Tobacco.org

Mobile phone-based interventions for smoking cessation 

Summary

Can interventions delivered by mobile phones help people to stop smoking?

More evidence is needed to determine if programmes delivered over mobile phones can help people to stop smoking. This review found text message mobile phone programmes to be effective in the short-term (six weeks), and a combined Internet-mobile phone programme to be effective up to 12 months.

Jump to full article »

• Time 4 u 2 quit: Text messaging found to help smokers 

Text messaging can help smokers quit the habit, according to an international study.

A review of four trials conducted in New Zealand, Britain and Norway, found that programs to help people stop smoking that included text-messaged advice doubled the chances that smokers would be able to kick the habit for up to a year.

The trials, involving 2,600 smokers, used text messages as a way to give smokers daily advice and encouragement and also offered support when quitters needed it the most.

If they found themselves craving nicotine, for example, they could text "crave" to the program and get immediate advice on what to do.

Jump to full article »

'Tremendous' Impact Of Smoking On Mortality And Cardiovascular Disease, Norway Finds 

Non-smokers live longer and have less cardiovascular disease than those who smoke, according to a 30-year follow-up study of 54,000 men and women in Norway. Smoking, say the investigators, is "strongly" related to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality from various causes.

The results, presented in Stockholm at EuroPRevent 2009, reflect what many other studies have indicated, but, says investigator Professor Haakon Meyer from the University of Oslo and Norwegian Institute of Public Health, these results provide a picture of the long-term, absolute "real life" risk. . . .

"What these results show is the cumulative long-term association between smoking and death and cardiovascular risk," says Professor Meyer. "Around two-thirds of the middle-aged heavy-smoking men and half the heavy-smoking women had died or had a cardiovascular disease within the next 30 years. The incidence was much lower in never-smokers and reflects the tremendously adverse effect of smoking on health and longevity. The difference in outcome between the never-smokers and heavy smokers was substantial.

"This study underlines the public health messages about smoking. We have seen declines in the prevalence of smoking in developed countries, but challenges still remain. Certain population groups - young women, immigrant communities - still have high rates of smoking, and there's more to be done here."

Jump to full article »

Women More Susceptible To Harmful Effects Of Smoking 

Women may be more susceptible to the lung damaging effects of smoking than men, according to new research by Inga-Cecilie Soerheim, M.D., and her colleagues from Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital and University of Bergen, Norway.

They analyzed data from a Norwegian case-control study including 954 subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 955 controls. All were current- or ex-smokers, and the COPD subjects had moderate or severe COPD.

"Overall our analysis indicated that women may be more vulnerable to the effects of smoking, which is something previously suspected but not proven," said Dr. Soerheim.

The study results will be presented on May 18 at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

Jump to full article »

Improving education may cut smoking in youth 

Although low socio-economic status is associated with an increased liability to smoke, performing well at school can mitigate this effect. A new study, published in BioMed Central's open access International Journal for Equity in Health, has shown that high-achieving schoolchildren, even those from poor backgrounds, are less likely to smoke.

Christina Schnohr led a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Institute of Public Health who surveyed 20,399 schoolchildren from the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. She said, "Above average academic achievement was associated with lower risk of smoking. Teachers and politicians may find this information useful, and allocate resources to give higher priority to a supportive environment in schools especially for children and adolescents in lower social groups. This might contribute to reducing smoking in this group".

The researchers' study confirmed that children from less well-off families are more likely to smoke, and are less likely to perform well at school - although this latter effect was least pronounced in the UK. However, those poorer children who did perform well in class were also less likely to be smokers. Schnohr said, "This mediating role of academic achievement emphasizes the role of teachers in supporting students from deprived families. If they can focus on students from lower socio-economic positions, it might help reduce the social inequality in smoking prevalence".

Jump to full article »

Cigarette smoking hurts women more than men 

It's no secret that smoking isn't a healthy habit for anyone. But a growing body of research suggests women are more vulnerable to the lung-damaging effects of cigarettes than men.

