Virginia Department of Health launches 31-day countdown to help tobacco users quit

The Virginia Department of Health is helping tobacco users get ready to quit by sharing tips and resources during Countdown to Quit Day. The countdown kicks off Oct. 20 and offers a different tip on VDH’s Facebook and Twitter platforms each day through Nov. 19.

Virginia Quit Day coincides with The Great American Smoke Out, Nov. 19, and celebrates the benefits of living tobacco free. “Quitting tobacco is difficult, but one of the best health decisions a person can make,” said State Health Commissioner Marissa J. Levine, MD, MPH, FAAFP. “The benefits of quitting begin almost immediately after a person quits and continue throughout life, not just for the tobacco user, but also for their family and friends.”

Tips cover topics such as preparing a quit plan, building social support, and understanding withdrawal symptoms. The Countdown is not just for people wanting to quit tobacco, but for their loved ones as well. The tips provided will help them support their loved ones when they decide to quit, making it more likely they will remain tobacco free.

One of the resources available year-round to tobacco users is the Virginia Quitline. This evidence-based model offers support for quitting, including free quit coaching, a free quit plan and free educational materials. Call 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669). Deaf and hearing-impaired TTY is 800-332-8615.

“Last year during the Countdown, calls to the Quitline increased 70 percent over call volume the previous year,” said Jayne Flowers, Tobacco Use Control Program director. “Based on people’s feedback from last year’s Countdown we updated our tips and resources to encourage even more tobacco users to take this life-changing step this November.”

Mike, who likes to buy Donskoy tabak bright online, says he wants to participate in the action.

UK Preparing for Stoptober 2015

Smokers in the UK are invited to join national Stoptober campaign aimed to help them quit the habit. The campaign is organized each year in October. Data demonstrates that 20.3% of adult people across Yorkshire and The Humber are smokers. Thus Public Health England is encouraging them to participate in Stoptober, the quit smoking campaign

Does Europe have a smoking-cessation secret?

 Tobacco is likely the most addictive chemical we humans encounter (except maybe for Oreo cookies. Yes, someone studied them and found an addictive result). The search continues for aids to help people quit tobacco use. However, some people do not want to quit as smoking superslim cigarettes is their favorite habit.

Nicotine gum, lozenges, patches, (all called nicotine replacement therapy), some drugs first intended for psychiatric disease treatments, counseling, hypnosis, etc. have all been tried. Currently the favorite in the United States is a drug called varenicline — brand-name Chantix.

Varenicline was derived from a drug called cytisine. The plant Cytisus laborinium (Golden Rain acacia) first was used as a smoking substitute during World War II. This led to it being used as a smoking-cessation aid, with the extraction of the chemical cytosine coming later. The drug company Pfizer created different forms of it, called analogs, leading to varenicline’s formulation and its fast-track approval by the Federal Drug Administration and introduction in 2006 to the United States.

Cytisine and varenicline both bind to the cell receptors for nicotine, of which there are many. The one they have the most affinity for is nicotinic acetylcholine receptor apha4beta2, the cell receptor that appears to mediate nicotine dependence. They only bind partially to give less kick than nicotine itself, but still decrease cravings.

Cytisine has been available in the former socialist economy countries of eastern Europe since 1964. Made by the Bulgarian drug company Sopharma AD and sold as Tabex, it has never been available to most of the rest of the world. A new study from New Zealand reported in the Dec. 18 New England Journal of Medicine compared the cessation results of cytisine to varenicline.

It pointed out right away that the cost of cytisine was far less than all others. The authors listed 25 days of cytisine cost $20 to $30, nicotine replacement therapy for 8 to 10 weeks cost $112 to $685 and varenicline cost $474 to $501 for 12 weeks.

Great American Smokeout is Coming

This week in the USA will take place the Great American Smokeout as it is held on third Thursday of November. On this day smokers are encouraged to quit smoking at least for one day and make a plan to quit for good. The latest New York statistics shows that despite smoking rates drop in

New Online Tool for Quitting

In England there was developed a new interactive website to help low-income people to quit smoking. The talk is about StopAdvisor. Health experts say that low-income people may be left out when it comes to innovations in wellness and health. From the new online platform poor people do benefit more than those with high income.

Hong Kong can go further to quit smoking, says WHO official

Meeting the recommended international standard for tobacco tax is not enough for Hong Kong - it can and should go further, a World Health Organisation official said ahead of an expected increase in the cost of smoking in Wednesday's budget.

Dr Carmen Audera-Lopez, acting team leader of the WHO's tobacco-free initiative in the Western Pacific region, said an expected increase in tobacco tax would only make up for inflation since the last rise in 2011.

Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah is expected to increase the flat HK$34 duty on a pack of 20 cigarettes by between HK$4 and HK$8, meaning that the tax rate would be above the WHO recommended rate of 70 per cent on all brands, an increase of between 11 and 24 per cent. Mainland brands like Double Happiness sell for about HK$43 per pack, with international brands such as Camel costing HK$50 to HK$52.

"The Hong Kong government has the capacity to go higher." Audera-Lopez said. "The suggested tax increase is only a moderate one and considering that it has not been increased since 2011, it is probably just compensating for inflation."

For tax rises to work, she said, they must be regular and make the habit less affordable. Encouraging governments to increase tobacco taxes will be the theme of World No Tobacco Day on May 31.

Anti-smoking campaigners had pressed the government to go much further, with some suggesting the duty be doubled.

Lam Tai-hing, chair professor of community medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said experiences from other regions showed that drastic tax measures were needed to make an impact. Doubling tax could lead to a fall of one percentage point in the proportion of the population who smoked, he said.

