Smoking, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 14, 2014

Smoking Causes 14 Million Medical Conditions in US Yearly, Study Finds

Smoking is to blame for about 14 million major medical conditions among American adults yearly, a new study shows. That number is higher than the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) last estimate, in the year 2000, which found that American adults suffered from 12.7 million smoking-attributable conditions....

Oct 15, 2014

E-Cigarettes: Public Health Hazard or Key to Quit Smoking?

Scientific studies showing that electronic cigarettes actually help people quit smoking are few and far between. But that isn't stopping many smokers, as well as a few experts, from giving e-cigarettes the benefit of the doubt. A new controversial opinion piece goes so far as to suggest that e-cigarettes could...

Nov 26, 2014

Smoking in US Declines to All-Time Low

Cigarette smoking has hit the lowest point ever among American adults, a new report finds. The percentage of U.S. adults who smoke cigarettes was 17.8 percent in 2013, a drop from 20.9 percent in 2005, and the lowest rate of smoking since researchers began tracking this figure in 1965, according...

Dec 3, 2014

Hookah Smoke Contains Cancer-Causing Chemical

People who smoke a hookah or inhale secondhand hookah smoke may be breathing in the chemical benzene, a substance that previous research has linked with an increased risk of leukemia, according to a new study. In the study, researchers collected urine samples from 105 hookah smokers before and after they...

Dec 4, 2014

Goodbye Y: Men Who Smoke Have Missing Male Chromosomes

Add another troubling side effect to the list of health issues caused by cigarettes: Smoking may cause the Y chromosome to disappear from men's blood cells. A new study finds that men who smoke lose the Y chromosome in blood cells more frequently than nonsmokers — and the heavier their...

Dec 15, 2014

E-Cigarettes May Lure Teens into Traditional Smoking

Teens who use e-cigarettes don't have as many of the characteristics typically seen in teens who smoke traditional cigarettes, such as impulsiveness or having behavior problems at school, according to a new study. The finding could indicate that advertising and the availability of e-cigarettes is drawing in kids who wouldn't...

Dec 28, 2014

Five Reasons Smoking Rules are Lax

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Tobacco policy is a global issue. Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the world. There are well over one billion smokers in the...

Feb 3, 2015

Cost-of-Smoking Estimates Were Grossly Exaggerated

Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day will cost a person upwards of $2 million in tobacco costs and other expenses over his or her lifetime — at least according to a study conducted last month by WalletHub, a financial advice website. But is that claim true? The study says...

Apr 6, 2015

MRSA Superbug May Get Stronger If You Smoke

Cigarette smoke apparently isn't deadly for all living creatures. At least one type of bacterium — MRSA, the superbug commonly found in hospitals — apparently thrives on the stuff. In fact, cigarette smoke makes MRSA stronger and more resistant to antibiotics, which could mean it is worse for human health,...

May 26, 2015

Even 'Mad Men' Can't Bring Cigarettes Back (Op-Ed)

Larry Deutchman is executive vice president for marketing and entertainment industry relations and executive producer/writer for the PRISM Awards at the Entertainment Industries Council (EIC). Deutchman leads EIC's Let's Clear the Air Tobacco Awareness Campaign. He contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Americans once saw...

Jul 16, 2015

'Very Light' Smoking Common Among Young Women

Young American women commonly smoke, but only very lightly, or they smoke on some days but not others, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed information from more than 9,700 women ages 18 to 25, who answered questions about their smoking habits in 2011. Overall, about 30 percent of the women...

Aug 18, 2015

E-Cigarette Use May Be Gateway to Conventional Smoking

Teens who use electronic cigarettes may be more likely to start smoking conventional tobacco products than teens who have never tried e-cigarettes, according to a new study. Researchers looked at a group of teens who had just entered ninth grade in Los Angeles, and found that those who said they...

Dec 14, 2015

Young Smokers May Be Switching to Cigarette Alternatives

The percentage of young adults in the United States who smoke cigarettes has dropped in recent years, but the decline could be due to this population switching from cigarettes to other forms of tobacco, a new poll suggests. The Gallup poll found that over the last decade, the smoking rate...

Feb 17, 2016

#Catmageddon: Why Experts Love New Anti-Smoking Ad

Nothing gets the Internet talking like viral cat videos, and now a new anti-smoking ad has tapped into people's love of funny cats in the name of health education — a move that experts say is a good one. The ad, which aired during the Grammys this week, features a...

Mar 4, 2016

The Brain Science Behind Raising the Tobacco Buying Age to 21

San Francisco's new tobacco ordinance — which raises the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 — could help improve the health of a new generation of people by preventing addiction, health officials said. Nationally, 18-year-olds can buy tobacco products, including cigarettes and cigars. However, in the...