TV star Billie Piper has been slammed with criticism after she was pictured blowing cigarette smoke into the face of her 21-month-old toddler Winston.

The actress, currently starring in ITV’s raunchy Confessions of a Call Girl, was quoted in many magazines during her pregnancy as saying that she gave up the habit when she conceived her son with fellow actor Laurence Fox.

Piper has previously admitted that her greatest vices are ‘roll-up cigarettes and red wine’.  After she gave birth, she said that she moved from normal cigarettes to roll-ups, as she believes they contain less chemicals.

However, during an afternoon in the beer garden of a local pub, it seems that both she and her husband became less vigilant about protecting Winston from the consequences of their habit. The Daily Mail has reported that while at the start of the session, the couple took turns to look after their son if the other needed to go off for a cigarette, as time went on they grew more relaxed about moving away when smoking.

Anti-smoking campaigners such as ASH have said that children should be protected from second-hand smoke wherever they are, as it can put them at risk of illness later in life. There have even been calls for smoking to be banned in outside public areas, such as beer gardens.

So far, there has been no comment from Piper – but our guess is that she's feeling pretty embarrassed and guilty about the whole incident.

Friends of the troubled actress Lindsay Lohan have said they are very concerned as to how she will cope with her cigarette addiction during the 90-day stay in jail she is facing.

Lohan was told by Judge Marsha Revel that she needed to serve the jail term after a string of violations of the terms of an earlier sentence following a drink-driving incident in 2007. She has been told she needs to surrender herself to the women-only jail on the 20^th July.

The prison has a strict no-smoking policy and adopts a zero-tolerance approach to those breaking the rule. However friends have told gossip site TMZ that Lohan smokes at least two packets of cigerettes a day and for years hasn’t gone a day without smoking.

The source described her habit as a ‘serious condition’ and said they were ‘honestly scared’ for the star.

Friends have reportedly been urging her to give up now, so she can get acclimatised to the prospect of three months without smoking.

While in a similar case of extreme addiction to nicotine, a medication like Champix, Lohan is reportedly struggling with a severe dependence on a variety of other prescription medications, so medication probably won’t be an option to help her cope with her nicotine cravings.

She has also been told to attend  a rehab program as part of her sentence – hopefully this will help her change her lifestyle and get healthy!

A new study has shown that when the smoking ban was introduced, thousands of heart attacks were prevented.

The study is the first comprehensive examination of hospital admissions before and after the ban. The team considered all emergency patients admitted between July 2002 and September 2008, taking into account other factors, such as local population size or weather conditions.

The team discovered that there was a 2.4% drop in the number of people experiencing heart attacks after the ban was introduced.

The British Heart Foundation has estimated that this means on average, 3 fewer people do not experience a heart attack each day. Both smokers and those who were forced to inhale passive smoke in public spaces like pubs have benefited. In total, 100 people per month and 1,200 people each year fewer developed heart problems.

The research was carried out by researchers from the University of Bath. Their findings have been published in the British Medical Journal.

Anna Gilmore, the director of the Tobacco Control Research Group, said that even though the numbers were fairly small, when the large number of people suffering heart attacks each year was taken into account, even a relatively small reduction had ‘important public health benefits’.

Reports have suggested that the supermodel Kate Moss is trying to quit smoking in an attempt to get pregnant. Moss, who is in a relationship with The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince, has apparently agreed to see a hypnotherapist in an attempt to clean up her lifestyle.

The model already has one daughter with magazine impresario Jefferson Hack, named Lila. However sources suggest that her new partner is keen to start a family so she is eager to conquer her vices before falling pregnant.

Moss has always been an unashamed smoker, frequently pictured coming out of parties with a Marlborough between her fingers. Recently pictures showing her to be developing fairly extensive wrinkles about the mouth (which led some magazine editors to compare her to the considerably older Gillian Taylforth) indicated that her heavy habit and love of parties and late nights are taking their toll, though others came out to champion her, saying she was ageing naturally.

A friend told The Sun that Kate is aware that she smokes heavily, hence her visit to the hypnotherapist.

Kate is not the only celeb to try hypnotherapy to stop smoking – Prince Harry apparently used Paul McKenna’s hypnotherapy program to give up.

The source said that Lila wants a sibling and Jamie is ready for parenthood, so now that Kate has come round to the idea she is trying to cut out her bad habits.

Though this does beg the question, surely with a child already if Kate believes to be a good parent she needs to give up the drink and the cigs, she should have done so when she first got pregnant?

China has insisted that it will uphold a pledge to ban smoking in public places by 2011, which it entered into as part of an international treaty.

The health ministry issued a statement clarifying that the goal to end public smoking had been arranged as part of the World Health Organisation’s Framework: Convention on Tobacco Control. China ratified the treaty when it came into force in 2005.

In the treaty, nations that signed up vowed to introduce ‘effective legislation’ as well as take other steps to protect the public from second-hand smoke in indoor public venues. This means that all public spaces and offices as well as trains and buses will become non-smoking areas.

Many Chinese cities already have laws banning smoking in public spaces, but enforcement of the bans remains patchy. Yang Gonghuan, deputy director of the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted to the Global Times that as law enforcement is not in place regulations exist ‘in name only’.

The World Health Organisation in December warned that only 17 countries have enforced bans on smoking, though 168 countries signed up to the FCTC.

China has a huge number of smokers. Out of a population of 1.3 billion, about 350 million people regularly smoke. Of all tobacco products sold worldwide, the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control estimates that the Chinese consume at least one third of these.

The association also claim that up to a million Chinese people die every year from lung cancer or heart disease directly relating to smoking.

New research has suggested that smokers who experience greater difficulty quitting or cutting down how much they smoke may have their genes to blame.

Several genes seem to be related to how likely someone is to start smoking and whether they will find it especially difficult to quit. Over the course of three studies involving data collected on 140,000 people, published in the journal Nature Genetics, it became clear that single-letter mutations lie in the region of the DNA molecule that contains genes that influence nicotine addiction.

Of the three genetic mutations pinpointed as being associated with smoking behaviour, two had not been identified before.

Each time a variant was noticed in smokers it seemed to increase by a small amount how many cigarettes they consume, roughly increasing it by half a cigarette a day. The mutations also seemed to increase the risk of the person developing lung cancer.

However the scientists warned that it was not entierely clear how the relationship between smoking behaviour, genetic mutations and lung cancer worked and advised that further research needed to be done to investigate the link.

The research was conducted by the University of North Carolins, Oxford University and the Icelandic group deCODE.

Cardiff researchers believe that fathers who have open discussions with teenagers about smoking may play an important role in stopping their teenagers taking up the habit.

Involving 3,500 teenagers between the ages of 11 and 15, the study showed that when fathers talk with their offspring about the subjects that matter to them, this impacted strongly on the youngster’s decision to smoke or not as they grew up.

The children who took part in the survey, part of the three-year British Youth Panel survey, were asked to monitor how often they had discussions with their fathers on important subjects, rating the frequency from ‘hardly ever’ to ‘most days’.

The children were given license as to which subjects they considered to be significant and the topics varied from individual to individual.

Dr James White, who lead the study, said that health officials need to be more aware of how fathers can impact on their teenager’s choices over whether to smoke. He added that there still needed to be research done into how teenage parenting affects children’s decision over cigarettes.

Figures released yesterday have shown that Scottish doctors are writing increasing numbers of prescriptions for anti-smoking medications.

There has been a 31% increase in the number of smokers taking drugs to try to kick the habit over the past year, according to the statistics issued by the Information Services Division Scotland.  It has been suggested that the increase is due to the launch of a new service where local pharmacies can offer access to stop smoking treatments.

The Public Health Minister for Scotland, Shona Robison, said that smoking was the biggest preventable cause of death in Scotland and was responsible for over 13,500 deaths each year. She said that the increase in prescriptions being written showed that increasing numbers of people were seeking support to give up cigarettes.

