According to a new study in the journal Cancer (Journal of the American Cancer Society), smokers who smoke a cigarette right away after waking have a greater risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers. These smokers are said to be more nicotine dependent than smokers who wait an hour or so after waking [...]

A new vaccine called NicVax, has failed in the Phase 3 clinical trial (the last stage of testing before a drug can reach the market). Developed by US-based Nabi Pharmaceuticals, NicVax is said to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to nicotine in the bloodstream. Bound to the antibodies, nicotine cannot cross the blood-brain barrier to [...]

Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released study yesterday showing that people who 25 or more cigarettes a day had elevated levels of monoamine oxidase in their brains 8 hours after their last cigarette. The same chemical is elevated in the brains of those said to be clinically depressed. The study’s authors say that this [...]

Pfizer has put out a statement in response to the CMAJ varenicline article, asserting that the authors’ conclusions are misleading because they are based on a small number of cardiovascular events. Pfizer states that the study’s report of a 72% increase in adverse cardiovascular events among smokers using varenicline has been taken out of context. [...]

I came across an article about drug interactions with smoking, by Dr. Geraldine Moses, a consultant drug information pharmacist from Brisbane, Australia). Here are some of the highlights: tobacco smoke interacts with medications through pharmacokinetic  and pharmacodynamic mechanisms PK interactions affect the absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of other drugs, and with smoking, occur mainly because [...]

Dr. Andrew Pipe, Chief of the Division of Prevention and Rehabilitation at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, was recently asked for his opinion on recent media attention surrounding Champix and FDA warning. Specifically, it was based on an analysis of a study, [...]