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 »

A recent study conducted by US researchers at the research institution in Oakland California has found that heavy smoking in mid-life doubles the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and greatly increases the risk of another form of vascular dementia. The study involved tracking the progress of over 21,000 middle-aged men and women for an average of read more »

According to the findings of an analysis of 13,000 smokers, ex smokers and those who have never smoked by researchers from Cardiff University and Ash Wales, smokers are more likely to binge drink, have a poor diet and face mental illness. The study, which analysed the profiles of 13,000 smokers, ex smokers and non smokers read more »

We all know that cigarettes are bad for us, but do we know why and what’s inside? Many people argue that if tobacco was discovered today, it would be too dangerous to be licensed for human consumption, so whats actually in cigarettes that makes them pose such a great risk to our health? As well read more »

Before the smoking ban was imposed in March 2006, Scotland was experiencing a 5 percent per year rise in the number of hospital admissions for asthma attacks in children. Since then there has been an 18 percent reduction in the number of serious childhood asthma attacks. Critics were concerned that the move could force smokers read more »

According to a recent study, mothers who smoke during the early stages of pregnancy could be putting their unborn sons fertility at risk by preventing the development of sperm cells. Scientists have found that numbers of young reproductive cells in male embryos dramatically reduced when exposed to the effects of tobacco. The study involved comparing read more »