Local authorities in New York have implemented new measures which now mean a number of outdoor public areas such as parks, beaches and even Times Square will soon be completely free of tobacco. Lighting up in bars and clubs has been banned in New York since 2003, but a new twist in the law means read more »

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer are the leading cause of death globally. The Global Status report also said that smoking was a leading cause of noncommunicable disease, which accounted for more than 36 million deaths in 2008. Other key findings from the report included read more »

51 year old hypnotherapist Max Kirsten is a reformed drug addict who now dedicates himself to helping others overcome their own addictions using hypnosis. Though Kirsten is now based in the Knightsbridge area of London, he spent his youth growing up on King’s Road, where ‘getting high’ on any and every drug was the done read more »

According to recent findings published in the US report Chemical Research in Toxicology, smoking can cause genetic damage in a matter of minutes rather than years as it has been previously thought. The small scale study which was funded by the US Cancer Institute, found that chemicals which are known to cause cancer form rapidly read more »

According to recent findings from a US study, children living in flats have 45 per cent more exposure to tobacco than those living in detached houses. A team of researchers from Harvard and Rochester Universities believe the reason to be because smoke seeps through the walls and shared ventilation systems which are present in flats. read more »

According to a recent poll conducted by Aviva, large numbers of GPs avoid raising or discussing what they consider to be ‘sensitive’ issues such as obesity with their patients for fear of upsetting them. The poll revealed that 59 per cent of GPs felt reluctant to bring up personal hygiene problems, 13 per cent steered read more »

A global study conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has found that passive smoking causes around 600,000 deaths each year with one third of that number being children, reports BBC News. The study, which was conducted in 192 countries found that passive smoking was particularly dangerous for children, causing 165,000 fatal smoking related respiratory read more »

The Department of Health is considering asking tobacco firms to put only basic health information and warnings on cigarette packets in an effort to make smoking less attractive and eye catching to children. Many health campaigners have praised the move but smokers’ group Forest have said there is no evidence to support the idea that read more »

According to recent figures fewer people have attempted to give up smoking in England during the recession than have done so in the past. Back in 2007 before the recession hit the UK around 32 per cent of smokers said they had tried to kick their habit in the past three months. In 2008 however, read more »

As the UK’s biggest cancer killer, lung cancer takes the lives of over 33,500 people in the UK each year, more than that of leukaemia, breast and prostate cancer combined. Despite this lung cancer receives only 3 per cent of the all the money spent on cancer research in the UK. The British Lung Foundation read more »