Tag: smokers

Can e-cigarettes help smokers quit?

As e-cigarettes become more popular, fewer people are taking up smoking traditional cigarettes. But can e-cigarettes, an electronic nicotine delivery system, help people quit smoking altogether? That was the focus of a recent study led by a Hollings Cancer Center researcher.

The study found that smokers who are willing to use e-cigarettes tend to smoke less and have increased quit attempts, said Matthew Carpenter, Ph.D., a tobacco control and addiction expert at the cancer center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

“Combustible cigarettes are the most harmful form of nicotine delivery. Alternative delivery of nicotine, through e-cigarettes, could significantly reduce harm and the risks of cancer and other diseases to smokers,” he said.

Full story at Science Daily

Study shows role of depression in the ongoing tobacco epidemic

The prevalence of smoking has remained fairly stable over the past decade after declining sharply for many years. To determine whether an increase in certain barriers to successful cessation and sustained abstinence may be contributing to this slowed decline, researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health analyzed changes in the prevalence of depression among current, former and never smokers in the U.S. The team found that depression appeared to have significantly increased in the U.S. from 2005 to 2013 among smokers, as well as among former and never smokers. While the prevalence of depression is consistently highest among smokers, the rate of increase in depression was most prominent among former and never smokers. The full study findings are published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

The research team, led by Renee Goodwin, PhD, in the Department of Epidemiology, analyzed data from the National Household Survey on Drug Use, an annual cross-sectional study of approximately 497, 000 Americans, ages 12 and over. The prevalence of past 12-month depression was examined annually among current (past 12-month), former (not past 12-month), and lifetime non-smokers from 2005 to 2013. The researchers further analyzed the data by age, gender, and household income.

Full story of depressions role in the tobacco epidemic at Science Daily

E-cigarettes popular among smokers with existing illnesses

Current and former smokers suffering from illnesses like chronic lung or cardiovascular disease are more likely to use e-cigarettes, reports the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

In the U.S. more than 16 million people with smoking-related illnesses continue to use cigarettes. According to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, current and former smokers who suffer from disease are more likely to have reported using an e-cigarette, meaning these patients may see e-cigarettes as safer or less harmful than combustible cigarettes and a way to reduce the risks posed by traditional smoking.

Use of electronic cigarettes has significantly increased in recent years. In 2010, only 2% of American adults had ever used an e-cigarette, but by 2014, that number had jumped to 12.6%. While most people see e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to traditional combustible smoking, many questions remain unanswered about their effects.

Full story of e-cigarettes and smokers with existing illnesses at Science Daily

Teens Who Use E-Cigarettes Often More Likely to Become Regular Smokers

A new study finds teens who often use e-cigarettes are more likely to become regular smokers and to smoke many cigarettes a day.

The study included 3,084 Los Angeles teens who participated in surveys in the fall and spring of tenth grade, Reuters reports. They were asked whether they had tried e-cigarettes, and if so, how often. They were also asked about regular cigarette use. The researchers found more frequent vaping was associated with smoking two or more cigarettes on the days teens chose to smoke.

Full story of e-cigarettes as gateway to regular cigarettes at drugfree.org

Smokers Who Have to Walk Farther to Buy Cigarettes More Likely to Quit: Study

Smokers who have to walk farther to buy cigarettes are more likely to quit, a new study suggests. Researchers found that for every one-third of a mile smokers had to walk to the nearest tobacco outlet, there was a 20 to 60 percent increase in the odds they would stop smoking. The study included data from almost 21,000 current and former smokers in Finland, HealthDay reports. The findings are published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The distance that former smokers lived from the nearest tobacco outlet had no impact on whether they started smoking again, the study found.

Full story of smokers walking to buy cigarettes at drugfree.org