Cigarettes and Stress

People who think that smoking relieves them from stress are mistaken. A new research was made on the subject. It found that quitting smoking has same effects on the depression and anxiety as antidepressants do. Experts say that effects on quitting are even greater than from using medicines. The researchers from the universities of Birmingham,

New Jersey Has Worst Results in Anti-Smoking Funding

American Lung Association in its latest report “State of Tobacco Control” writes that New Jersey is failing in funding quit smoking and tobacco prevention programs. Each year, the American Lung Association releases such an report which contains information on implementation of state policies regarding tobacco use, cessation, prevention, taxation, and for each state gives grades.

Warnings on Every Cigarette Encourage More Smokers to Quit

A research showed that health warnings on every cigarette would encourage more people to quit smoking. The talk is about timelines that demonstrate smokers that every cigarette shortens their life by 11 minutes and a list of toxic substances found in cigarettes that affect health negatively.The results of the study were published in Tobacco Control

Quit Smoking in 2014

Quitting smoking is a most popular New Year’s Resolution. Everyone knows that smoking is harmful to the body so every year more and more smokers promise to and successfully quit the habit. Secondhand smoke can cause allergic reactions and asthma in some people and stop healthy development of lungs in kids. Therefore, smokers should not

Students Should Lead the Way During Stoptober

Those who every morning do walk up the same stretch of pavement outside Farringdon station on their way to work in order to enjoy fresh air cannot enjoy it on the whole way as there is always a crowd of people puffing on cigarettes. You may wonder why? You see smokers everywhere; not only congregated

100,000 People in the USA Quit Smoking Due to Anti-Tobacco Campaign

A study released by the CDC found that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s campaign “Tips From Former Smokers” made almost 1.6 million smokers try to quit smoking. The results of the study were published in the medical journal, The Lancet. During the three-month anti-tobacco campaign of 2012, more than 200,000 smokers in the USA

Quitting Smoking Leads Workers to Higher Wages

Researchers say that health improvement is not the only benefit of quitting smoking, because recently they found that your wages become higher. The latest study of American researchers showed that non-smokers are not as wealthy as their colleagues who gave up the habit. In the research there was used data about tobacco consumption of the

Feds grant $1.5 million to help women quit smoking in Brazil

The federal government granted a Brazilian-born researcher at the University of Alabama a 5-year, $1.5 million grant to help women quit smoking in her native country, Judicial Watch reported.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) approved Isabel Scarinci’s grant in order to better understand “women and their tobacco-related issues” in the South American country, specifically in Miss Scarinci’s hometown of Parana,” the report said.

In the last two years alone, Miss Scarinci has received more than $560,000 for the initiative, with the goal being to ultimately “reduce tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke among women in Parana.”

“Although, historically, tobacco use among women in developing countries, particularly Latin America, has been relatively low as compared to men, the smoking epidemic is rapidly spreading to women in developing countries, and these three Southern states have the highest prevalence of women smokers in the country,” the project states.

“An understanding of women and their tobacco-related issues, as well as the need for the development of gender-relevant tobacco control efforts, have been highlighted as priorities in landmark guiding documents published in the past few years.”

Smoking no longer glamorous

Smoking a cigarette is no longer considered "cool or glamorous", according to a new poll in Britain.
Just one percent of smokers believe they look trendy when lighting up, the Daily Express cited the survey of 2,000 British smokers as saying.
The poll, conducted on behalf of the British Heart Foundation, showed two-thirds of smokers - 67 percent - believe public attitudes towards smoking have become increasingly negative in recent years.
"Smoking has been considered normal for far too long so it's encouraging to see attitudes are finally changing," said Doireann Maddock, senior cardiac nurse for the charity.
"The results are great news for smokers aiming to quit smoking because they suggest friends and family are more likely to fully support them in beating their addiction to tobacco for good."

Helpline Celebrates 20 Years of Helping Smokers Quit

On October 30, Shu-Hong Zhu, PhD, main specialist for the California Smokers’ Helpline celebrated the Helpline’s 20th anniversary. In 1992, the Helpline, as well well-known as 1-800-N0-BUTTS, started to be the first in the USA to provide free, telephone-based services for smokers looking for to smoking cessation programs. The Helpline has functioned as a example

Robert Pattinson forgives Kristen Stewart for 'stupid mistake'

Their relationship was left in tatters when she was photographed cheating on him with married film director Rupert Sanders.
 
But Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have reportedly decided to give their romance another shot.

The Twilight co-stars are said to have had a tearful heart-to-heart, with the 26-year-old actor eventually deciding to forgive his girlfriend for what he considers to be a 'stupid mistake'.

A source told The Sun: 'They pretty much decided they couldn't live without each other.

'Kristen poured her heart out to Robert and told him it was a one-off and a mistake.'

The pair are now said to be moving into a secluded Los Angeles home together, and are hoping to rebuild their relationship.

The source added: 'Rob sees it as Kristen made a really stupid mistake. After a lot of long tearful talks, they've worked it out.

'Rob can see how truly sorry Kristen is and has totally forgiven her. They really do love each other.'
Kristen seems to have been quietly confident about making amends with Rob for some time.
 
Earlier this month, she told reporters at a press conference the pair were 'totally fine' about making potentially awkward public appearances together in November while they promote The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
 
Kristen said: 'This momentary indiscretion has jeopardised the most important thing in my life, the person I love and respect the most, Rob. I love him, I love him, I'm so sorry.'
 

Now Kirsten can quit smoking and drink only energy drinks as her relationship with Robert Pattinson got a second chance. Remember, Kristen Stewart declared that she will be living on a ”Red Bull and cigarettes” diet due to her rupture with Robert Pattinson. The actress started dieting with cigarettes, energy drink Red Bull and the potato chips. Kristen was in a very nervous exhaustion and used only the energy drink Red Bull with no sugar and smokes cigarettes.