A study presented Monday at the American Thoracic Society's annual meeting in San Diego found that women developed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at an earlier age and after fewer years of smoking than men.

Previous studies on lung cancer have also shown that smoking is more likely to cause lung cancer in women than men, even though they tend to start at a later age and smoke less.

"Many people believe that their own smoking is too limited to be harmful -- that a few cigarettes a day represent a minimal risk," said Dr. Inga-Cecilie Soerheim, co-author of the latest study and a research fellow at the Channing Laboratory, a division of Brigham and Young Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "But there is no such thing as a safe amount of cigarette smoking. Our data suggest that this is particularly true for female smokers."

Soerheim's research team used data from a Norwegian study involving 954 current and ex-smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- the catchall name for a group of diseases causing a partial blockage of the airways and strongly linked to smoking.

Jump to full article »

• Women More Susceptible To Harmful Effects Of Smoking, Study Finds 

Women may be more susceptible to the lung damaging effects of smoking than men, according to new research by Inga-Cecilie Soerheim, M.D., and her colleagues from Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital and University of Bergen, Norway. They analyzed data from a Norwegian case-control study including 954 subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 955 controls. All were current- or ex-smokers, and the COPD subjects had moderate or severe COPD.

"Overall our analysis indicated that women may be more vulnerable to the effects of smoking, which is something previously suspected but not proven," said Dr. Soerheim.

The study results will be presented on May 18 at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

Jump to full article »

Years of Heavy Smoking Raises Heart Risks  

Highlighting the negative impact tobacco use has on cardiovascular health, researchers say that heavy smokers were 2.5 times more likely to die than their non-smoking peers during a 30-year study in Norway.

The newly available research found that nonsmokers lived longer and experienced fewer incidents of heart attack and cardiovascular disease than smokers, especially when compared with heavy smokers (those who lit up at least 20 cigarettes a day).

Smokers were also at greater risk of developing diabetes and strokes than nonsmokers, according to the study findings, presented last week at the EuroPRevent 2009 conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

"What these results show is the cumulative long-term association between smoking and death and cardiovascular risk," investigator Haakon Meyer, a professor at the University of Oslo and Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said in a news release issued by the European Society of Cardiology. "

Jump to full article »

Improving education may cut smoking in youth 

Although low socio-economic status is associated with an increased liability to smoke, performing well at school can mitigate this effect. A new study, published in BioMed Central's open access International Journal for Equity in Health, has shown that high-achieving schoolchildren, even those from poor backgrounds, are less likely to smoke.

Christina Schnohr led a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Institute of Public Health who surveyed 20,399 schoolchildren from the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. She said, "Above average academic achievement was associated with lower risk of smoking. Teachers and politicians may find this information useful, and allocate resources to give higher priority to a supportive environment in schools especially for children and adolescents in lower social groups. This might contribute to reducing smoking in this group".

The researchers' study confirmed that children from less well-off families are more likely to smoke, and are less likely to perform well at school

Jump to full article »

School-related mediators in social inequalities in smoking: a comparative cross-sectional study of 20,399 adolescents. 

The aim of this study was to examine the associations between social inequalities and daily smoking among 13 and 15 year olds, and to determine the role of students' academic achievement and school satisfaction in these associations.

Conclusions

The study found social inequality in daily smoking in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and United Kingdom, as well as inequalities in students' academic achievement and school satisfaction. The analyses also showed that above average academic achievement was associated with lower OR of smoking. Teachers and politicians may find this information useful, and allocate resources to give higher priority to a supportive environment in schools especially for children and adolescents in lower social groups. Subsequently this prioritisation might contribute to reducing smoking in this group.

