Tobacco Abuse

Medications Taken Earlier Help Improve Quitting Success Rates

Posted by Drug Free in Tobacco Abuse on January 10th, 2012

It has been suggested that a more successful way to quit smoking is by taking smoking cessation drugs earlier than a person’s scheduled quit date.

quit smokingA study conducted at the University of Buffalo Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RCPI) showed that participants who took the medication varenicline, also known as Chantix, four weeks before they actually quit smoking had more successful attempts to quit compared to those who took the medication just a week before their quit date.

Lead researcher and author of the study Larry W. Hawk Jr., PhD said that the medication is best taken a few weeks before quitting which is contrary to the one week prescribed period of taking the drug before completely getting rid of the tobacco habit.

“Varenicline was designed to make smoking less rewarding, and our data suggests that it does that better when people take it for a few extra weeks before quitting.”

While the treatment procedure has not been officially adapted, it could be one that will help smokers to successfully quit. “We saw nearly full compliance, which suggests that this is not only a well-tolerated therapy, but one people can realistically stick with,” says co-author Martin C. Mahoney, MD, PhD from RPCI’s Departments of Medicine and Health Behavior.

Participants reported side effects such as mild nausea in the first few days of treatment but the condition goes away after a few weeks. The extra varenicline in the system affects one’s taste buds and makes a person nauseated but Dr. Mahoney clarified that these side effects are in fact the factors that reduce smoking rates even before smokers try to quit.

Comparing men and women participants of the study, men reduced smoking rates by 26% after four weeks of taking the medication while women registered more than 50% drop in smoking rates on the average after just three weeks of taking varenicline.

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Teen Marijuana Use Up, Teen Cigarette and Alcohol Use Down

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse, Drug Addiction, Marijuana Use and Abuse, Tobacco Abuse on December 27th, 2011

In a latest survey conducted among teens in the United States, it has been noted that while tobacco and alcohol use declined among the youth, marijuana use increased.

marijuanaDr. Nora Volkow, who heads the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said that the decline in tobacco use among teens is welcome news. Yet the rate of its decline goes slower and slower over the years, and this could still be a concern for everybody. “This highlights the urgency of maintaining strong prevention efforts against teen smoking and of targeting other tobacco products,” Volkow said.

Survey results also confirmed that marijuana use among high school students has reached 25% in the past year compared to about 21% in 2007. The most troubling reality uncovered by the survey is the fact that daily marijuana use among senior high school students is at 7%. This percentage is by far the highest since 1981.

The rise in marijuana use could be due to the fact that mortality rates linked to marijuana use is by far much lower than reported tobacco fatalities. Smoking marijuana is perceived as much safer than cigarettes therefore more individuals are getting into the habit of pot smoking instead of cigarettes. What teens might be disregarding is that daily marijuana use leads to addiction which in turn could mean more serious conditions.

Alcohol use among teens is also on the decline. Reports regarding fatal cases on driving under the influence, higher risks for addiction and overdose, and violent reactions related to alcohol use have discouraged teens from alcohol abuse.

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Improved Quality of Life as Long-Term Effect of Quitting Smoking

Posted by Drug Free in Tobacco Abuse on December 23rd, 2011

A new study shows that smokers who quit can have an improved quality of life. Researchers have found out that factors affecting the quality of life improve when a smoker decides to quit his nicotine habit.

smokingThe study involved 1,504 smokers who quit. After three years of monitoring, the researchers were able to compare their quality of life to those who did not quit, and it was no surprise finding some significant differences from the two groups.

The most significant result that came out from the study was that people who quit smoking displayed a relatively lower decrease in their quality of life during the first and third years of the duration of the study. Those who kept smoking, on the other hand, had greater drops in their quality of life throughout the given time frame. Non-smokers in the third year of the study complained of less complications and problems brought about by their previous nicotine encounters, while smokers reported more stressful situations.

As to marital support with regards to tobacco issues, both groups got the same amount of support from their spouses on the first year, but support increased for the non-smoking side on the third year.

The results of the study will hopefully shed some light on the belief that smokers who quit still experience deterioration in the quality of life despite quitting. If smokers who quit remain quit for years, they will see improvements in their overall health condition.