Data also showed there has been an increase in the number of prescriptions being written for slimming tablets, mainly the fat-blocker Xenical (Orlistat). There was a 3% rise from the previous year, increasing by 3,041 prescriptions to 113,365. 78,000 of those prescriptions were for Xenical.

Ms. Robinson said that the decision to prescribe slimming pills or not is ‘between a doctor and their patients’ but added that the Scottish government had introduced a number of measures to improve health in Scotland, tackle obesity and encourage more exercise.

Anti-smoking campaigners have lambasted Gorillaz front-man Damon Albarn after he lit up a cigarette on stage during a gig.

While playing at the Portsmouth venue The Wedgewood Rooms with his cartoon band (not quite sure how that performance worked, but still) the ex-Blur star sparked up mid-way through his set. He then passed it to guest act Paul Simenon, who started off in punk band The Clash during the intimate gig.

Since the smoking ban was passed in 2007, it is illegal to smoke in public space. This means Albarn is now eligible for a fine of up to £2,500.  Heath experts from the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health have called for both musicians to be suitably punished.

Sources told the Daily Mail that it was not only the artists should be fined, but the premises where the show took place.  They added that the problem was not just that Albarn broke the law, but that he was sending out a poor message to fans.

Amanda Sandford, spokewoman for the charity, said that there could be no excuse for the pair, as smoking was not relevant to the act.

The staff at the Wedgewood Rooms said that they had not been aware that any smoking had taken place during the act, nor had they received any complaints.

A policy think tank has called for tax on cigarettes to be dramatically raised, bringing the price of a pack of 20 to over £7.

Policy Exchange have published a report saying that the cost to the public of smoking is so great that its far outweighs the tax gains that come from cigarette sales. They estimate that every cigarette smoked costs the taxpayer 6.5 pence.

With the budget being released next week, the group believe that there should be a 5% in cigarette tax included, with additional rises over the next 5 years to ensure that smoking stays ‘revenue neutral’.

The report, written by head of the policy and social care unit Henry Featherstone, concluded that annually smoking costs £13.74 billion, a figure including not only NHS care for smoking related diseases but £2.9m for productivity lost during smoking breaks, £342 million spent on clearing butts, and £507 million dealing with smoking-related fires.

They said that as smoking only brings in £10billion a year, the treasury needs to make up the shortfall by raising taxes to generate over £400m.

Their recommendations would see the cost of a packet of cigarettes increase by 23% after the forthcoming budget, with an ‘escalator’ system creating an increase in cost of £1.29 over the course of the next Parliament.

Mr. Featherstone said that in order to balance income with costs, tax on cigarettes should progressively rise until the full cost to society through smoking is met through taxation.

It’s certainly an interesting proposal, especially since such expensive cigarettes would surely put off most smokers and potential smokers. It would also be worthwhile to apply the same principle to fast food, since the cost of obesity threatens to cripple the NHS in the near future...

Coinciding with today’s national No Smoking Day, fire officials have released figures showing that cigarettes are the cause of a third of deaths in accidental house fires.

Despite the shocking figures, a poll taken for the day showed that over half of all smokers were unaware of the danger and did not know that smoking is the biggest cause of all fatal house fires.

The Chief Fire and Rescue advisor for the Government, Sir. Ken Knight, said: “"People need to be aware of the risks of smoking in the home."

No Smoking Day has also seen a quit-smoking app launch on Facebook which promises to ‘make quitting fun’. The application will let users create rewards when they succeed, challenge friends to do the same thing, and even quit for charity, raising money through sponsorship when they succeed. When they trip up, they can also set up forfeits for themselves.

No Smoking Day has been running for 27 years and receives funding from a combination of government bodies, charities and not-for-profit organisations.

The president of No Smoking Day Duncan Bannatyne said his team believed that quitting is a challenge and that rather than being a chore,  it should be enjoyable and inspiring, hence the positive message of the Facebook app.

Well, we’re not sure if quitting will ever be enjoyable, but we wish the very best of luck to all those who are making the attempt. There are so many ways you can get help, from counselling groups to nicotine replacement to Champix, but the main thing is having the will power and the belief that your life can be better without cigarettes!

An 85-year old man has had his dying wish granted to him – that the hearse bearing his coffin should display the sign, ‘Smoking Killed Me’.

Dick Whittamore wanted the bleak message to act as a warning to youngsters who might be tempted to take up the habit. As the hearse drove through Dover towards the cemetery, passers-by stopped to watch.

Mr Whittamore, who worked as an assistant theatre manager, for many years suffered from the lung disease emphysema. The illness is painful and sufferers experience difficulty breathing and is caused by the toxins in cigarette smoke.

Friends said that while working for the Hippodrome theatre, Mr. Whittaker proved himself an inspired publicist, hence the bold move to make people more aware of the dangers of cigerettes.  He was a heavy smoker when he was younger and was eager to prevent people making the same mistakes.

He designed the sign to look like the warnings displayed on cigarette packets and the funeral directors, Sullivan and Sons,  were instructed to also leave the sign on his grave for a week.

The stop-smoking charity Quit applauded Mr. Whittacker’s actions, saying that he sent out a strong message to others to prevent them suffering.

Parents and carers who smoke could be subjecting their children to the dangers of ‘third-hand smoke’. Scientists have discovered that tobacco smoke can leave residues on everyday surfaces which can react with air indoors to create potent cancer-causing chemicals.

Children and especially toddlers are then exposed to the chemicals that cling to the clothes, hair, cars and furniture of smokers.  In tests, surfaces contaminated with cigarette smoke were shown to contain the chemical tobacco-specific nitrosamines, also known as TSNAs.

The scientists say that toxic particles from cigarette smoke can linger on surfaces a long time after the cigarette has been stubbed out. Children are at greater risk from the particles because being lower down, they are in closer proximity to them, not to mention likely to lick or suck the surfaces.

Researcher Lara Gundel , from the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, said that the residue even from smoking outside follows smokers back indoors and will stick to their hair and clothing. She warned that when the smoker returned and if their was nitrous oxide in the air (the same gas emited from car exhausts) then TSNAs would form.

Smoking lobby group Forest however remain sceptical about the findings, questioning whether the there was any evidence that the low levels of TSNAs were harmful. Simon Clark, director of the group, said, “The real danger is not third-hand smoke but propaganda dressed up as science”. Slightly less creditably, he suggested that scientists and campaigners should stop telling smokers how to live their lives until ‘the evidence of harm is irrefutable’. (I think by now, refuting the evidence is pretty much impossible, actually).

Cancer Research UK were more positive about the research, calling it an ‘interesting’ study that adds the possibility of an extra level of harm from cigarette smoke.

It was suggested today that by 2020, cigarette manufacturers will be forced to sell their product in plain packaging, part of host of measures to be introduced to reduce the number of smokers over the next 10 years.

Health secretary Andy Burnham announced a series of commitments the UK Government would be making to reduce smoking in Britain, pledging to cut the percentage of the British population who smoke from 21% to 10% over the next decade.

In addition to getting people to stop smoking, he also said that they were determined to reduce the number of young people who begin smoking. At the moment 200,000 young people take up the habit each year. Mr. Burnham said that particular focus would be paid to reducing the amount of cheap tobacco that is smuggled into Britain on the black market, as well as banning the sales of tobacco through vending machines, often a source of cigarettes for teenagers.

The packaging on cigarettes will be totally plain, with just the brand name shown in text. Mr Burnham described the packets as ‘the only remaining method’ for advertising, after mainstream advertising for the product was banned.

The law over public smoking will also be reviewed, with the possibility raised that areas like entrances to buildings, some homes and cars might also fall under the smoking ban.

Pro-smoking group Forest called the existing laws ‘draconian’ and expressed concerns that increased restrictions on smoking would further increase the decline in trade in pubs and clubs.

However the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson, who has made tackling smoking a key goal of his time in the role, vowed that they would continue to push harder for a tobacco-free Britain and warned that the momentum gained after the smoking ban was introduced must not be lost.

