ASH, 102 Clifton Street, London EC2A 4HW Tel: 0207 739 5902
Fax: 0207 613 0531

ASH Daily News

14 November, 2000

Headlines
Eastenders star to front Government health campaign
'Stop smoking guidelines to be reviewed'
'WHO seeks right to vet health websites'
' Association Between Cigarette Smoking and Anxiety Disorders During
Adolescence and Early Adulthood'

Full Text

Eastenders star to front Government health campaign

The Daily Express profiles Troy Titus Adams, who plays Nina in the
television soap, is set to front the next stage of the Government's, 'Don't
give up giving up' campaign. Troy told the Express, 'I joined this campaign
because so many people I care about are addicted to cigarettes - my mum, my
aunts, my cousins and loads of my friends.'

Source: Daily Express, 14 November 2000

'Stop smoking guidelines to be reviewed'

The Pharmaceutical Journal reports that, 'Revised national smoking cessation
guidelines were due to be published in December, said Dr Ann McNeill (a
freelance consultant in public health and author of the guidelines) opening
a discussion on smoking cessation guidelines. The new guidelines would cover
amfebutamone/ bupropion (Zyban), amend the presentation of evidence, and
take account of feedback on the original guidelines and issues emerging from
the new National Health Service smoking cessation services. The first
version of the guidelines had been published in December, 1998. The original
guidelines had said that opportunistic and brief advice in primary care had
a low efficacy but could reach many people; intensive specialist cessation
support (where appropriate) was more effective but reached fewer people.'
Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 11 November 2000
Link:
http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/20001111/society/hot_topics_726-727.html#smo
king (please note you may have to cut and paste this link into your web
browser)

'WHO seeks right to vet health websites'

The World Health Organisation is pressing for the creation of a '.health'
world wide web domain name to go alongside existing '.com' and similar
website addresses.

Link:
http://www.nursingtimes.net/news/nipage.asp?story=nt001113n52&gutter=news_in
dex_gutter (please note you may have to cut and paste this link into your
web browser)

Source: Nursing Times, 9 November 2000

'Association Between Cigarette Smoking and Anxiety Disorders During
Adolescence and Early Adulthood'

JAMA reports that, 'Cigarette smoking has been associated with some anxiety
disorders, but whether anxiety disorders predict risk for future smoking or
whether smoking predicts risk for subsequent anxiety disorders is not known.
Johnson and colleagues assessed psychiatric disorders and smoking among 688
adolescents in 1985-1986 (mean age, 16 years) and reevaluated study
participants in 1991 through 1993 at mean age 22 years. The risk for
agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder during early
adulthood was increased among adolescents who smoked 20 cigarettes or more
per day. Anxiety disorders in adolescence were not significantly associated
with cigarette smoking during early adulthood.'

Source: JAMA, 8 November 2000 - Vol. 284, No. 18
Link: http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/current/abs/joc01807.html (please note
you may have to cut and paste this link into your web browser)