http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/nicotine.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(11)00768-2/abstract http://tobacco.org/news/333624.html Background Unaided attempts to quit smoking commonly fail during the first 2 weeks of the nicotine withdrawal syndrome. Alterations in dopamine (DA) signaling correlate with withdrawal from chronic nicotine exposure, but those changes have not been well-characterized. . . . Conclusions The relative increase in the sensitivity of DA release to phasic stimulation suggests an increase in the signal-to-noise relationship of DA signaling during the withdrawal period. Therefore, the DA signal produced by acute nicotine re-exposure produces a DA response that might reinforce relapse to drug use (i.e., smoking). Because the basal DA concentration is low during withdrawal, therapies aimed at elevating the background DA signal represent a reasonable treatment strategy for nicotine-dependent individuals attempting to quit. Biological Psychiatry jdani@bcm.edu Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03801.x/abstract http://tobacco.org/news/333605.html Conclusions:  Continuing treatment to aid smoking cessation with active patches promotes recovery from lapses. Smokers should be encouraged to persist with patch treatment if they lapse to smoking. Addiction Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/02/09/us-nicotine-patch-idINTRE8182DD20120209 http://tobacco.org/news/333604.html When smokers on nicotine patch therapy lapse, they may have a better chance of avoiding a return to smoking if they stick with the patches instead of giving up their quit attempt, a new study concludes. Nicotine replacement therapy, via patches, gums, nasal sprays and inhalers, is one option for kicking the smoking habit. But whether people should immediately stop using those therapies if they fall off the wagon has been a foggy area. So for the new study, reported in the journal Addiction, researchers re-analyzed a past clinical trial testing the effectiveness of nicotine patches in U.S. smokers. In the original trial, smokers were randomly assigned to use either patch therapy or inactive "placebo" patches. The new analysis focused on 509 study participants who lapsed during the third to fifth week of treatment. A "lapse" meant smoking even a single cigarette. Reuters Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240820.php http://tobacco.org/news/333550.html Nicotine is a nitrogen-containing chemical - an alkaloid, which is made by several types of plants, including the tobacco plant. Nicotine is also produced synthetically. Nicotiana tabacum, the type of nicotine found in tobacco plants, comes from the nightshade family. Red peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes are examples of the nightshade family. Apart from being a substance found in tobacco products, nicotine is also an antiherbivore chemical, specifically for the elimination of insects - it used to be extensively used as an insecticide. Pharmacologic effects - when humans, mammals and most other types of animals are exposed to nicotine, it increases their heart rate, heart muscle oxygen consumption rate, and heart stroke volume - these are known as pharmacologic effects. Medical News TODAY Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120208005548/en/22nd-Century-Announces-Nicotine-Free-Tobacco-Cigarettes-International http://tobacco.org/news/333480.html 22nd Century Group, Inc. (OTCBB: XXII), a company focused on tobacco harm reduction and smoking cessation products, today announced that its subsidiary, Goodrich Tobacco Company, is making two of its proprietary cigarette brands (and related tobacco blends) available to licensees and distributors outside the United States. “Based on inquiries we receive, there is demand for our brands in practically every country, especially for nicotine-free tobacco cigarettes which simply do not exist outside the United States.” In response to numerous inquiries from around the world, Goodrich Tobacco is offering MAGIC® EXPORT the world’s only virtually nicotine-free tobacco cigarette and MOONLIGHT™, a cigarette with exceptionally low “tar” per milligram of nicotine, to international partners. As an initial part of this effort, 22nd Century has signed a confidential letter-of-intent for an exclusive agreement to market the company’s technology, brands and tobacco blends in India. Business Wire info@GoodrichTobacco.com Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dirty-minds/201202/if-you-needed-another-reason-quit http://tobacco.org/news/333300.html A few months ago, I attended Neuroscience 2011, the largest neuroscience conference in the world. Imagine 30,000+ scientists exiting the lab, squinting at the daylight and coming together to share the latest and greatest findings in the neuroscience world. . . . One of the studies I wrote up after the conference was a landmark study demonstrating the molecular mechanisms of nicotine as a gateway drug. The long and the short was that researchers at Columbia University found that nicotine, when taken along with cocaine, increases the risk of addiction. And it showed how it did so very elegantly at both the cellular and epigenetic levels. Translation: nicotine changed the way animals learned, priming them for addiction. And it did so by changing the way an animal's genes were expressed. . . . Nora Volkow, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, hailed the study as "transformative." And when we spoke about it during Neuroscience 2011, she mentioned that it may reach much further than just cocaine addiction—if nicotine can make these kinds of epigenetic changes, literally changing the way genes are expressed, it could mean that it also has influence over many other