Jump to full article »

'Tremendous' Impact Of Smoking On Mortality And Cardiovascular Disease: 30-year Follow-Up Study 

Non-smokers live longer and have less cardiovascular disease than those who smoke, according to a 30-year follow-up study of 54,000 men and women in Norway. Smoking, say the investigators, is "strongly" related to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality from various causes.

The results, presented in Stockholm at EuroPRevent 2009, reflect what many other studies have indicated, but, says investigator Professor Haakon Meyer from the University of Oslo and Norwegian Institute of Public Health, these results provide a picture of the long-term, absolute "real life" risk.

Behind his conclusions lies a far-reaching follow-up study which began in 1974 with an invitation to every middle aged man and woman (aged 35-49) living in three counties of Norway to take part in a basic cardiovascular screening examination. The invitation had a huge response, with 91% attending for the baseline screen.

Jump to full article »

• 30-year follow-up study: 'Tremendous' impact of smoking on mortality and cardiovascular disease 

Non-smokers live longer and have less cardiovascular disease than those who smoke, according to a 30-year follow-up study of 54,000 men and women in Norway. Smoking, say the investigators, is "strongly" related to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality from various causes.

The results, presented in Stockholm at EuroPRevent 2009, reflect what many other studies have indicated, but, says investigator Professor Haakon Meyer from the University of Oslo and Norwegian Institute of Public Health, these results provide a picture of the long-term, absolute "real life" risk.

Behind his conclusions lies a far-reaching follow-up study which began in 1974 with an invitation to every middle aged man and woman (aged 35-49) living in three counties of Norway to take part in a basic cardiovascular screening examination. The invitation had a huge response, with 91% attending for the baseline screen.

Jump to full article »

• Norway’s fund plans move out of tobacco 

Norway has proposed new ethical guidelines that will see its Government Pension Fund, Europe’s largest pension fund, exit tobacco investments and screen companies for climate and tax haven violations.

In addition, the NKr2,300bn (£233bn, €259bn, $344bn) fund plans to earmark NKr20bn for investments in “environmentally friendly” companies over a five-year period and possibly target “sustainable” growth in emerging markets.

The new rules are part of a series of reforms presented by the finance ministry in a white paper to parliament on April 3, concluding the most exhaustive review of the fund’s ethical guidelines since they were first introduced five years ago.

But critics say the fund should focus on making money instead of taking on more risk in emerging markets and imposing further restrictions on its portfolio holdings after suffering an unprecedented loss of NKr633bn on its investments last year.

Jump to full article »

General Ekstra Sterk – now as loose snus 

A new member of the popular General family is now being launched; a loose snus for those who want a strong tobacco flavor and more nicotine.

“The portion-packed varieties, General Sterk and Ektra Sterk, which were both introduced last year, have become very popular products. General Ekstra Sterk Loose will add another member to the successful brand family,” says Niklas Krohn, Marketing Manager for the General portfolio.

General is the preferred snus for Norwegian men, with a total market share of about 63 percent.

General Ekstra Sterk Loose is based on the same recipe as the portion-packed snus, General Ekstra Sterk, and has the classic and very popular General flavor; a distinct tobacco taste with hints of citrus and pepper.

Jump to full article »

Canada should follow Norway's lead in divesting tobacco stocks 

Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada (PSC) today renewed its call on the Canada Pension Plan and its governing body, provincial and federal Ministers of Finance, to stop using Canada Pension Plan contributions to support the global activities of tobacco companies.

This call came on the same day that Norway announced that it would exclude tobacco companies from the portfolio of its central bank-run Government Pension Fund (often known as the "OIl Fund").

"Norway is the first country to respond to the unanimous decision of more than 160 countries that it is inappropriate for countries which are committed to reducing global tobacco use to be partial owners in commercial tobacco companies," said PSC's executive director, Cynthia Callard.

In November 2008, at the third Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, guidelines were agreed to that

"7.2 Parties that do not have a State-owned tobacco industry should not invest in the tobacco industry and related ventures." [1]

Jump to full article »