Smoking – thirdAGE

How to Be Tobacco-Free

Although we all know the dangers of smoking, there are still millions of people who are caught up in this unhealthy habit. But there is hope through smart strategies. If you want to quit, these tips from Medstar Health, a group of practitioners based in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, can be a big help:… Continue reading How to Be Tobacco-Free

CDC: Tobacco Use Still Surprisingly Common

Although the dangers of tobacco are commonly known, the use of the substance remains surprisingly widespread. According to the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States. As of 2018, about 34 million US adults smoke cigarettes. The use… Continue reading CDC: Tobacco Use Still Surprisingly Common

Cigarette Sales On the Rise

The number of cigarettes that the largest cigarette companies in the United States sold to wholesalers and retailers nationwide increased from 202.9 billion in 2019 to 203.7 billion in 2020, according to the most recent Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report. This represents the first time annual cigarette sales have increased in 20 years. According to… Continue reading Cigarette Sales On the Rise

Fact or Fiction: What to Know about Smoking Cessation and Medication

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, resulting in more than 480,000 deaths annually. Almost 70 percent of current smokers report wanting to quit smoking, but quitting can be hard and often takes multiple attempts. A variety of medications approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are… Continue reading Fact or Fiction: What to Know about Smoking Cessation and Medication

Smoke-Free Policies Associated with Lower Blood Pressure Among Nonsmokers

Smoke-free policies have now been linked to lower blood pressure readings among non-smokers. It’s already known that these policies, which prohibit smoking in public places like bars and restaurants, are linked with fewer hospitalizations for heart disease among non-smokers. But this is the first study to associate the policies with lower systolic (top number) blood… Continue reading Smoke-Free Policies Associated with Lower Blood Pressure Among Nonsmokers

The Shrinking Use of Tobacco

Good news: Cigarette smoking has reached the lowest level ever recorded among U.S. adults. Only 14 percent of Americans smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Still, about 47 million (one in five) Americans used a tobacco product in… Continue reading The Shrinking Use of Tobacco

The Most Addictive Brand of E-Cigs?

Teens and young adults who use Juul brand e-cigarettes are don’t recognize the product’s addictive potential, even though they use it more often than their peers who smoke conventional cigarettes, according to a new study. The findings, from an ongoing Stanford project addressing the use and perceptions of tobacco products by California youth, was published… Continue reading The Most Addictive Brand of E-Cigs?

Smokers with Peripheral Artery Disease Need More Help to Kick The Habit

While many people with peripheral artery disease (PAD) smoke, few receive proven smoking cessation strategies from their doctor, according to new research in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Worldwide, 202 million adults are affected by peripheral artery disease, which is a narrowing… Continue reading Smokers with Peripheral Artery Disease Need More Help to Kick The Habit

E-Cigarette Flavors Linked to Heart Damage

Flavor additives used in electronic cigarettes and related tobacco products could impair blood vessel function and may be an early indicator of heart damage, according to new laboratory research in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, an American Heart Association journal. The health effects of “combustible” tobacco products including traditional cigarettes and hookah are well-established, but… Continue reading E-Cigarette Flavors Linked to Heart Damage

Quitting Smoking for Older Adults

“I’ve smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years—what’s the use of quitting now? Will I even be able to quit after all this time?” No matter your age, quitting smoking improves your health. If you quit smoking, you are likely to add years to your life, breathe more easily, have more energy,… Continue reading Quitting Smoking for Older Adults

4 Tips to Quit Smoking

If you’re ready to kick the tobacco habit, the experts at the Food and Drug Administration have some advice for you: What are your New Year’s resolutions? If you smoke, maybe this will be the year that you decide you want to quit. And you may not be alone: Nearly 70 percent of current adult… Continue reading 4 Tips to Quit Smoking

Tobacco Regulators Should Give More Weight to Smokers’ “Unhappiness”

Federal officials considering new tobacco-product regulations should give more weight to the fact that a majority of smokers are unhappy about feeling addicted to cigarettes, according to a recent study by the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. Researchers at the school’s Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (TCORS) analyzed data from 1,284 adult… Continue reading Tobacco Regulators Should Give More Weight to Smokers’ “Unhappiness”

Twenty Percent of U.S. Adults Use Tobacco Products

Although the dangers of tobacco use have been known for decades, about one in five U.S. adults used some form of tobacco product in 2015, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products. The statistics were published in… Continue reading Twenty Percent of U.S. Adults Use Tobacco Products

E-Cigarettes Pose Risk to Body’s Vascular System

Editor’s note: E-cigarettes carry some serious health hazards, including, the Society for Vascular Surgery says, the effect on veins and arteries. Here’s their update: Are electronic cigarettes, which have been booming in popularity over the past 10 years, safer than regular cigarettes? Like so many things, it’s complicated. Most research looks at whether vaping helps… Continue reading E-Cigarettes Pose Risk to Body’s Vascular System

The Most Effective Health-Awareness Day

Health awareness days are ubiquitous. But does dedicating a day to a serious disease or to healthy living habits actually make a difference in the lives of people who hear about the occasion? In one case, the answer is yes, researchers say. But a new study, published today in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance by… Continue reading The Most Effective Health-Awareness Day