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Cancer Group Helps Teens Quit Smoking

Posted by Drug Free in Tobacco Abuse on December 13th, 2011

Quitting the smoking habit is hard enough for adults; imagine what it’s like for teens. This is why the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched a support program for teens who want to quit smoking — the Smokefree TXT.

text smokersAs teens today are attached to their mobile devices, such as their phones, smoking cessation experts will provide a 24/7 free text messaging service that aims to encourage teens to quit smoking. The Smokefree TXT service will also give advice and tips to teens on how to get over smoking through text messages that they can readily receive in their mobile phones.

Teens can avail of the service by signing up, either via online at teen.smokefree.gov or by texting QUIT to iQUIT (47848). As soon as a participant sets his own quit date, he will start to receive the text messages and will continue to receive them for the next six weeks that follow. This is because research has shown that the most critical of the cessation stage is during the first few weeks after quitting.

In the United States alone, 20% of the overall teen population smoke. The government has several initiatives to control the situation, yet more and more teens are failing in their desire to quit simply because they can’t find enough support and resources to help them in their battles. The move to use mobile phones as cessation tools will hopefully give teens the necessary information and encouragement that will help them to successfully quit.

NCI’s Tobacco Control Research Branch behavioral scientist Dr. Erik Augustson agrees to the idea of using technology as effective means to promote healthy living among the youth.  “With 75 percent of youths between the ages of 12 and 17 owning a cell phone, there is immense potential for mobile technologies to affect health awareness and behavior change among teens.”

SmokefreeTXT is a program under the US Department of Health and Human Services.

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Nicotine Boosts Cocaine Effects

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Addiction, Tobacco Abuse on December 5th, 2011

Aside from being an addictive substance itself, nicotine is now considered a potent booster of cocaine effects. In a new research done at the Columbia University headed by Dr. Amir Levine, researchers were able to relate nicotine and cocaine addiction by treating mice samples with nicotine and then introducing cocaine in their system.

nicotineThey recorded that the mice samples exposed to nicotine and then to cocaine had more addiction symptoms compared to the mice that were not given nicotine beforehand. Reversing the order of introducing the two substances did not produce the same significant results.

The findings of the study suggest that smoking, being exposed to secondhand smoke, or even the use of nicotine replacement products could increase a person’s susceptibility to cocaine. It is advisable then to keep nicotine exposure to the minimum or nonexistent, if possible, to avoid the possibility of being addicted to cocaine as well as other addictive substances.

Proponents of the study explained that nicotine affects the histone proteins in the brain which leads to a more exaggerated response to cocaine by an individual.

Authors of the study stated that there is a need to treat nicotine addictions of patients who are currently on cocaine addiction treatment programs to help them overcome their problem. There are cases wherein substance recovery patients are prescribed nicotine-replacement products to help them stop smoking. Yet this new study could prove this method wrong as any nicotine source could readily aggravate the difficulty of getting over their cocaine addictions.

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Survey: Parents Underestimate Teen Drug and Alcohol Use

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse, Raising Healthy Kids, Tobacco Abuse on September 14th, 2011

It seems that a lot of parents are either unable – or unwilling — to see that their teens engage in drug and alcohol use.

parent and childThe results of a poll conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan, with parents of teens aged 13 to 17 years old as respondents, revealed that 10 percent of the respondents believe that their children have used alcohol in the last year, while 5 percent believe that their teens used marijuana.

A poll of teens, however, tells a different story. Recent research indicated that 52 percent of 10th graders admitted to drinking alcohol in the last year, while 18 percent admitted to using pot during the same time frame.

Bernard Biermann, the medical director of the Child/Adolescent Inpatient Unit at the University of Michigan, said: “There’s a clear mismatch between what parents are reporting in terms of their children’s possible use of substances and what teenagers report themselves.”

The poll also indicated that, while parents tend to underestimate their own teenaged child’s drug and alcohol use, they tend to overestimate the drug and alcohol use by other teenaged children. They believe that 60 percent of 10th graders drank alcohol in the last year, while at least 40 percent  used pot.

The researchers shared that “in other words, parents are more likely to expect marijuana and alcohol use by teenagers other than their own.”

In order to correct this mismatch, Dr. Biermann called on parents to improve communication with their children.

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