http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/addiction.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/03/twitter-resist-cigarettes-alcohol-study?newsfeed=true http://tobacco.org/news/333238.html Tweeting or checking emails may be harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol, according to researchers who tried to measure how well people could resist their desires. They even claim that while sleep and sex may be stronger urges, people are more likely to give in to longings or cravings to use social and other media. A team headed by Wilhelm Hofmann of Chicago University's Booth Business School say their experiment, using BlackBerrys, to gauge the willpower of 205 people aged between 18 and 85 in and around the German city of Würtzburg is the first to monitor such responses "in the wild" outside a laboratory. The results will soon be published in the journal Psychological Science. . . . "With cigarettes and alcohol there are more costs – long-term as well as monetary – and the opportunity may not always be the right one. So, even though giving in to media desires is certainly less consequential, the frequent use may still 'steal' a lot of people's time.". The Guardian science@guardian.co.uk ( James Meikle) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9054243/Facebook-and-Twitter-more-addictive-than-tobacco-and-alcohol.html http://tobacco.org/news/333029.html Resisting the urge to check social networking sites for updates is more difficult than turning down a drink, according to a study of people's everyday desires. The survey of 250 people found that sleep and sex were the two things people most longed for during the day, but that the urges to keep on top of social networks and work were the hardest to resist. In contrast alcohol and tobacco prompted much lower levels of desire despite their reputation for being addictive. Researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in America fitted participants with devices which logged nearly 8,000 reports about people's everyday desires. Electronic Telegraph Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2093753/Smokers-think-theyve-quit-habit-light-twice-day.html?ito=feeds-newsxml http://tobacco.org/news/332877.html Social smoker? Just one cigarette a day increases your chance of developing coronary heart disease by 30 per cent More than half of smokers who still light up every day believe they have quit, according to a poll. Some 51 per cent do not consider themselves smokers even though they have a cigarette every day. However, the survey by Co-operative Pharmacy, revealed more than half (57 per cent) of smokers keep their habit a secret from family and friends, and most often from their partner. When smokers sneak out for a cigarette, they are most likely to say they are going to the shop, to see a friend or to walk the dog. The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday UK Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871611003814 http://tobacco.org/news/332229.html Objective Ten early onset problem behaviors were used to prospectively predict alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine disorders in young adulthood (mean age = 28.6 yrs) for a U.S. community sample of 671 participants. . . . . Results Findings supported the specificity hypothesis in that "like" early onset problem behaviors significantly predicted "like" young adult outcomes (e.g., early cocaine use predicted cocaine disorders). Furthermore, eliminating such "like" predictors in regression equations resulted in a 36% reduction in the amount of variance accounted for by the equation. The generality hypothesis was also supported in that a larger number of early onset problem behaviors strengthened the prediction of young adult disorders beyond the "like" attribute, and a dose-response pattern indicated that additional early onset problem behaviors increased the probable occurrence of a young adult disorder. Conclusions A comprehensive framework relating early onset problem behaviors to young adult substance disorders will require the integration of both generality and specificity hypotheses, and a developmental orientation focused on the unfolding of mediating and moderating processes. Early screening of multiple, rather than single, early onset problems is also discussed. Science Direct mwindle@emory.edu Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871611003553 http://tobacco.org/news/332228.html both problem gamblers and heavy smokers showed hyporesponsiveness of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex compared to healthy controls, during successful as well as failed response inhibition. These effects were robust against adjustments for depression and adult attention deficit scores. Conclusions These findings suggest that hypoactivation of the inhibition circuit is a shared neural mechanism in substance use disorders and behavioral addictions. As such, they support the reclassification of pathological gambling as a behavioral addiction in DSM-V. Science Direct m.b.deruiter@amc.uva.nl Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/13/8 http://tobacco.org/news/332015.html Background Classical conditioning has been suggested to play an important role in the development, maintenance, and relapse of tobacco smoking. Several studies have shown that initially neutral stimuli that are directly paired with smoking are able to elicit conditioned responses. However, there have been few human studies that demonstrate the contribution of higher-order conditioning to smoking addiction, although it is assumed that higher-order conditioning predominates learning in the outside world. In the present study a higher-order conditioning task was designed in which brain responses of smokers and non-smokers were conditioned by pairing smoking-related and neutral stimuli (CS1smoke and CS1neutral) with two geometrical figures (CS2smoke and CS2neutral). ERPs were recorded to all CSs. . . . Conclusions It can be concluded that smokers show associative learning for higher-order smoking-related stimuli. The present study directly shows the contribution of higher-order conditioning to smoking addiction and is the first to reveal its electrophysiological correlates. Although results are preliminary, they may help in understanding the etiology of smoking addiction and its persistence. BioMed Central Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/13/8/abstract http://tobacco.org/news/331968.html Conclusions It can be concluded that smokers show associative learning for higher-order smoking-related stimuli. The present study directly shows the contribution of higher-order conditioning to smoking addiction and is the first to reveal its electrophysiological correlates. Although results are preliminary, they may help in understanding the etiology of smoking addiction and its persistence. BioMed Central Netherlands Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240172.php http://tobacco.org/news/331967.html It is commonly known that, much like Pavlov's dogs salivating in response to hearing the bell they associate with dinner time, smokers feel cravings and have physiological reactions to pictures they associate with smoking. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Neuroscience has shown that a smoker's cravings can also be trained to non-smoking related stimuli. Classical conditioning experiments link a neutral stimulus, such as a sound or a picture, to an event, like eating or smoking. Higher order, sometimes called second order conditioning, links this neutral stimulus to a second event. In the case of Pavlov's dogs, if they could have been trained to associate a light being switched on with the sound of the bell and consequently began to salivate to the light only this would be second order conditioning. Marianne Littel and Prof Franken, from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, compared the reactions of smokers and non-smokers to a smoking related picture or to a neutral (non-smoking related) picture. These classical responses were then paired to a second round of neutral stimuli - the researchers chose a geometric shape (a cube or a pyramid). The responses of the subjects, such as their cravings and EEG measurements of brain activity, were recorded at each stage. Medical News TODAY Netherlands Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://ntr.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/04/ntr.ntr293.abstract?papetoc http://tobacco.org/news/331923.html Results: Continuous nicotine initially increased active responding for the visual reinforcer; however, continued exposure resulted in an attenuation of this effect. Precipitated withdrawal from nicotine resulted in a significant decline in active responding. Conclusions: The initial increase in responding for the visual reinforcer with chronic nicotine exposure is consistent with prior research showing that intermittent exposure to nicotine acts as a reinforcement enhancer. However, the attenuation of this enhancement following prolonged nicotine exposure is in contrast with the persistent effects previously reported. Finally, the decrease in visual reinforcers below control levels (nicotine-naive animals) following nicotine withdrawal highlights a potential for affective withdrawal, which may serve as a motive for continued nicotine use. Nicotine and Tobacco Research journals.permissions@oup.com Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120104/OPINION03/201040304/Nicotine-takes-away-choice http://tobacco.org/news/331573.html It is fitting Cecil Bohanon would choose to write about smoking at the time of year thousands of people attempt to give up the "choice" of smoking. He implies that smoking and not smoking are simply personal freedoms, no different than other mundane behaviors. Anyone who has attempted to give up the "choice" of smoking knows firsthand it is not like changing your hair color or your style of clothing or redecorating your home. Those are choices. Bohanon has left out one little detail. Nicotine is addictive. The nicotine takes away personal choice. The nicotine is in control -- not the smoker. The smoker gives up personal freedom the moment the addiction sets in. Giving up the cigarette almost always requires external assistance. Environmental restrictions on where a person can "choose" to smoke might actually help a person achieve that New Year resolution of giving up the cigarettes. Muncie Star-Press Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/revolution-in-smoking-aims-to-stub-out-cigarettes--with-the-help-of-tobacco-firms-6283415.html http://tobacco.org/news/331430.html Britain is on the brink of a revolution in smoking which aims to eradicate the cigarette. Companies, including some of the biggest names in tobacco, are poised to launch a generation of devices that mimic the experience of smoking without the lethal effects. One, being developed by a 29-year-old Oxford graduate, has attracted the attention of BAT, one of the world's largest tobacco companies, which has bought the rights to market it. A profusion of electronic and other devices has appeared in the past year, thanks to a legal loophole which allows them to be sold freely so long as they do not make any health claim . An estimated 10 million "e-cigarettes", which are shaped to look like the real thing and simulate smoking by heating nicotine to produce an inhaled mist, have been sold worldwide. Other devices, similar to asthma inhalers, deliver the nicotine as a vapour or powder drawn directly into the mouth or lungs. UK regulators are considering ways to bring the new devices within the law but campaigners are insisting on "light touch" controls which could make it legal to market them in newsagents and supermarkets alongside cigarettes. Pure nicotine, though highly addictive, has few side effects and a low risk of overdose â�� it is the tobacco in which it is contained that is lethal. But the idea has caused alarm among some experts, who say it is wrong to promote nicotine dependency. The Independent someone@somewhere.com UK Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/01/02/144431794/what-vietnam-taught-us-about-breaking-bad-habits?ft=1&f=1001 http://tobacco.org/news/331378.html It's a tradition as old as New Year's: making resolutions. We will not smoke, or sojourn with the bucket of mint chocolate chip. In fact, we will resist sweets generally, including the bowl of M &Ms that our co-worker has helpfully positioned on the aisle corner of his desk. There will be exercise, and the learning of a new language. It is resolved. So what does science know