Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances you can put into your body, and if you're doing it 10 - 20 times a day, it can turn ugly later on, in the form of lung cancer.
But smokers have heard it all before. The same old thing, that smoking can kill you, and that it puts those around you in danger. But that doesn't mean you as a smoker shouldn't know about what you are doing to yourself every time you light up. This section can help.
In the never-ending quest to help people stop smoking, experts are honing in on customised programmes for groups of people with common problems or similar lifestyles.
Quit Day is a pretty momentous occasion. It is, quite literally, the start of a new life.
You've heard it a million times: Keep smoking and you'll get lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema. But despite all of that, it's difficult to quit.
Where there's smoke, there'll be no fire. Smoker's cough has nothing on this!
It has been calculated that US adolescents have watched actors puff away a total of 13.9 billion times in 534 movies released between 1998 and 2003.
Research has shown that twenty-five thousand people die from smoking-related diseases in South Africa every year,” according to Welile Shasha, head of the World Health Organisation in South Africa. How does smoking affect your health?
A new study finds that at least 1 in every 4 smokers will develop progressive and incurable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Find out what second-hand smoke is, what is in it and how it affects you.
You've decided to quit smoking. But what about withdrawal symptoms? It’s important to be prepared for these symptoms that typically occur in the early stages of giving up.
Need another reason to give kids why they shouldn't smoke? It causes hair to turn grey at an earlier age.
‘Safer’ cigarettes, such as low tar, filtered or menthol cigarettes aren’t really safer. Their health benefits are minor, and are often counteracted by how they are smoked.
From bone loss to impotence, count the ways tobacco is bad for your body. Lung cancer and heart disease are known to be the lethal results of smoking.
Allen Carr, a British anti-smoking advocate whose books and international clinics have helped millions of people quit smoking, has been diagnosed with lung cancer.
A new study shows that some cigarette additives have “pharmacological” actions, many of which enhance the delivery of nicotine and may increase the addictiveness of cigarettes.
We all know that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer and heart attack. But impotence? Tooth loss? Abnormal fat deposits? Blindness? Smoking is a full-body onslaught.
Cutting down on the amount you smoke is obviously not ideal: giving up is the ultimate prize. But cutting down is a whole lot better than nothing.
What do a slice of cheese, a glass of water, and a plate of broccoli have in common?
As little as five minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, can significantly reduce smokers' nicotine cravings and may help them quit smoking, says a new British study.
Expect volleys of arguments about smokers' rights and the constructive role of the tobacco industry.
Smoking is often associated - in advertising campaigns - with relaxation and pleasure. Real life however reveals a few bare facts about how unromantic cigarettes are.
Some cigarette smokers switch to pipes or cigars in the belief that this is a less dangerous form of smoking. But pipe and cigar smokers are also at increased risk.
Which nicotine-replacement product will work for you may depend on what kind of smoker you are, researchers say.
Smoking is one of the major risk factors for heart disease and stroke and a leading cause of premature death.
It may destroy your lungs, speed up the aging process and make you stink, but now there's another reason not to smoke: your eyes.
If you're going to plunk down thousands to try to have a baby by in vitro fertilisation, it would be a good idea to quit smoking first.
Nicotine changes how your body and brain function. It both invigorates and relaxes smokers, depending on how much they smoke. There are almost no benefits to nicotine.
Smokers are treated like the lepers of medieaval times. Here's why we think smokers themselves are mostly to blame.
You can begin to develop an addiction to cigarettes with the first drag you smoke, say Canadian researchers, whose study is challenging the notion that nicotine addiction develops over time.
Parents who smoke cigarettes around their kids in cars and homes beware – second-hand smoke may trigger symptoms of nicotine dependence in children.
