Even though smoking is an important cause of multiple cancers, women who smoke are less likely to get recommended cancer screening tests than those who don’t smoke. That’s the finding from a new study of the large Women’s Health Initiative. Published yesterday in the journal, BMJ Open, the study followed 89,000 U.S. women for just […]
Category: smoking
One in Five High Schoolers Vape or Use Tobacco. Tips for Guiding Your Teen Toward Healthier Choices
Recently released numbers from a national survey show that many high school-aged youth in the United States put themselves at risk for lifelong addiction by using tobacco or electronic cigarettes. The 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System report found that 16 percent of girls and 24 percent of boys had vaped, used smokeless tobacco, or […]
Low-Income Smokers May Not Be Able to Afford Health Insurance Coverage in the Marketplace
A new study shows just how tough it can be for low-income smokers in the United States to get adequate, affordable health insurance coverage. In an analysis looking at the plans offered in the Affordable Care Act marketplace, in a state that did not expand Medicaid coverage, Washington University School of Medicine researchers found that […]
Tailoring Smoking Cessation Outreach: Specialty Tools of Smokefree.gov and an Innovative Study in American Indian/Alaska Native Communities
by Katy Henke A new study sheds some light on strategies that may help smokers in under-researched communities take steps to quit. Recently, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis led a study that looked at the potential impact that graphic cigarette labels might have in sparking social interaction around smoking cessation in American Indian/Alaska […]
Practical Steps to Prevent Breast Cancer: Day 4 – Don’t Smoke, and Avoid Other People’s Smoke, Too
It’s day four in our nine day series highlighting key steps and practical tips that can help women lower their risk of breast cancer. Previous days. _ _ _ _ Day 4 – Don’t Smoke, and Avoid Other People’s Smoke, Too This really goes without saying: Don’t smoke, and avoid other people’s smoke, too. Smokers and […]
John Oliver Skewers Big Tobacco’s Heavy-Handed Global Efforts (Video)
We’re not prone to posting video clips from satirical news programs, but this weekend’s piece from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver really captured why it is so important to keep up the fight against Big Tobacco. While we still have a great deal of work to do to get tobacco under control in the […]
Study Finds Tobacco is Even Deadlier Than Typically Estimated. Fighting It Should Remain “Our Highest Priority”
Photo (Creattive Commons): Flickr/jeffjose It can be easy to think that we’ve won the fight against tobacco. Rates of smoking have plummeted since the 1960s. Most restaurants, bars, and workplaces across the country are now largely smoke-free. And many of us may have trouble coming up with a single family member or close friend who […]
Current Evidence on Smoking and Breast Cancer
Photo: flickr/saneboy (Creative Commons lic; cropped) Though the most recent Surgeon General’s report on the health effects of tobacco stops just short of classifying smoking as a cause of breast cancer, current evidence seems compelling enough to finally push tobacco smoke from simple risk factor to full-fledged “cause.” While research into the tobacco/breast cancer link […]
Data Show More Support Warranted for Worksite Wellness Programs
Photo: Flickr/abraj This week I had the privilege of addressing the American Cancer Society CEOs Against Cancer at their annual meeting that this year was held at Washington University in St. Louis. As a member of the panel addressing worksite wellness, I was able to briefly summarize the strong evidence that worksite wellness programs can […]
Don’t Quit on Quitting: Smoking Cessation Still an Important Focus
John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society, made the point at last week’s meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative that tobacco control should remain the highest priority in combatting chronic disease. It’s a point we’ve certainly echoed on this blog – that efforts to curb tobacco use shouldn’t be relegated to the second tier […]
Cigarette smoking causes excess deaths in men with prostate cancer
Smoking remains the largest preventable cause of cancer (see summary of Surgeon General’s Report). While smoking causes cancer at many organ sites, including lung, larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, bladder and kidney, cervix, stomach, and acute leukemia, the evidence review in 2004 by the Surgeon General indicated that the evidence was suggestive of […]
Lance Armstrong has it right: Why tobacco taxes matter
News came out this week that Lance Armstrong will team up with a new partner – the California Cancer Research Act. The Act proposes increasing the state’s tobacco tax by $1 and funneling that money toward cancer research. California is facing a budget crisis and may be cutting huge (billions) sums of money from health […]
Smoking, Breast Cancer, and One More Reason to Keep up the Fight Against Tobacco
It may not fall into the “shocking” category, but a new Harvard study by our colleagues at the Nurses’ Health Study has provided further insight into the links between smoking and breast cancer (study). To date, many studies have had waffling results on the subject. Some showing smoking raising risk; some showing it not affecting […]
Finding the key to health as a cancer survivor: a new 8 ways
For a long time, the CNiC team has talked about 8 ways you can prevent cancer. This week, we’re proud to announce our 8 ways to stay healthy AFTER cancer. With over 12 million cancer survivors in the US alone, addressing the chronic health needs of cancer survivors is a priority. Readers will notice that […]
Finding the key to health as a cancer survivor: a new 8 ways
For a long time, the CNiC team has talked about 8 ways you can prevent cancer. This week, we’re proud to announce our 8 ways to stay healthy AFTER cancer. With over 12 million cancer survivors in the US alone, addressing the chronic health needs of cancer survivors is a priority. Readers will notice that […]
Quitting smoking vs CT scans: cost, risks and benefits
There is lots of talk in the news right now about scanning – mostly about the kind in airports and whether it is too great an invasion of privacy. But medical scanning has also been making headlines – specifically, whether we do too much of it unnecessarily, as CT and X-ray scans expose the body […]
Become an Ex – stop smoking
Second hand smoke exposure in the US was thoroughly documented last week in the CDC report noted in many media stories. The report evaluated national data from 1999 through 2008, and estimates that 88 million non smokers greater than age 3 were exposed to second hand smoke. The authors note that the decline in exposure […]
Second hand smoke in bar workers
More news from Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center showing significant nicotine exposure from cigarette smoke in restaurant and bar workers. It is time for regulations to protect workers. We can cut the health impact of smoking now. See story
Medicare: putting their money where the evidence is
On Friday, the federal government announced that effective immediately Medicare would cover the cost of smoking cessation counseling. Anyone covered by Medicare will be able to receive tobacco cessation counseling from a qualified physician or other Medicare-recognized practitioner who can work with them to help them quit. (All people with Medicare will continue to have […]