While of course quitting smoking massively benefits health, a new study has suggested that quitters can dramatically increase their chances of developing type 2 diabetes , as they pack on the pounds comfort eating.

Scientists at John Hopkins University have discovered that those people who managed to give up cigarettes were 70% more likely to develop diabetes within six years than those who had not gone through the quitting process, partly due to the weight they gained in the months and years after they first gave up.

The team monitored 11,000 middle-aged people for 17 years and discovered that those who stopped smoking were most at risk of diabetes in the first three years after they threw away the cigerettes, as the average smoker put on an average of 4kg and saw their waistline increase by about 1.7 inches.

However there have been warnings that those who were planning on using the new year as the extra impetus they needed to quit not to be discouraged by the study. Health advisor Natasha Marsland, who works for the charity Diabetes UK, said that people definitely should not use the ‘theoretical’ results of the study as an excuse not to give up.

The study is especially interesting as it shows the extra pitfalls that smokers can face when they quit. It can be so easy not to realise that you’ve substituted food for cigarettes until the scales are screaming it at you, by which point it can be very hard to lose the extra weight.

However, perhaps if people were more aware that they were likely to eat more when they quit they could take extra precautions to ensure that their laudable efforts to get healthy do not have unexpectedly unhealthy consequences, such as chewing gum rather than eating biscuits or substituting fruit for fatty comfort snacks.

The World Health Organisation today said that most of the world’s population were not protected by anti-smoking laws, leaving them exposed to the most prevalent preventable cause of death.

In a report entitled Global Tobacco Epidemic, the WHO said that second-hand smoke prematurely kills 600,000 people each year, as well as causing painful and debilitating diseases and costing the economy tens of billions of dollars.

While they acknowledged that progress had been made, as more and more countries introduced smoke-free laws, they warned that governments needed to act quickly to prevent more deaths. At the moment 2.3% of the world’s population are protected by anti-smoking laws.

So far 17 countries across the world have introduced anti-smoking laws, with Columbia, Djibouti, Guatemala, Mauritius, Panama and Zambia signing up to the policy in 2008.

The report called for urgent action to be taken to control the tobacco epidemic, warning that unless drastic measures were taken annually 8 million people could die by 2030. They added that 80% of those deaths would occur in low and middle income countries, where it would be hardest to prevent and deal with such losses.

The WHO added that they were concerned that the disparity between the amounts gained by governments through tobacco taxes and the amount spent on stopping smoking was so large.

As smoking rates fall in the West, experts have warned that tobacco use is set to double in Africa over the next 12 years.

At the moment though Africa makes up 14% of the world’s population, it only accounts for 4% of the world’s smokers. However a joint report by the Global Smokefree Partnership and the American Cancer Society has shown that tobacco use is set to double in the continent over the coming years.

The two organisations have warned that 90% of the population have no protection against second-hand smoke and have called for smoking bans to be introduced, similar to those brought in in America, the U.K and Europe, banning smoking in public places. They have also said that tobacco should have higher taxation and the price of cigarettes should be doubled.

The report however praised certain countries for their efforts to prevent smoking-related deaths, marking out Kenya and Nigeria for legislation introduced over the past year banning smoking in public spaces. South Africa also introduced the laws in 2007.

The report also indicated that many Africans were unaware of the dangers of second hand smoke, citing a survey in Nigeria which showed that 55% of school students were unaware that second-hand smoke was injurious to health.

The American Cancer Society warned that in 2010, 6 million people would die from smoking-related conditions, 72% of those in low-and-middle income countries.The report suggested that doubling the price of cigarettes through taxation in the developing world could cut the rate of smoking by 60%.

The government is gearing up for the vote on the Health Bill today, which if passed will see the display of tobacco products banned in shops across England.

It is becoming likely that there will be a rebellion from Labour backbenchers over the proposal, as many are concerned that the measures could severely damage trade for small businesses and newsagents.

They are apparently planning to defy the Labour whip who are eager to see the law, which will force shops to keep cigarettes out of customer’s sight, passed.

Some sources are suggesting that 1 in 10 backbenchers are intending to vote against the relevant clause in the bill, influenced by small retailers in their constituencies who have argued that the move would boost the dominance of supermarkets and encourage illegal tobacco sales.

One of the backbenchers leading the rebellion, David Clelland from Tyne Bridge, said that small retailers would suffer from having to renovate their premises and would experience a loss of trade just at the time when pubs and clubs in England have been badly hit by the smoking ban.

However health experts have greeted the bill enthusiastically. In a letter to The Times, experts and health charities came together to say that smoking-related illnesses were responsible for more deaths that alcohol, obesity, drugs and road accidents combined.

A report from the NHS has shown that 1 in 20 hospital admissions is attributable to smoking.  The study, published by the NHS Information Centre, showed that between 2007 and 2008 there were 1.4 million people over 35 who were admitted to hospital suffering from smoking-related diseases.

In the same period, the NHS estimated that 18% of all deaths amongst over 35s were caused by smoking, a total of 83,900 people.  The report’s authors said that 35% of all deaths caused by respiratory disorders and 29% of all deaths from cancer were attributable to smoking addiction.

Though there has been a slight drop in the number of smokers since 2006 – falling by 1% from 22% of the population to 21% - health experts said that many diseases were slow to develop, so the health problems caused by the  high smoking rates of the 1970s and 80s were only now becoming apparent. Over the last decade, smoking-related admissions have risen by a fifth.

The NHS Information Centre was also fairly damning about the impact the smoking ban had had on the number of smokers, saying that when smoking rates six months before the ban  were compared with six months after there was ‘no significant difference’ in the number of smokers.

However they discovered that a third of smokers now stay at home to smoke, rather than going out, meaning that fewer adults are being exposed to second-hand smoke in pubs, clubs and restaurants. This supports the claims of pub landlords that their business has been severely damaged by the smoking ban.

Scientists have warned that men with high cholesterol and those who smoke may be risking their life span being cut short by ten years compared to their healthy counterparts.

The study, which was based in the UK, showed that men with unhealthy lifestyles could be seriously curtailing their life expectancy. The researchers from Oxford University examined data taken from 19,000 civil servants aged between 40 and 69 and then followed them to discover what happened to them over 30 years later.

They discovered that there were three risk factors that had a serious impact on how long they lived, which were: high blood pressure; high cholesterol; and whether or not they smoked. All three are strongly associated with the lifestyle choices people make, as both high cholesterol and high blood pressure are often caused by an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise.

Published in the British Medical Journal, the study was originally set up in the late 1960s, a period when vascular heart disease was rife. The civil servants had their heaight, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose measures taken and were then asked about their lifestyle and medical history.

When they were traced in 2005, 13,501 of the volunteers had died. The scientists discovered that there was a 15 year life expectancy difference between the 5% with the lowest risk factors and the 5% with the highest risk factors.

The team said that their findings showed that men aged 50 with the three risk factors could expect to live to 74, which those with no risk factors were likely to survive until 83. They added that men who took steps to reduce the risk factors in their life, by attempting to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol and stop smoking, could expect to significantly prolong their lives.

The British artist David Hockney has called for a review of the smoking ban, saying that it is destroying bohemia. The 72-year-old has come out in public support of a cross-party group of MPs seeking to amend the current smoking laws in the UK.

The group has called for designated smoking rooms to be permitted in order to protect the trade of pubs, which many landlords say has been severely damaged since the ban was introduced in 2007. Speaking to the BBC’s Politics Show, Hockney said that he missed smoking in his favourite East Yorkshire cafe, mourning that the management of the cafe were even afraid to let people smoke while sitting at the outside tables for fear that the smoke might come inside and so breach the ban.

He added that he loathed Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for interfering with his life and promised that though he and the PM did not move in the same circles, were they to meet he would happily let Mr. Brown know his views.

Mr Hockney said the ban was another part of the government’s ‘nanny state’ attitude and made a reference to the famous bon viveur and chef Keith Floyd, who recently died from a heart attack. He speculated that if ministers had told him to give up rich food, alcohol and cigarettes in order to live longer, the chef would have told them “that’s not what I call living.”