diseases and disorders. "This a previously unknown pharmacological effect of nicotine," she said. "And the implications...there are many potential implications. We give nicotine patches to help pregnant women stop smoking. But if it works this way on the genes, then maybe we should not be giving them those patches." Then the conjecture started. . . . If nicotine can act on all these genes, I can see it potentially playing a role in anorexia and depression—perhaps even exacerbating diseases like schizophrenia or Parkinson's disease. I told Volkow that all these questions were going to keep me up at night for a while. "This is the difference between good science and not-so-good science. Good science makes you think," she said. "This paper raises a lot of questions that are extremely interesting. And we need to see them through." Psychology Today Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cn-creative-raises-series-a-funding-to-develop-first-medically-approved-electronic-inhaler-nicotine-replacement-therapy-for-smoking-cessation-138027628.html http://tobacco.org/news/333279.html CN Creative, Ltd. (CNC), a healthcare company providing innovative and sustainable solutions to reduce smoking and smoking-related illnesses, today announced it has raised a Series A financing round led by Advent Life Sciences. The financing raised 2 million pounds, equivalent to approximately US $3.1 million. CNC intends to use the investment to continue and finalise development of its Nicadex™ electronic inhaler nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) product for use as part of medically supervised smoking cessation programmes. . . . Nicadex is a hand-held device that delivers purified nicotine to the user through the vaporisation of a pharmaceutical-grade solution of nicotine. A rechargeable lithium battery powers the vaporiser that instantly turns the nicotine solution into a vapour that is inhaled by the user. Many users report that the sensation of using the Nicadex device is similar to smoking, but the vapour contains no smoke and none of the carbon monoxide, tar or thousands of toxic impurities that make smoking tobacco products so damaging to health. In addition, since there is no smoke, there are no smoke by-products that can cause "second-hand" harm to others. PR Newswire blindheim@biocompartners.com ( SOURCE CN Creative, Ltd. ) Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2012/01/17/what-2012-has-in-store-for-star-scientific.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/333201.html As I discussed last month, Star Scientific put in solid gains in 2011 as the company got out in front of a shift toward cigarette alternatives. But increasingly, tobacco giants Altria (NYSE: MO ) and Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI ) have made pushes into the smokeless tobacco realm, threatening to take away any moat that Star Scientific may have started to build. Can the small company make good on its full potential and bring an even bigger payday for shareholders in 2012? Below, I'll take a closer look at what people expect from Star Scientific and its rivals. . . . Even with those patents, tobacco will continue to be competitive, and Star Scientific will keep facing potential threats from Reynolds and Altria domestically. As international regulation starts to have a bigger impact on Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM ) and British American Tobacco (AMEX: BTI ) , Star may have new opportunities there as well. But even with some things in its favor, Star will still need to fight hard to keep an edge and repeat 2011's strong stock performance. If you'd rather just skip the tobacco industry entirely, let us point you to an alternative. In its latest special report, you can learn the name of The Motley Fool's top stock for 2012. Motley Fool Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.3342/news_detail.asp http://tobacco.org/news/332568.html Unfortunately, harm reduction approaches have yet to be widely accepted for those addicted to cigarettes. A new study by the American Cancer Society illustrates the depth of this addiction and the difficulty some smokers face even when a diagnosis of cancer makes it imperative that they quit. One woman, a smoker whose cancerous lung was removed, explained in an MSNBC interview the draw of cigarettes despite the litany of cessation methods she tried. We can't help but think that tobacco harm reduction products could have been a great help to this woman, as well as to many people like her. The new study, published in the journal Cancer, looked at nearly 2,500 lung cancer patients . . . "Wouldn't it be nice," ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan asks, "if these patients had a spectrum of smokeless products, which are both effective and at least 90 percent less harmful than cigarettes, to choose from?" ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross agrees. "It's absurd that we're recognizing the benefits of harm reduction for IV drug addicts, but we won't acknowledge how much it would help people who can't quit smoking even after a cancer diagnosis." American Council on Science and Health Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://ntr.