North Carolina tobacco growers have agreed to continue funding tobacco-agricultural research for another six years. More than 92 percent of tobacco growers in the state who voted favored the North Carolina Tobacco Research Check-off Referendum, which calls for growers to allocate 10 cents per 100 pounds of flue-cured and burley tobacco to tobacco research and education. The referendum is voted on every six years and must be approved by two-third ... Jump to full article >>

More and more people are trying to give up smoking - but new research suggests the habit is still as hard as ever to kick. Up to 66 per cent of NSW smokers will try to quit in the next six months – seven per cent more than in 2005 – according to the Cancer Institute NSW’s Smoking and Health Survey 2009. Hard-hitting campaigns, health warnings and new laws governing the sale of tobacco are helping persuade a greater number to ma ... Jump to full article >>

The head of Britain’s leading medical research organisation rounded on the government yesterday for sacking its principal drugs adviser. Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, chief executive of the Medical Research Council, said scientists must be allowed to give “unfettered advice without the fear of reprisal”. His criticism followed the abrupt dismissal of David Nutt on Friday. This weekend Nutt said many of his colleagues on the advisory council on t ... Jump to full article >>

National Center for Healthy Housing Urges Families to Follow the Seven Principles of Healthy Housing and Make Health Housing a Priority COLUMBIA, Md., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ — According to new research from the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), the majority of U.S. families (67%) live in a home with at least one major health risk. NCHH recently surveyed adults (aged 18 and older) to gauge their levels of awareness of the common heal ... Jump to full article >>

Pushing smokers outside drives down hospitalizations for heart attacks by about 17 percent in the first year and 36 percent after three years, according to an analysis of 13 studies looking at heart-attack rates after smoking bans. The analysis strengthens the studies’ individual findings, said coauthor James M. Lightwood. It also provides further support for government-mandated elimination of smoking in bars, restaurants and other public ... Jump to full article >>

About 28 percent of pet owners who smoke would try to quit if they knew that secondhand smoke endangered their pets, according to recent research. “Pet owners’ attitudes and behaviours related to smoking and second-hand smoke: a pilot study” appeared in the April issue of the journal Tobacco Control. Among the authors is the late Ronald M. Davis, MD, who championed the One Health Initiative when he was president of the American ... Jump to full article >>