The Conservative MP for East Yorkshire, Greg Knight, said that he supported a review of the law as, without a relaxation of the ban, hundreds of pubs and clubs might be forced to close due to lost trade from smokers.

New research has found that nearly all children who have a parent who smokes wish they would quit. Results of a poll carried out by the Department of Health revealed that almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of children would rather their parents quit smoking than give them more pocket money.

Government health officials had a boost today when new figures were released showing that the number of health attacks has fallen since the smoking ban was introduced.

The Sunday Times reported that early results from a study commissioned by the Department of Health showed that there was a 10% drop in heart attacks in the year following the ban’s introduction. In Scotland a separate study indicated that there was an even steeper drop of 14%.

Other countries who also introduced smoking bans have also seen similar falls in heart attacks. In France there was a 15% fall in the number of emergency admissions for heart attacks, while in Italy and Ireland there was a reduction of 11%.

The study has been greeted enthusiastically by health experts, with John Britton, Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, saying that though they had been expecting rapid health benefits to result from the smoking ban they were amazed by how “big and how rapid they are.”

Ellen Mason from the British Heart Foundation said that heart attacks have fallen as exposure to smoke induces rapid changes in blood clotting, making people more prone to heart conditions.

She said that in people with narrowed or damaged coronary arteries, the exposure to smoke could “tip the balance” and push someone over into having a heart attack.

A new study has shown that the addictive drug in cigarettes, nicotine, tricks the brain into creating memories linking smoking with a feeling of wellbeing.

Pleasant events such as drinking alcohol, eating with friends or even driving home from work can then act as cues that make people want to have a cigarette. Smokers have often complained that they find it so hard to give up because certain aspects of their daily routine are strongly associated with smoking, so the study gives a clue as to how those associations come into being.

Dr John A Dani, who lead the study, is a professor of neuroscience at Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine. The results, which are published in this month’s edition of the journal Neuron, was gathered after mice were fed nicotine and their subsequent brain activity recorded.

The mice were allowed to roam through a space with two compartments. In one they received nicotine while in the other there was a saline solution. The scientists recorded how long they spent in each compartment and was their brain activity was in each one.

They discovered that nicotine strengthened neuronal connections by up to 200%. The connections underlie how new memories are formed.

Dr. Dani said that when we act in a way that contributes to our well-being, the brain sends out a reward signal. The nicotine “commandeers” this process so we begin to act as though smoking is a positive action.

He suggested that the discovery could have an impact on how we understand memory and might lead to the development of a treatment for memory disorders, such as Alzheimers.

Prince Harry has struggling with his smoking habit for years. The royal was on 20 a day, but managed to kick the habit for a year. Now, however, the pressures of training to become a pilot with the RAF and the stresses of exams have lead him to fall off the wagon, and recently he was pictured smoking at the wedding of friend Nicholas van Custem.

The gossip columns are now reporting that the prince has turned to celebrity hypnotherapist Paul McKenna in a last ditch attempt to ditch the fags once and for all. McKenna has written a best-selling book called Quit Smoking Now, a copy of which was given to Harry by a friend.

The book has proved popular with other celebrities, including Rolling Stone lothario Ronnie Wood and film director Guy Ritchie, and apparently the program appeals to the red-headed heir to the throne because it helps “retrain your mind”.

Harry started smoking while at the boarding school Eton and continued when he joined the RAF. Prince Charles is said to be shocked that Harry began in the first place, though he is in good company – his stepmother Camilla is notorious for her Silk Cut habit.

He has been following the advice laid out in the book and using the CD that came with it and a source close to Paul McKenna told the News of the World that he would be happy to meet with the prince in person.

A few weeks ago we wrote about the banker who was so desperate to quit smoking that he marooned himself on a remote Scottish island with only some whisky, books and a few sheep to keep him distracted.

For those of you who were waiting with baited breath to see how he fared – and whether this rather original stop-smoking tactic works – Geoff Spice has now left the island. Sadly, Mr. Spice left the island a week early but says that having beaten his personal record for going without cigarettes,  he felt he no longer had to endure his trial on the island of Sgarabhaigh in the Sound of Harris.

He went for three weeks without electricity, running water and lived in a tent. He said that after enduring buffeting winds and miserable weather, he felt that the time had come to return to the comforts of home.

In the diary he kept, he reported that the only wildlife he saw was midges, earwigs and an unfortunate plague of flying ants.

Mr Spice decided to quit smoking to live longer and spend more time with his wife and three children. Having tried all the cures on the market and failed, he felt that the extreme survival trial was the only thing that might work.

But did it? Well, after spending £800 to live like Bear Grylls and enjoy such experiences as nearly seeing his tent blow away in gale-force winds, he believes it has. He said he ‘feels he has cracked the smoking side’ and recommended that Prince Harry, who reportedly has started smoking again, should try it for a week.

PayPal has been warned by the FDA against facilitating the sales of e-cigarettes after the American regulators ruled that the product was “misbrand(ed)”, an unapproved new drug and currently illegal.

Their sale has been banned by the courts in at least one state and the anti-smoking group ASH have asked the attorney-generals in 50 states to consider taking legal action against companies facilitating sales.

The FDA have already said that the product contains chemicals such as diethylene glycol, found in antifreeze and tobacco-specific carcinogens called nitrosamines.

There are also fears that e-cigarettes could pose dangers to those with heart disease, that the products could encourage nicotine addiction and that children might be encouraged by e-cigarettes to start smoking the real thing.

The FDA told PayPal that enabling companies to offer the product was aiding and abetting the sales of an illegal product and warned that they might be in violation of consumer protection laws in individual states.

In allowing the products to be sold, PayPal would be opening themselves up to legal liability. They would also be running the risk of being names as co-defendants should someone who used an  e-cigarette or their family member claim that a medical problem was due to the device after it was sold with PayPal’s assistance.

Companies are becoming increasingly nervous about being linked to the sales of such products Facebook said that they not only had banned adverts for the electronic product but would not be approving any new adverts created.

A proposal has been muted by the Liverpool Primary Care Trust to get under-18s banned from films that show smoking. They have suggested that under-18s should only get to see films where characters smoke if the habit is shown in a bad light.

They have said the only images of cigarettes should be where historical characters are lighting up, or which give a “clear and unambiguous” portrait of the dangers of smoking, using tobacco or second hand smoke.

The Licensing and Gambling Committee is now considering the suggestions. Though the British Board of Film Classification is officially in charge of setting the ratings for films, local councils can also reclassify films under the 2003 licensing act.

The council have opened up the idea to the public, asking Liverpool residents to give their opinions in a website-based consultation exercise.

In 2003, a study from the New Hampshire Dartmouth School of Medicine said that children who watch films depicting actors smoking are three times more likely to themselves take up the habit. Last year, the British Medical Council advised that films condoning or glamourising smoking should be considered for reclassification.

The over-18 suggestion suggests that the measure is firmly aimed at older teenagers, between 15-18.

Considering that programs aimed at teenagers – Gossip Girls and Skins spring forcibly to mind – show behaviours considerably more dangerous in the short term, it seems a bit ridiculous that we are trying to police cigarettes.

Both programs depict characters frequently having unplanned sex, without clarifying whether character are using protection, heavy drinking, drug taking and other nefarious bits of teenage naughtiness. Is smoking worse? And is it the job of the council to get involved anyway?

Aside from the fact that it seems ridiculous to police depictions of smoking when teens are most at risk of illness through binge drinking, adolescents have the right to see an unsanitised version of a behaviour they are certainly familiar with. If, for example, a filmmaker is trying show honestly what it is like to be a teen, then censors should not be denying that age group the chance to see the film.

A new study has suggested that middle-aged people who smoke are putting themselves at greater risk of developing dementia. According to a report in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, smoking increases the dementia risk by up to 5 times in under-55-year old smokers.