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/by/section http://tobacco.org/news/332567.html Agreement Between Self-reports and On-Site Inspections of Compliance With a Workplace Smoking Ban Detecting Graded Exposure Effects: A Report on an East Boston Pregnancy Cohort Increased Pouch Sizes and Resulting Changes in the Amounts of Nicotine and Tobacco-Specific N-Nitrosamines in Single Pouches of Camel Snus and Marlboro Snus Evaluation of the Brief Questionnaire of Smoking Urges in Black Light Smokers Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Hair Nicotine in Children: Age-Dependent Differences Nicotine and Tobacco Research Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.ocala.com/article/20120124/COLUMNISTS/120119624 http://tobacco.org/news/332541.html What about the new report "proving" that nicotine patches (and gums, lozenges) don't work? Baloney. It compared people who quit using nicotine replacements with folks who quit cold turkey. Both groups fell off the non-smoking wagon at about the same rate. That doesn't mean patches don't work. That logic is as twisted as Snooki's bra strap after a night on the town. They didn't measure quit rates. They measured return-to-smoking rates of quitters. Plus, we know long-term success doesn't happen that often with nicotine replacement alone. We've helped at least 1,400 people quit. Smoking's a tough enemy, and you need an arsenal to beat it. Nicotine replacement is just one weapon -- only 5 percent to 10 percent of quitters who do just replacement succeed. Thus our combo approach. Nearly 60 percent of people who follow it succeed! For step-by-steps, go to www.RealAge.com/stop-smoking/. Then go for it. Ocala Star-Banner Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=660863 http://tobacco.org/news/332273.html Quitting smoking is much more difficult for poor people than for those who have greater financial and social status, U.S. researchers have found. For the study, more than 2,700 smokers were given nicotine patches and a type of treatment called cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is based on the idea that people can learn to change their behavior by changing their thinking patterns. The researchers then assessed the participants' progress in quitting smoking three and six months after the treatment period. The investigators found that, compared to people with the lowest socioeconomic status, those with the highest socioeconomic status were 55 percent more likely to have quit smoking after three months, and 2.5 times more likely after six months. The term socioeconomic status takes into account factors such as income, education, occupation and where a person lives. In addition, the study authors found that people with a low socioeconomic status received less treatment, and had fewer resources and less support to sustain abstinence from smoking. . . . The study findings were released online Thursday in advance of publication in the March print issue of the American Journal of Public Health. HealthDay [HealthScout] Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/opinion/nicotine-replacement.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y http://tobacco.org/news/332247.html Re "Nicotine Gum and Skin Patch Face New Doubt" (front page, Jan. 10): The role of nicotine replacement therapy has long been misunderstood. These products are not meant to carry the whole burden of helping smokers quit. Nicotine replacement therapy is intended to jump-start quitting by lessening the physical effects of nicotine withdrawal, and cravings, when they are present. This gives smokers confidence that they can begin living without tobacco. As the study points out, very few smokers use the therapy correctly. . . . For many smokers, emotional dependence on smoking is a much higher hurdle to overcome than their chemical dependence. Whether they quit "cold turkey" or with nicotine replacement therapy, smokers need to feel that their lives will be better smoke-free. New York Times Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031811-124624 http://tobacco.org/news/332246.html In the past 20 years, public health initiatives on smoking cessation have increased substantially. Randomized trials indicate that pharmaceutical cessation aids can increase success by 50% among heavier smokers who seek help, and use of these aids has increased markedly. Quitlines provide a portal through which smokers can seek assistance to quit and are promoted by tobacco control programs. Randomized trials have demonstrated that telephone coaching following a quitline call can also increase quitting, and a combination of quitlines, pharmaceutical aids and physician monitoring can help heavier smokers to quit. While quit attempts have increased, widespread dissemination of these aids has not improved population success rates. Pharmaceutical marketing strategies may have reduced expectations of the difficulty of quitting, reducing success per attempt. Some policies actively discourage unassisted smoking cessation despite the documented high success rates of this approach. There is an urgent need to revisit public policy on smoking cessation. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health Volume 33 is March 17, 2012. Annual Review of Public Health jppierce@ucsd.edu (AUTHORS) Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2012-01-17/article/39143?headline=Addiction-Incorporated-The-Other-Insider-br-Opens-January-20-at-the-Shattuck-Cinemas--Reviewed-by-Gar-Smith http://tobacco.org/news/332219.html In the 1999 movie, The Insider, Russell Crowe starred as Jeff Wigand, a former tobacco industry researcher for Brown & Williams, who dares to reveal the dangers of nicotine to Berkeley-based 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman. This week, Berkeley-grad Charles Evans Jr.,'s Addiction Incorporated hits the Big Screen to tell a parallel story of Philip Morris researcher Victor DeNoble, the whistleblower whose revelations triggered the Congressional hearings and class action lawsuits that forever tarred the reputation of Big Tobacco. Addiction Incorporated is a prodigious historical documentary bursting with brilliant interviews with key players from every level of the scientific-media-political-corporate playing field. Berkeley Daily Planet Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT