News: Smoking and Tobacco

Asian countries are in the early stages of a tobacco smoking epidemic with habits mirroring those of the United States from past decades, setting the stage for a spike in future deaths from smoking-related diseases.

The risk of lung cancer drops substantially within five years of quitting, according to a new analysis of the landmark Framingham Heart Study by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

For the 10th year in a row Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) have been named a CEO Cancer Gold Standard employer by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer.

Lung cancer is the most deadly cancer in the United States – but high-tech imaging now lets smokers get checked for early signs of lung cancer. Finding lung cancer in its earliest stages makes it far easier to treat.

A simple blood test is allowing Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) researchers to determine which patients should be prescribed varenicline (Chantix) to stop smoking and which patients could do just as well, and avoid side effects, by using a nicotine patch.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has been designated a Lung Cancer Screening Center by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The ACR Lung Cancer Screening Center designation is a voluntary program that recognizes facilities that have committed to practice safe, effective diagnostic care for individuals at the highest risk for lung cancer. In order to […]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common smoking-related lung illness and the third leading cause of death in the United States. Scientists have long believed that inhaling toxic gases and particles from tobacco smoke causes inflammation of the small airways in the lungs, leading to the development of COPD. However, the theory doesn’t explain […]

Interested in how cancer prevention recommendations play out in low-income populations, epidemiologist Shaneda Warren Anderson, Ph.D., and colleagues analyzed data from 61,098 adults, with overrepresentation of low-income whites and African-Americans. The team measured adherence to American Cancer Society (ACS) recommendations regarding body mass index, physical activity, diet, alcohol intake and smoking status, and they gathered […]

Hilary Tindle, M.D., MPH, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Tobacco, Addiction and Lifestyle (ViTAL), rattles off the data without taking a breath: smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the world; on average 480,000 people die every year from smoking-related diseases; and tobacco use costs the United States $300 billion in health […]

Reduced-nicotine cigarettes were beneficial in reducing nicotine exposure and dependence, and also the number of cigarettes smoked per day, when compared with standard-nicotine cigarettes in a six-week study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It is the first large-scale clinical trial to examine the effects of reduced-nicotine cigarettes on smoking behavior and exposure […]