augustson, PhD, MPH for the National Cancer Institute said that tobacco dependence is a complex issue and there is no accepted definition but that the process is influenced by a variety of factors:

* Compulsive use despite adverse consequences.

* The drug reinforces behavior.

* There is a predictable pattern of withdrawal.

* Relapse--quitting is hard.

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Nicotine is the culprit, says WHO 

Why is quiting smoking hard for many people?

The answer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is nicotine, a drug found in tobacco. "It is highly addictive, as addictive as heroin, or cocaine,'' it said. . . .

"Studies have shown that nicotine produces pleasant feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more. When inhaled in cigarette smoke, nicotine reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously,'' said Dr. Juanito A. Rubio, executive director of the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP).

One patient of the hospital interviewed by this writer said "ginusto ko mang ihinto ang paninigarilyo noon hindi pa ako tinatamaan sa baga, ay hindi ko nagawa dahil masarap talagang manigarilyo at talagang nakaka-addict.''

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said about 35,000 Filipinos die every year due to smoking.

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Why smoking may increase heart risk  

.S. researchers suggest nicotine may be a reason smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., said the studies in animals found nicotine promotes insulin resistance -- a prediabetic condition where blood-sugar levels are above normal.

Other studies show people with prediabetes are at greater risk of developing stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases.

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• Nicotine Receptors Could Be Lung Cancer Treatment Target 

In a study of mice with lung cancer, a treatment that targeted nicotine receptors more than doubled the animals' survival time, Italian researchers say.

Nicotine plays a dual role in lung cancer. Changes in genes encoding nicotine receptors not only drive the urge the smoke, but also increase susceptibility to lung cancer. Exposure to nicotine boosts the expression of nicotine receptors, which leads to increased cell proliferation and inhibits the programmed cell death known as apoptosis.

In the new study, published in the June 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the compound α-CbT dampened the expression of nicotine receptors and increased apoptosis, prolonging the lives of the mice.

"This research clearly has profound clinical implications regarding the role of nicotine in stimulating lung cancer and nicotine receptor antagonists in treating the disease," said Dr. John Heffner, past president of the American Thoracic Society, in a news release from the society. Heffner, who was not involved in the research, added, "The highly addictive nature of nicotine, however, complicates patients' ability to quit smoking and avoid ongoing nicotine exposure."

Previous research has shown that it's possible to dampen the response of nicotine acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) using an antagonist called d-tubocurarine/α-Cobratoxin (α-CbT), which specifically targeted the area most linked to increased cell growth.

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Nicotine May Help Spur 'Prediabetes'  

The nicotine in cigarette smoke may promote insulin resistance and lead to a condition known as prediabetes, new research shows.

The finding, to be outlined Thursday at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., could explain why smokers are at higher risk for diabetes. The same team of researchers was able to partially reverse nicotine's effect on insulin in mice by giving the rodents the nicotine-blunting drug mecamylamine.

In a society news release, study author Dr. Theodore Friedman, chief of the division of endocrinology, metabolism and molecular medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, noted that smokers tend to face a higher diabetes risk, even though "smoking causes weight loss, which should protect against heart disease."

But prior studies have shown smokers to be more insulin-resistant, which leads to higher blood-sugar levels. Some studies had suggested that the key factor at work was nicotine's effect on the stress hormone cortisol, since, as Friedman said, "cortisol excess is known to induce insulin resistance."

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VIDEO: How electronic cigarettes work  

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