Looking at over 11,000 people the U.S study sought to see how unhealthy lifestyles on middle-age impacted in long term health. Over a period of 12-14 years, 203 people were diagnosed with dementia and their lifestyles in middle age seemed to have a big impact on this.

Smoking was strongly linked to the onset of the condition. The researchers said this was because smoking can damage the brain and the small vessels that supply it with blood. Smokers were 70% more likely to develop dementia.

The study also showed that high blood pressure and diabetes also increased the possibility of impared mental function in later life, also because both conditions impare the flow of blood to the brain.

The researchers concluded that modifying lifestyles early in life and treating risk factors was important to reduce the risk of developing the devastating condition.

Neil Hunt,speaking for the Alzheimers Society, said that despite Alzeimer’s being one of most people’s “biggest fears in later life”, only a few realised that there were steps they could take earlier on to reduce their chances of falling ill.

Any smoker who has tried to quit will tell you that it can be a long, difficult and unpleasant process. Often they will say that being in familiar situations when they would normally light up – at the pub, after a meal – can be the worst temptation. Most will get some extra help through fairly standard routes – patches, gums, even the medication Champix that helps cut down cravings.

Not Geoff Spice, who so determined to give up that he has taken the rather extreme step of marooning himself on the tiny island of Sgarabhaigh, in the Outer Hebrides. Mr. Spice, a former merchant banker with NM Rothschild and Sons, will spend 4 weeks entirely alone with only some sheep and 120 books and an IPod to distract him from his cravings.

The owner of the island, Dave Hill, has wished him good luck and asked that people passing by the island give him a wave and sound their boat horns. He has also said that well-wishers wanting to give Geoff an extra push can get any single malt whisky of their choice delivered to The Cove, Sgarabhaigh, The Sound of Harris, The Western Isles (though I am not convinced that would be helpful – whisky always makes me feel like a degenerate poet, leading me to smoke 20 cigs in one sitting to “unlock my creativity”).

Mr Spice has said that he will have one last cigarette and then give the rest to his wife as they travel to the island by boat. Once there, he will have to cope with no electricity or water supply by lighting fires from driftwood, cooking on a camp stove and drinking bottled water.

He said the island marooning is his “last chance” to ensure “many years of extra life” to spend with his family.

A survey by Cancer Research UK has discovered that only half of people who smoke gain enjoyment from the habit. In a study into why people smoke, only 50% of those polled said they took pleasure from it, while 47% said they smoked to cope with stress.

Of the 2000 people questioned, it seemed that enjoying smoking was more likely amongst the older generation, rarely citing the need to relieve stress or make socialising easier as a key reason for why they bought cigarettes.

The study also revealed that women were twice as likely as men to smoke to lose weight, with men saying that they used cigarettes to help them socialise and give them extra confidence.

Jean King, who directs Cancer Research’s centre for tobacco control, said that understanding the reasons why people smoke was key to developing successful programs to get people to quit. She added that if they could reduce exposure to things that prompt the desire to light up – things like seeing adverts in shops – then this could also help people quit.

However there was an indication that British smokers were still committed to the habit despite the measures already in place, namely the smoking ban. Cigarette manufacturers British American Tobacco , who make the popular brands Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Kent, today posted profits that showed a signicant rise over the last six months. 

The firm raked in £2.11 billion in the six months leading up to 30^th June, compared to profits of £1.72 billion compared to the same period last year.

The FDA warned yesterday that electronic cigarettes were unsafe and could increase nicotine addiction amongst young people, even increasing the likelihood that they would eventually try real cigarettes.

The devices, which are battery operated, contain cartridges filled with nicotine and other chemicals. When they are sucked on they turn the nicotine into a vapour that the user inhales. They are mostly manufactured abroad, particularly in China.

There are particular concerns over the fact that the cigarettes come in different flavours, such as chocolate, mint and bubblegum. The chairman of the American Academy of Paeditrics, Jonothan Winickoff, said that the flavours would appeal especially to children.

The FDA took a small sample of cartridges from two products marketed by NJOY in Arizona and Smoking Everywhere, based in Florida. They analysed their ingredients and in one, discovered the anti-freeze component diethylene glycol. Several others contained carcinogens like nitrosamines.

The FDA said the results of the tests showed that there was an overall “lack of quality control” when it came to the manufacture of the products. The deputy director of the pharmaceutical analysis section of the FDA, the Centre for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the products could have “safety and quality concerns”.

The FDA has also been monitoring the shipping of the products at the border and so far has seized 50 shipments.However there is confusion over the legality and regulation of the products; the FDA claims that as they are both a drug and a device they should be subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Axt. However the companies marketing the e-cigarettes refute this and in April one launched a lawsuit claiming that the FDA had overstepped its authority in intercepting shipments.

The American Lung Organisation have asked the FDA to ban the cigarettes but  supported the FDA in voicing their concerns, saying that the study showed the FDA was “serious about enforcing the law.”

Teenage boys will do anything for a dare. Actually, most men, whatever age, will do anything for a dare – I spent last night watching a friend try to eat 10 iceberg lettuces just because someone told him it wasn’t possible (it wasn’t – he went a virulent green after 7).

So pity the 14-year-old from the West Midlands who ended up being hospitalised after eating 45 pieces of nicotine replacement gum. Aiden Williams was given the gum by a friend at the Menzies High School in West Bromich after it was handed out at the school by Sandwell Councils’ Drug Education, Counselling and Confidential Advice Team (DECCA). Children as young as 12 can receive a week’s supply, or 105 pieces, if they ask for it.

Unsurprisingly, after it was handed out the children were passing it around in the playground. Aiden said that a few minutes after eating it, he started feeling light-headed and the next thing he knew, he was in hospital attached to a heart monitor.

Though he could have died from the nicotine overdose, his father said that his life was saved by the fact that earlier in the day, Aiden had been indulging in the age-old schoolboy pastime of smoking behind the bike-sheds. John Williams said his son had smoked one or two cigarettes earlier, which allowed his body to get used to the nicotine.

Mrs Williams has critised DECCA for giving out the gum without informing parents first, but DECCA have refused to shoulder all the blame. Though they have promised to launch an investigation, they intend to continue to give out the gum. They said that they do warn the teenagers not to give the gum to anyone else. Their spokesperson added that it was the first time an incident such as this had happened and that the child originally given the product would have been clear instructions how to use it.  

The American Food and Drugs Agency, which regulates drug use in the U.S, has decided that there needs to be a label change for the smoking-cessation medication Champix. The change in the wording of the label will reflect concerns that the treatment may be linked to depression.

Research revealed by the charity Cancer Research has indicated that 70% of adults support proposed new measures concerning the sales of cigarettes. 70% said that they backed plans to make shops keep cigarettes out of sight to protect children while 76% agreed that cigarette machines should be made illegal.

2000 people across the UK were questioned for the YouGov poll. Nearly 80% of those who responded said that they believed the smoking ban was a good thing. Non-smokers and those who had never tried cigarettes were strongly most in favour of the proposals, while those who smoked were least likely to be supportive. Men were also less likely to give a favourable response than women.

Professor Robert West, the director of tobacco studies at Cancer Research UK, said that though the ban had assisted smokers in their attempts to quit, there needed to be ‘radical’ new action to capitalise on this success.

The smoking ban came into force across the UK in 2007, after a successful scheme in Scotland. There was a rapid decrease in the number of smokers, with rates falling by 800,000. However it is still estimated that every day, 450 under-18s start smoking in Britain.

The charity’s head of tobacco control Elspeth Lee added that the poll results showed there was widespread support for anti-smoking measures, but called for priority to be given to strategies to prevent the next generation also becoming addicted to cigarettes.

It has been suggested that despite the smoking ban, psychiatric wards have been falling through the loop-hole. The Mental Health Foundation has discovered that only a minority of UK psychiatric facilities have managed to successfully implement the smoking ban.

