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Eliminating the threat of secondhand smoke would prevent more than 228,000 new cases of heart disease and 119,000 heart-related deaths over the next 25 years, according to a new study. Using a model to estimate the impact of eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke on heart disease, researchers found stopping secondhand smoke would quickly reduce the number of heart-related deaths. This effect would increase over time, adding up to hundreds of thousands of preventable heart attacks and other problems. National surveys suggest that 4 percent to 17 percent of the nonsmoking population (depending on age and sex) are exposed to secondhand...

A German company has come up with a novel way of beating bans on smoking in pubs - put the nicotine in the beer. A new beer, known as NicoShot, is undergoing testing in Germany with hopes it can be moved toward approval in the next few months. Each beer contains three milligrams of nicotine and a 6.3% alcohol reading.

Smoking Ban Meeting Planned For Tuesday POSTED: 7:04 pm CDT September 19, 2005 UPDATED: 1:35 pm CDT September 20, 2005 MADISON, Wis. -- The Madison Common Council is preparing to clear the air on the city's smoking ban Tuesday night. Many of those who have rallied to repeal the smoking ban are expected to attend Tuesday night's common council meeting. Three smoking-related things are on the agenda including an outright appeal of the ban, an amendment to allow businesses to apply for a hardship exemption and a proposal for a citywide referendum. "It doesn't look like there's enough votes to...

World Briefings Published: April 15, 2005 SOUTH AFRICA: GET THIS MONKEY OFF HIS BACK A male chimpanzee at Bloemfontein Zoo is wrestling to break a nicotine addiction after picking up the smoking habit from visitors who tossed lit cigarette butts into his enclosure, zoo officials said. The adult chimp, named Charlie, probably acquired the butts by mimicking zoogoers' smoking as they passed by, leading them to toss him cigarettes. Charlie now hides his cigarettes when zookeepers approach so that they will not be confiscated, officials said. Nor is it his only bad habit. Charlie has three bad teeth, said a...

THE effects of nicotine could help relieve the symptoms of schizophrenia in some sufferers, researchers suggested today. The study, in Granada in Spain, looked at the theory that smoking is a form of "self-medication" for people with schizophrenia. They found that for mildly dependent smokers, nicotine could have a beneficial effect on their symptoms. But the researchers also found that people with a high nicotine dependence were more likely to be readmitted to hospital and have a poor outcome to their condition. The results of the study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, noted that worldwide, schizophrenia was linked...

Today is the American Cancer Society's 28th Great American Smokeout. The event is certainly a smoke-out -- clean air laws kick smokers outdoors for their nicotine fixes. But is it really ''great''? No! Because the event suggests a wrongheaded option: Quit tobacco or die. The reality is that for the 400,000 American smokers who die each year, total abstinence was impossible and entirely unnecessary. Medical research shows that you can achieve almost all of the health benefits of quitting smoking without quitting tobacco. Nicotine, while powerfully addictive, is about as safe as caffeine, another widely consumed addictive drug. It's tobacco...

Nicotine could soon be rehabilitated as a treatment for schizophrenia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, as well as hyperactivity disorders. Research shows that the chemical that has addicted millions to smoking has a powerful impact on brain activity in patients who suffer from psychiatric and degenerative disorders. Some experiments have shown that nicotine can slow down the onset of Parkinson's symptoms; others have had revealed its power in curtailing the hallucinations of schizophrenics. 'A whole range of psychiatric conditions seem to be helped by nicotine,' said Dr Dan McGehee, a neurobiologist at the University of Chicago. 'However, such benefits do not...

Sometimes when former smokers go out drinking, by the end of the evening they are hooked on cigarettes again. Why? Researchers say that in part, it may come down to simple brain chemistry. A new study has found that alcohol, even in very small amounts, appears to enhance the pleasurable effects of nicotine. At the same time, the researchers say, nicotine may counteract some of the effects of alcohol, like drowsiness. "It may be kind of a balancing act in the brain — that you're taking one substance to balance the effects of another substance," said Dr. Jed E. Rose...

<p>LOS ANGELES — For years consumers have been warned about the dangers of smoking, but now doctors say one ingredient found in cigarettes may hold the key to good health.</p> <p>Nicotine (search), known to be a potentially toxic stimulant, has been found to actually do some good.</p>

SINGAPORE is set to partially lift the ban on chewing gum this week, but those yearning to blow bubbles or freshen their breath will have to settle for a chewy nicotine substitute. Starting on Thursday, sale of Nicorette - a nicotine gum for smokers trying to quit - will be allowed. The Government last year agreed to relax the 12-year ban on chewing gum to allow the sale of brands that the health authorities consider 'therapeutic', as part of a free-trade agreement with the United States that took effect on Jan 1. Pfizer, the company that makes Nicorette, will send...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teenagers can purchase nicotine replacement therapy with relative ease, despite the fact that these products carry warnings saying they are meant for adults, according to new research. U.S. investigators found that a 15-year-old girl was able to purchase nicotine replacement products like nicotine patches in 8 out of 10 attempts, without showing any proof of age. Unfortunately, research has shown that some teens "misuse" nicotine replacement products, either trying them when they don't need to quit smoking, or using them while they are still smoking, study author Dr. Karen C. Johnson told Reuters Health. However,...

