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ASH Daily news for 29 September 2011

HEADLINES

  • 12p pills 'could help smokers quit'

    Research has shown that a nicotine substitute which can be bought online for 12p more than triples a smoker's chances of quitting for at least a year.

    Tabex, which contains the active ingredient cytisine, is obtained from laburnum seeds. Experts believe the drug is as effective as conventional stop-smoking treatments and could save the NHS many millions of pounds a year.

    But despite four decades of use in eastern Europe, the pills are unlikely to be available on prescription in the UK for another two to three years. The British scientist who led the new trial spoke of the "Alice in Wonderland" regulatory system responsible for the delay.

    Professor Robert West, from the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre at University College London, said he expected to see a flood of internet orders for Tabex once news about the drug got out.

    "It's been available in central and eastern Europe for more than 40 years, we have safety data on millions of people, and we know it's effective, but it's not licensed in Britain," he said.

    A spokesman for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which licences drugs for sale in the UK, warned of the risks of buying unregulated drugs over the internet.

    Source: Press Association, 28 September 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/oMOMyH

  • Wales to ban cigarette machines four months after England

    The Welsh Government has been criticised after it emerged cigarette vending machines in pubs will not be outlawed until next February.

    However, the ban will come into force in England this Saturday, 1 October.

    Welsh ministers have just laid regulations in the Assembly, which Lib Dems claimed was an "idle approach".

    The Welsh Government said it was committed to the ban, but legal challenges in England affected timings in Wales, and made October unrealistic.

    Liberal Democrat leader and health spokeswoman Kirsty Williams said: "It angers me that as England will be banning the purchase of cigarettes from vending machines next week. Young children are buying tobacco more easily from vending machines and government figures prove this."

    The Welsh Government said it "remains committed to introducing regulations to ban tobacco sales from vending machines. Legal challenges to the equivalent regulations in England impacted on the timing of the Welsh regulations, making an October 2011 commencement date unrealistic."

    Source: BBC News, 29 September 2011
    Link: http://bbc.in/puVxZA

  • 3,000 Cumbrians quit smoking with help from NHS

    For the second year in a row, more than 3,000 Cumbrian smokers have successfully kicked the habit.

    The latest stop smoking figures show the number of people that have quit with the help of free NHS services.

    The Cumbrian statistics, covering the year from April 2010 to March 2011, show a total of 3,289 people managed to give up smoking.

    They used a range of NHS support services including those offered by local pharmacies, Cumbria Stop Smoking Service and GPs.

    Su Sear, a public health partnership specialist for NHS Cumbria said, “It’s great news that over 3,200 people in Cumbria have taken the step to seek help to quit smoking and give up. We all know that smoking is bad for your health, but we mustn’t forget that it’s an addiction also, and that often in order to break the cycle of smoking people often need support. This is why it’s so important that people know that there is free, confidential help out there provided by the NHS in a range of locations."

    Source: News & Star, 28 September 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/mRkYqP

  • Study: Big tobacco knew radioactive particles in cigarettes posed cancer risk but kept quiet

    According to a new study by UCLA researchers, tobacco companies knew that cigarette smoke contained radioactive alpha particles for more than four decades and developed "deep and intimate" knowledge of these particles' cancer-causing potential, but they deliberately kept their findings from the public.

    The analysis of dozens of previously unexamined internal tobacco industry documents, made available in 1998 as the result of a legal settlement, reveals that the industry was aware of cigarette radioactivity some five years earlier than previously thought and that tobacco companies, concerned about the potential lung cancer risk, began in-depth investigations into the possible effects of radioactivity on smokers as early as the 1960s.

    The study, published online in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, the peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, adds to a growing body of research detailing the industry's knowledge of cigarette smoke radioactivity and its efforts to suppress that information.

    The study's first author, Hrayr S. Karagueuzian, a professor of cardiology who conducts research at UCLA's Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, part of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA said, "Specifically, we show here that the industry used misleading statements to obfuscate the hazard of ionizing alpha particles to the lungs of smokers and, more importantly, banned any and all publication on tobacco smoke radioactivity."

    Source: Science Daily, 28 September 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/pjM3Fy

  • Study finds potential in social media tools for smoking cessation

    According to a new study of a mobile health application geared towards helping people quit smoking, online community support holds great promise for creating healthy habits.

    The study results were released by the University of Southern California's Institute for Communication Technology Management (CTM) and the USC Center for Body Computing (CBC).

    Researchers surveyed 266 users of LIVESTRONG.COM's MyQuit Coach, a mobile application that enables people to work towards their goal to quit smoking with the help of a smart cigarette tracking system and a supportive online community. The MyQuit Coach survey found that the ability to immediately and continually track cigarette consumption along with encouragement and social support can lead to smoking cessation.

    "People who were successful saw value in what they perceived as a more focused social networking group whose common goal was to quit smoking," said Elizabeth Fife, CTM's associate director of research who conducted the study. The study showed people were successful with the application because of community support from similarly motivated users sharing the same experience.

    Source: HealthcareITNews, 26 September 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/pDJmB5

  • Norway cigarette-display ban may set precedent

    A Norwegian law banning cigarette displays in stores could set an international precedent when a legal challenge by tobacco giant Philip Morris resumes in December, a Norwegian newspaper said.

    Government attorney Kjetil Boe Moen said Norway's law requiring most stores to hide their cigarettes remained strong after an ambiguous opinion two weeks ago by a European Free Trade Association (EFTA) court.

    Philip Morris has sued Norway's Ministry of Health and Care Services in the Oslo District Court, claiming the 2009 prohibition violates free trade principles that bind Norway as a member of the European Economic Area (EEA).

    As part of the case, the Oslo court asked the EFTA court for an advisory ruling that was issued on Sept. 12.

    The tribunal in Luxembourg said restrictions to protect health were permitted under EEA rules, but that Norway's display ban might be a violation if less draconian measures would achieve the same goal.

    Source: Reuters News, 27 September 2011
    Link: http://reut.rs/r71Vie