Of 109 mental health professionals, 85% said that they felt the ban had not been implemented effectively. Many said that it was difficult to stop patients smoking as there were no safe outdoor spaces where patients could smoke, while others said that patients smoked in secret, with staff turning a blind eye, especially when patients were extremely ill. In places where there is an outdoor space, staff said that escorting patients to this area was a drain on resources and staff time.

Staff said that enforcing the ban made them feel uncomfortably like policemen and reported that often they had to deal with patients reacting aggressively when asked to stop smoking. However when patients were allowed to smoke illicitly, the problem of fire hazards due to covert smoking and poorly-disposed cigarette butts arose.

A spokesperson from the mental health charity Mind pointed out that demanding that patients suddenly give up their habit when admitted to a psychiatric facility only compounded the stress and anxiety they would be likely to be experiencing. She said that people with mental health problems were twice as likely to smoke as the general public, so called for facilities to be better equipped to either support patients with quitting or provide them with areas where they could safely smoke.

According to a presentation due to be given at the UK National Smoking Cessation Conference, the recession is making it more difficult for people to quit smoking. 23% of smokers are delaying plans to give up, with over a quarter of those surveyed blaming worries such as job security, paying bills and feeding their families for failures to give up since December.

In total it is estimated that 2 million people are not quitting for the moment due to money-related stresses. A spokesperson from the Royal College of Nursing said that it was important people be offered effective options and better support to encourage them to give up regardless of money-related problems.

Many people surveyed said they felt considerably more stressed than they used to, with over three-quarters saying that they derived comfort from smoking a cigarette when they were under stress. 1 in 4 believed that the economic downturn had encouraged them to smoke more than before. For nearly half, smoking was so important to them they said they were willing to cut spending on their clothes or weekly shopping.

The presentation is based on a study was commissioned from the polling company Ipsos Mori, who were asked by nicotine-replacement-manufacturers, Mcneil Products, to see to what extent the economic situation is impacting on smoker’s habits.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health head has recommended that adults should be banned from smoking in cars when children are also passengers. In an article on the BBC News website, newly appointed Professor Terence Stephenson recommended that children should be given the same protection as work colleagues (smoking in cars owned by businesses is forbidden.)

Professor Stephenson said that if parents would not invite their children to light up in the car, then they equally should not make them breathe in the second hand smoke from their own cigarettes in the car.

The child health expert pointed to the successful introduction of similar schemes in the California, Cyprus, South Australia and New Brunswick, where the legislation has passed successfully. He also drew attention to research indicating that second-hand smoke can lead to chest infections, ear problems and asthma in children.

ASH, the anti-smoking group, support the suggestion. Their spokesperson likened cars to “small tin boxes” and said that one cigarette in a car, even with the window open, created as much second hand smoke as would be inhaled after a night in a smoky pub or bar. However critics have argued that it would be difficult to implement, questioning whether it would still be illegal if the sunroof was down or the car was open-top. The Department of Health responded by saying that they were planning to review the law next year.

Councils in England have received a boost in their efforts to help residents in their region give up smoking. The Department of Health have announced that they will be sharing out £2.5m amongst them to bolster their individual campaigns to encourage quitting.

The 25 local authorities with the highest number of smokers in their area will each get a share of the money, totalling £100,000. The money will support current initiative to encourage quitters and money to prevent young people taking up the habit in the first place. Representatives from the 25 local councils were due to meet on the 10^th to discuss the best use of the money. It is thought new initiatives may include local anti-smoking advertising campaigns and a program to support trading standards in enforcing tobacco retailing regulations.

Overall, treating illnesses related to smoking costs the NHS more than £5bn each year. Studies have suggested that 1 in 5 deaths are related to smoking. Oxford University researchers have said that caring for smokers accounts for at least 5% of the NHS’s total budget. Ash, the anti-smoking charity, have suggested that each year the NHS is saving £380m as more and more people give up cigarettes.

The councils receiving the money include Barking and Dagenham, Plymouth and Islington. The scheme will be managed by the Improvement and Development Agency and the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services, in conjunction with the Local Government Association. Councils will be supported the Department of Health’s Tobacco Control National Support Team.

Children and adults alike love the popular cartoon The Simpsons. Famed for its irreverent and sometimes surreal depiction of small-town American life and featuring a beer-chugging, over weight anti-hero, it has never been terribly concerned with promoting healthy living. But now Australian scientists have concluded that the cartoon may be promoting cigarettes simply by showing characters smoking in so many episodes.

Guy Eslick, a public health specialist from the University of Sydney, discovered that over 18 series of the program, smoking was shown 795 times. While it appeared negatively 35% of the time, it was shown positively in 2% of the episodes and neutrally 63% of the time.  Of all the occasions, 63% of them related to adults, 8% to teenagers and children and the rest to nicotine-addicted animals.

While most people who watch the comedy would be dubious as to the persuasive glamour of some of the characters shown smoking – one might particularly point to Marge’s chain-smoking, husky-voiced spinster sisters Patty and Selma – Eslick says that cartoon characters have been shown to be effective in marketing tobacco to under-18s, pointing to the Joe Camel campaign in the U.S. He added that previous research had indicated that the more frequently a child was exposed to smoking when watching films or the television, the more likely it was they would themselves eventually take up the habit.  He concluded in the Medical Journal of Australia that the high number of episodes showing smoking in the Simpsons make it very possible that younger viewers might be encouraged to take up the habit.

A rather ingenious attempt by a pub landlady in Yorkshire to bypass the smoking ban in her establishment looks set to be foiled this week after it came to the attention of the authorities. Kerry Fenton designated the smoking room in the pub a ‘research centre’, making use of a loophole in the current laws.

She has asked customers using the smoking section of the Cutting Edge pub to fill in a questionnaire on their smoking habits before lighting up. She also asks that they donate a sum to Cancer Research. Ms Fenton has said that since she introduced the new room, customer number have jumped fivefold, though before the pub was struggling to break even.

The loophole in the current law was found after detailed reading of The Smoke Free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007. However, the room is likely to be shut in the coming week, as a representative from Barnsley Council’s Regulatory Services has scheduled a visit to let Ms Fenton know she has “misunderstood” the relevant laws.

Since the smoking ban was introduced in 2007, the number of smokers in Britain has dropped dramatically. The government is now planning on introducing curbs on how shops display cigarettes, demanding that they are now sold from under the counter. This move has faced criticism from small shop-holders, who claim that it will damage their businesses, already suffering in the current economic climate.

Most people who have tried to quit smoking will say that one of the biggest problems they faced was the tendency to pile on the pounds. Generally, one imagines this is due to comfort eating, as the misery of nicotine withdrawal makes that big galaxy bar look that bit more appealing. It has also been suggested that smokers find continuous snacking a good distraction, both for their hands and mentally.

However new research has suggested that there may be a medical reason why smokers tend to get heavier when they quit and why those who are still smoking often find it easier to keep their weight down. Scientists from Cornell University in New York have identified a gene that burns fat, which becomes more active when someone is exposed to cigarette smoke. The gene, called AZGP1 (or alphazinglycoprotein) helps speed up the breakdown of fat by producing a protein that facilitates this process. Comparing cells taken from the lungs of millions of smokers and non-smokers, they discovered that the protein was being produced more in the lungs of the smokers. Previous studies on mice have shown that those with the protein will lose weight even if no other changes are made to their diet.

Smokers trying to kick the habit have received some bad news after a scientist published research linking popular nicotine replacement therapies to an increased risk of developing mouth cancer. The study, which can be read in the journal Public Library of Science One, suggests that replacement products like nicotine gums, lozenges and inhalers can heighten a user’s chances of developing cancer when used long-term.

The scientists, from the University of London, focused on the impact of a particular gene, FOXM1, in the development of cancer of the mouth. Dentistry students at Queen Mary’s University also found that FOXM1 levels were raised during the early stages of mouth cancer. It was discovered that this gene was more likely to show up in a mutated form when patients had been using products such as the gums or inhalants. This likelihood increased if the patient had a lesion already in their mouth; smokers already have an higher risk of developing mouth cancer in any case.

At the moment, the NHS strongly promotes NRT as a good way to give up smoking. In extreme cases, they may prescribe one of two medications, Champix or Zyban. However gums and similar tools are very easily accessible and can be picked up without prescription at local pharmacies. Recently a study showed that NRT could encourage people to quit even when that was not their original intention, indicating that it might be beneficial to encourage smokers to use it regardless of their long-term intentions.

Despite the fears this research will raise it is very unlikely it will have any effect in the numbers of doctors encouraging patients to try NRT. Though there may be a small increase in the risk of a fairly uncommon cancer, smoking is proven to cause a wide variety of extremely serious illnesses so ultimately, the benefits of nicotine sweets and gums far outweigh the risks.

A study published in the British Medical Journal has shown that when smokers do not necessarily want to quit but to want to cut down, nicotine replacement therapy can significantly improve their chances of quitting completely.

The study pointed out that each year, while half of all British smokers try to give up the habit, only some 2 to 3% succeed. Researchers in the U.S have suggested that the average smoker will attempt to stop smoking 6 to 11 times. Each year, smoking-related illnesses cost the NHS between £1.4 and £ 1.7 billion each year.

The researchers from the University of Birmingham studied 3000 smokers who received nicotine replacement therapy for 6 to 18 months. They found that the number of smokers who managed not to smoke for 6 months was twice that of those smokers taking a placebo, a total of 6.75%. However the Birmingham team said that as the group using nicotine replacement patches were also receiving behavioural support and monitoring, they could not be sure how great an impact this had on the results.

The researchers have said the overall results amount to 3% of smokers quitting who otherwise would not have done so. In the article, the scientists also remarked that “previous data suggests that half of those who sustain 6 months of abstinence will maintain it for the rest of their lives.” They continued by recommending that providing smokers not contemplating quitting with treatment nonetheless might be a good strategy. They wrote, “The importance of these trials is that they show that treating a population of smokers not ready to stop means more of them stop. Therefore it is important to examine how nicotine assisted reduction to stop can be incorporated into tobacco control programs.”

This month started with a historic tax increase on the price of cigarettes in the U.S. The rise is the largest ever single increase on the product, tripling the tax to more than $1 per pack. The tax on other tobacco products such as chewing tobacco has seen a similar increase. The increase will see American smokers averaging 20 a day pay $225 (£156) extra each year.

The Obama administration has said that the extra revenue will be used to pay for health care for children without insurance. They hope that an increase in price in a time of recession will also encourage more people to quit. Industry analysts have predicted a drop in sales of between 6 to 8%.

Quit-smoking help-lines have reported a massive increase in call volumes since the price hike was announced. Mary Kate Salley of Free and Clear, which runs quit-lines for 17 states, said that there was a 369% rise in calls compared with the same day in 2008.

In response, tobacco companies raised prices a few weeks ago in an effort to make up the money they expect to lose through diminishing sales. Phillip Morris upped prices by about 71 cents per pack last month, while RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. put up list prices by between 41 to 44 cents and in many cases reduced discounts to retailers. A spokesman from RJ Reynolds said that “The federal tax increase was the primary driver.”

Researchers in Denmark have linked smoking to an increased risk of developing pancreatitis, a condition where abdominal pain is caused by inflammation of the pancreas, and now believe that cigarettes may be linked to nearly half of all cases of the condition. Scientists had been aware for some time that smoking caused pancreatic damage but previously had no knowledge of whether smoking independently was a risk factor for pancreatitis.

The scientists analysed data from 20 years’ worth of statistics on 17,905 people to determine whether the two were indeed associated. They used physician’s examinations and self-administered questionnaires to reach their conclusions. 58% of the women and 68% of the men were current smokers, 15% and 19% of the women respectively had smoked before and the remainder had never smoked. By the end of the study 160 cases of acute and 97 cases of chronic pancreatitis had been reported. The study concluded that 46% of these cases were attributable to smoking, showing that smoking was an independent risk factor.

Janne Schurmann Tolstrup, from the Danish National Institute for Public Health and co-author of the study, and her colleagues said that “a biological effect of smoking seems plausible, because both animal studies and human studies have demonstrated changes of the pancreas and in pancreatic functioning after exposure to tobacco smoke”. The findings are published in the March edition of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

For many years he was the face of Winston cigarettes, a manly, dashing figurehead for the brand. Now Alan Landers is garnering a lot of publicity for the anti-smoking lobby in America after launching a lawsuit against the parent company of Winston, RJ Reynolds, one of the 8000 lawsuits currently being fought against the tobacco companies. Mr Landers first turned on the hand that fed him in the eighties, becoming a spokesperson for the World Health Organisation after he himself was diagnosed with cancer.

Despite the lung and throat cancer that makes it necessary for the 68-year-old to have daily radiation treatments, Mr. Landers has vowed to see the fight through to the end. Interviewed by the Florida Sun Sentinel, he said “The tobacco companies have been waiting for me to die for years and I haven't. I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of beating me."

His case goes to trial in April, the culmination of a 14-year fight. In Broward County, a jury has just ruled that a man died because of his addiction to nicotine and a decision is now being taken as to whether, and how much, Phillip Morris must award damages to his widow. Alan Lander’s case will be one of the first to be heard after a 2006 ruling from the Florida Supreme Court that saw a $145 billion class action award against Phillip Morris thrown out, requiring each case to be heard individually.

In the UK, there has been good news after analysis by the charity Cancer Research UK indicated that over the next 20 years, rates of lung cancer will drop by over a fifth, as measures like the smoking ban would see numbers of smokers continue to fall. Currently about 90% of lung cancers are attributable to smoking.

For those of you that read Metro you will have already seen this astonishing news on the front page – apparently 10-year-olds are going to be paid to stop smoking. Huh? In actuality, when you look at a bit further into the story under-18s are going to be - well, not paid as much as bribed, with £15 shopping vouchers. And if under-10s approach the service then they too will be eligible for the vouchers.

The scheme is being run by Brighton and Hove NHS Trust and also includes pregnant women, who are offered £5 vouchers for Asda or the Co-Op. A spokesperson for the trust said that “Evidence shows that motivating a young person with a small cash incentive is the push they need to ask for help. If someone stops when they are young, they will feel the benefits immediately and saves the NHS millions of pounds as well as saving lives."

The headlines screaming about all the little chain-smoking children grabbing the cash and running off into a smoky sunset are actually fairly misleading, as only one 10-year-old has approached the service. There have already been similar proposals to offer adults monetary incentives to lose weight.

Nonetheless, the scheme has raised some rather alarming questions about the model we are setting teenagers when it comes to their health. This scheme would seem to approve of the message that cash is a motivating force stronger than self-esteem or self-worth, which might ordinarily be expected to push a teen to quit. Teenagers don’t just follow the leadership of their peers but that of authority figures such as doctors and teachers, and this is authorities leading them down a path ruled by material gain rather than an individual’s life choices. I personally think that encouraging a mercenary approach to health just when someone is starting to make independent decisions about their wellbeing sets them on a troubling path.

American film stars of a certain generation generally like to present themselves as squeaky-clean, apparently filling up their time getting deep into character, baking apple-pies and bonding with their progeny. Sometimes they go on crusades to save the world and feed the starving. Now, I previously had given the goody-goody crown to the macrobiotic-loving Gwyneth Paltrow, but her recent comments while visiting Britain may demand a re-think. She has revealed her naughty side by confessing not only to a love for cigarettes but an intention to take up the habit again when she hits seventy.

While smoking is not exactly as shocking as a nice drug habit or a liking for rubber, Gwyneth’s confession was nonetheless fairly surprising, as was her honesty about how much she loved cigarettes. In an interview with Elle Magazine, she said, “It’s such a beautiful thing...I would think with them, write with them. I just love them so much.” The star described how on the day she discovered she was pregnant with her first child Apple, she decided she had to give up, but first had to sit down and “smoke one final cigarette”.

Paltrow said that having experienced the death of her father, once she became a parent herself she couldn’t carry on smoking. However, she has promised herself that at seventy she can start again, saying excitedly that she can’t wait. Her comments are a rather touching expression of the difficulties smokers face, often not wanting to give up themselves but doing so for the sake of those they love. She also highlights the sense of loss when people quit, as they don’t just miss the nicotine but the impact cigarettes have on their sense of self. Kate Moss has previously said she is scared to quit because “it’s who I am...”

Call me evil, but there is something a little satisfying to think of celebrities going through the same quitting agony as the rest of us...

When we think of the dangers of smoking, generally most people’s minds automatically go to lung cancer. Perhaps a few think of heart disease, after a prolonged campaign of billboard and television ads to remind us of the link between the two. However US researchers have shown that smoking is in fact linked to a shocking 70% of cancers in men, making lung disease only one of a myriad of fatal illnesses male smokers could develop.

The team of researchers, from the University of California in Massachusetts, analysed the cancer-related deaths of men living in the state in 2003. He compared the rates of lung-cancer deaths to all other cancer mortality rates and found that since 1979 to 2003, the two had changed year-by-year at exactly the same rates. The very close relationship between lung and other cancer death rates lead the scientists to the conclusion that there was a single cause linking them - smoking. If the findings are correct, this suggests that were smoking rates to decrease, this would have a far greater impact on mortality than previously expected.

The lead scientist on the research team, Bruce Leistikow, is a public-health expert with a special research interest in premature mortality. He said, ‘he fact that lung and non-lung cancer death rates are almost perfectly associated means that smokers and non-smokers alike should do what they can to avoid tobacco smoke. It also suggests that increased attention should be paid to smoking prevention in health care reforms and health promotion campaigns.’

The number of smokers successfully quitting in the UK has decreased by nearly a quarter since the same time last year, despite the amount being spent to encourage them rising considerably. The figures are a blow for the government who have already been criticised over the perceived failure of the smoking ban.

The statistics, released by the NHS information service, showed that while 176,000 people quit in 2007, only 133,704 did so in 2008, a drop of 24%. However the amount being spent on NHS quitting services has increased by £7m; this means the NHS is now spending £33 m on these services, or £244 per person, a jump of 65%. While many people were encouraged to give up by the smoking ban, over the past year those numbers have trailed off. Nonetheless, over 4,000 more people managed to quit in 2008 than in the year before the ban was introduced.

Ministers have defended the ban by pointing out that is was primarily introduced to protect the nation from the dangers of second-hand smoke, as well as to encourage people to quit. It has also been suggested that the statistics have been affected by the spike immediately after the introduction of the ban, which is now evening itself out.

Dawn Primarolo, Minister for Health, believes that the cost per smoker is still cost effective, saying “'NHS Stop Smoking Services remain extremely cost-effective, despite increases in the costs reported per quitter. The Department of Health will continue to work hard to attract smokers to quit with NHS support. Smokers who use such support are up to four times more likely to succeed than those who try to quit by willpower alone”.

As 2009 approaches, many are considering their New Year’s resolutions. Losing those stubborn pounds, promising to spend more quality time with your partner, taking up a new hobby...Of course, this time of year also sees thousands of smokers swearing to give up the habit. There are lots of different ways to do this, from patches to prescription medication to good old-fashioned willpower. The biggest problem many of us experience is a lack of motivation to continue trying to quit.

However, one of the biggest provider’s of Children’s Trust Funds, the Children’s Mutual, has come up with a novel tactic to give the parents amongst us that extra push. They have looked at NHS figures on the money that is saved when smokers quit and are advising that for those that give up, by putting the money they would have spent on cigarettes into a trust fund for their children, parents can over 18 years see their children end up with £15,500. Considering the cost of university and the difficulty for young people in saving up enough for a deposit on a house, many parents are doubtless rather more tempted to give up than they might have been.

The NHS calculates that per month, a smoker will spend on average £40. While it seems quite a small sum, when you add it all up the Children’s Mutual have a made a convincing arguement for the long-term monetary benefits of quitting. Even for those of us without children, the prospect of having a nice lump sum after all those years of hard work would seem rather appealing. We all know the long term dangers of smoking – cancer, heart disease, emphysema – and now there is a corresponding long-term carrot to help us keep our resolutions.

In any case, whether you are making resolutions or not, or just trying to stick to those made last New Year’s Eve, we at The Online Clinic hope you enjoy the celebrations and wish you a very happy and successful 2009.

In July 2007 there was great hope that the smoking ban would help cut the number of UK smokers. Maybe during the summer months, we would not see such a big difference, but the thinking was the shivering outside would take some of the glamour away, as well as reducing the risks of passive smoking. The smoking ban was a way of changing out entire culture’s attitude to cigarettes.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case and there are in fact more male smokers now, while the number of women smoking has stayed the same. Furthermore, while ministers had seen the ban as a way to reduce the number of smokers from poorer backgrounds, there has been a rise in male smoking amongst this group. The findings will be a blow to the government and yesterday in parliament Alan Johnson faced angry calls from MPs for more stringent anti-smoking measures to be put in place.

The report, based on data from the National Health Survey, also looked into the rates of obesity and drinking in the country. The general message seemed to be that governmental advice on how to live healthily was not getting through, with many confused about how much they should be drinking or exercising.

When it comes to smoking, however, being forced to stand outside like a leper would give the heads-up to most people that its not that good for you. We know its bad for us, but we still do it. Speaking personally, I think its because smoking is so deeply linked to our sense of identity, both how we see ourselves and how we present ourselves to others. No one ever really says, “Hello. I’m an alcoholic” or “I’m significantly overweight” and expects to be perceived as wildly glamorous. We say, “I’m a smoker” and there is an element of pride there, a subtext of , “I am rakish and devil may care. Watch me blow smoke in your face in the manner of a film noir detective.”

Therefore no amount of governmental regulation or telling off will make me quit. In fact, the ban just makes smoking that bit more fun, reminding me of schooldays spent skulking on the netball courts in a cloud of Marlborough smoke. Fair enough with the smoking ban, no one should have to breathe in my smoke. But until I - and I imagine many others like me - cease to relish being labelled as a smoker, no amount of banning will make a difference.

Yesterday’s Queen’s speech to Parliament has indirectly hinted at the manoeuvring going on behind the scenes in Government over the proposed crackdown on the sales of cigarettes. The Government had been widely expected to unveil new legislation targeting the alcohol and cigarette industries, but instead there was only one rather vague reference to improving “public health” and some unspecified “measures to protect children and young people from the harm caused by smoking”.

Pundits are suggesting that the measures have been put on hold due to infighting between Gordon Brown’s new minister Lord Mandelson and the cabinet ministers Alan Johnson (health) and Jacqui Smith (home secretary). Mandelson is said to be against Johnson and Smith’s campaign to create tougher legislation regarding the sales of cigarettes and alcohol for fear of the damage it may cause to small businesses.

The proposals had been set to see cigarette vending machines and the public display of cigarettes banned, meaning they would have had to be sold under the counter. There were also suggestions that the packing would be made plainer. Yesterday, in the drinks industry, plans to stop supermarkets selling cheap alcohol as a loss leader to entice customers were put on hold, though it will become illegal to offer such promotions as ‘drink all you can for £10’ and “women drink free”. Happy hour, some will be relieved to hear, also survived the cull.

The ‘will they won’t they’ wavering has shed an interesting light on the governmental balancing act between the economic needs of the country with their self-avowed determination to combat cancer in the UK. The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were against the proposals. Considering Mandelson’s record of never giving up - no matter how many times he gets shot down - I’d say its odds on that he is going to win this war. In any case, keen observers of the blue-nosed smokers standing in hoards outside bars, shivering in the name of addiction, are forced to question whether getting rid of over-priced vending machines and de-glamourising already fairly dull fag packets was going to make much of a difference anyway.

Over the last few years the government has introduced many measures to encourage people to stop smoking. These have included increasing the price of tobacco, severely restricting tobacco advertising and, most significantly, banning smoking in public places.