The postal system, including the branches that serve government offices, remains vulnerable to mailings of ricin and other poisons despite efforts to improve security since the anthrax attacks of 2001, government investigators and other experts said yesterday. Even so, they said that in contrast to the hazards of infectious agents like anthrax, the risk posed by these other substances was more a matter of disruption than of mortal danger. Many experts consider the public health risk posed by a mailed poison much smaller than that from a mailed germ, particularly the easily lofted spores of anthrax, which can multiply explosively...

<p>With the closing of Pinstripes Sports Cafe on Dec. 24, some other bar owners in the city are concerned that they will be next.</p> <p>Pinstripes closed as a direct result of the state public places smoking ban, according to Frank Bokoff, who said he was a spokesman for F and J Management, the group that owned and operated the bar and grill.</p>

Lying in the name of public health A recent study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the most popular brands of smokeless tobacco in this country are the ones with the highest levels of readily absorbed nicotine. For the researchers, the finding was an opportunity to once again mislead the public about the hazards of oral snuff. "Consumers need to know that smokeless tobacco products...are not safe alternatives to smoking," said co-author Patricia Richter of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. "The amount of nicotine absorbed per dose from using smokeless tobacco...

A cloud of smoke seemed to surround Jody Smedley. At the Denny’s restaurant in West Palm Beach where Smedley works as a waitress, many of her regular customers smoke cigarettes. One of her favorites, an elderly woman named Marie, was a three-pack-a-day smoker afflicted with emphysema and various other tobacco-related ailments. Marie often looked quite frail. “But she was one of those people who couldn’t stop,” Smedley says. “She actually would use one cigarette to light another without missing a beat.” Then, a few months ago, Smedley’s mother, another heavy smoker, was diagnosed with emphysema. Her lung specialist gave her...

Nicotine And Memory Loss Burlington, Vermont - October 20, 2003 Doctors at the University of Vermont are trying to solve the mystery behind Mild Cognitive Impairment. It's a condition characterized by forgetfulness and if left untreated could be a precursor to Alzheimers Disease. "Just like heart disease doesn't start with a heart attack, it starts with years of cholesterol buildup. Mild Cognitive Impairment may represent the early stages of memory loss prior to the diagnosis of Alzheimers disease," says Dr. Paul Newhouse. Newhouse is targeting Mild Cognitive Impairment because about 12 percent of MCI patients will develop Alzheimers. And...

A net-buddy of mine was recently diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer in the upper lobe of his right lung: stage 3a, locally metastatic, possibly operable, possibly terminal. His odds are not good. He is 53, married. He has been a 2-pack/day smoker for 30 years. I -and others- have begun sending him surplus cash to help him and his wife keep beans on the table and a roof overhead as he pursues treatment. Something about the situation struck me as beautifully symmetric: I smoke, spending about $30.00 every two weeks on cigarettes; I intend to send him at least that...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) --A Department of Homeland Security advisory issued Thursday warns that al Qaeda is working on plans to hijack airliners flying between international points that pass near or over the continental United States.</p> <p>A Department of Homeland Security official said most of the flights fitting this description originate in Canada, and that U.S. officials have been working with Canada over the past month to ensure it is improving screening and other security measures.</p>

The FBI is warning that terrorists might try to poison food or water supplies, and senior bureau officials said al-Qaeda was determined to attack Americans at home even though the organisation appears to have a relatively small US presence. The FBI has not detected any individuals or cells actively planning attacks such as those almost two years ago that killed some 3000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Most al-Qaeda operatives in the US provide logistical support such as travel documents, recruitment and fund raising, Larry Mefford, the FBI's chief counterterrorism official, said today. "My view is, it's very...

Enter the nicotini: Smoking ban leads to tobacco-infused drink By Scott Wyman Staff Writer Posted July 30 2003 Forget the cosmopolitan. Set aside the mojito. A new drink has emerged on trendy Las Olas Boulevard since restaurants were forced to ban smoking -- the nicotini. Call it a liquid cigarette because this drink comes complete with the nicotine rush and tobacco aftertaste found in a pack of Camels. These tobacco-spiked martinis are being served up for die-hard smokers who don't want to leave their barstools and go outside to light up.