about translating our resolve into actual changes in behavior? The answer to this question brings us — strangely enough — to a story about heroin use in Vietnam. . . . Those who were addicted were kept in Vietnam until they dried out. When these soldiers finally did return to their lives back in the U.S., Robins tracked them, collecting data at regular intervals. And this is where the story takes a curious turn: According to her research, the number of soldiers who continued their heroin addiction once they returned to the U.S. was shockingly low. . . . This flew in the face of everything everyone knew both about heroin and drug addiction generally. When addicts were treated in the U.S. and returned to their homes, relapse rates hovered around 90 percent. It didn't make sense. . . . But 40 years later, the findings of this study are widely accepted. To explain why, you need to understand how the science of behavior change has itself changed. . . . If you want, for example, to increase the number of people who donate blood, a public campaign can work well. But if you want them to quit smoking, campaigns intended to change attitudes are often less effective. "Once a behavior had been repeated a lot, especially if the person does it in the same setting, you can successfully change what people want to do. But if they've done it enough, their behavior doesn't follow their intentions," Neal explains. Neal says this has to do with the way that over time, our physical environments come to shape our behavior. . . . "For a smoker the view of the entrance to their office building — which is a place that they go to smoke all the time — becomes a powerful mental cue to go and perform that behavior," Neal says. National Public Radio Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111221140448.htm http://tobacco.org/news/331301.html A brain cell type found where habits are formed and movement is controlled has receptors that work like computer processors to translate regular activities into habits, researchers report. "Habits, for better or worse, basically define who we are," said Dr. Joe Z. Tsien, Co-Director of the Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute at Georgia Health Sciences University. Habits also provide mental freedom and flexibility by enabling many activities to be on autopilot while the brain focuses on more urgent matters, he said. Research published in the journal Neuron shows that NMDA receptors on dopamine neurons in the brain's basal ganglia are essential to habit formation. These receptors function like gateways to the brain cells, letting in electrically charged ions to increase the activity and communication of neurons. Their pivotal role reminds neuroscientist Dr. Lei Phillip Wang of a computer's central processing unit. "The NMDA receptor is a commander, which is why it's called a master switch for brain cell connectivity," said Wang, the study's first author. . . . It also opens the door to speeding up the process of forming good habits and, possibly, selectively removing bad ones such as drug addiction or smoking since the same circuits are seemingly involved in both. "If you know cell circuits controlling a specific habit, it puts you in a better position to devise strategies to hit different points and selectively facilitate the formation of a good habit and maybe even reverse a bad one," Tsien said. ScienceDaily Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/12/26/Ore-curbs-smoking-among-substance-abusers/UPI-55281324930855/ http://tobacco.org/news/331129.html The state of Oregon is fighting tobacco use among people with mental illness and substance abuse disorders, officials say. Linda Drach of the Oregon Public Health Division said the prevalence of tobacco use among people with mental illness and substance use disorders is well documented, but few policies exist in the United States that address this problem. In Oregon, three statewide policy changes were enacted at community-based residential mental health and addiction treatment facilities including: -- Requiring 100 percent smoke-free campuses. -- Prohibiting staff from distributing tobacco products to residents. -- Mandating integration of smoking cessation into discharge planning. UPI Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/reviews/specialty-releases/e3i5ddd2755484eeea78efd191065651aed http://tobacco.org/news/330718.html This handsomely produced, richly detailed documentary about how the tobacco industry strove to hook America on nicotine and how the research scientist in charge upended this mission as whistleblower is as entertaining as it is informative. . . . The doc also does a nice job integrating a number of journalists from outlets like The Los Angeles Times and ABC who were investigating tobacco and aware that the industry knew it was trafficking in addictive products. Onscreen as the chief talking head and bearer of the narrative throughline, DeNoble, a decent, dedicated and eloquent scientist, is a perfect leading man. (He now lectures to students on the evils of drug addiction.) Good looks and an affable manner onscreen, even in documentaries, never hurt anybody. The tobacco CEOs are seen most egregiously in the Congressional hearings lying under oath that they believed cigarettes weren't addictive. At the barricades for Philip Morris was Steven C. Parrish, the giant's senior VP and general counsel for external affairs and an embodiment of lawyerly arrogance until the smoke hits the fan. Philip Morris had the nerve to sue ABC for $10 billion for threatening an anti-tobacco report. Like CBS in the Brown & Williamson case, the network caved. For added displeasure, the doc also presents legislators like Rep. Thomas J. Bliley, Jr. (R-VA) who were easy lobbyist bait. He dared to liken the committee's treatment of the tobacco industry during the hearings to McCarthyism. But thanks to DeNoble and others, Big Tobacco and its M.O. were exposed and mammoth lawsuits followed that brought their own dramas . . . Oddly, the doc barely makes a reference to cancer (nicotine's direct connection is to heart problems) or to the most famous tobacco industry whistleblower of all, Brown & Williamson spoiler Jeffrey Wigand, depicted in the hit film The Insider. Film Journal International Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT