Smoking

Doctors explain why relapse can happen even years after quitting, as stress, sensory triggers and long-stored brain "reward" memories can reactivate cravings and old habit loops

Smoking is not just a bad habit, doctors say; it is nicotine, stress relief, routine and brain conditioning working together, which is why quitting can feel far harder than it looks

Even smoking two cigarettes a day can stiffen blood vessels, raise clotting, sharply increase the risk of heart failure and early death, new global research warns about the dangers of 'light' smoking

Doctors explain how the caffeine-nicotine mix overstimulates your brain, heart, and gut, making the chai-sutta combo more addictive and harmful than it may appear

From insulin resistance to insulin deficiency, smoking raises the risk of every type-2 diabetes form - and the more you smoke, the worse it gets, says new study

Tobacco kills 1.35 million Indians every year, but quit rates remain very low despite widespread awareness. With India spending more than Rs 1.77 lakh crore annually on tobacco-related diseases, healthcare experts called for innovative, science-backed harm reduction strategies, including the use of smoke-free nicotine alternatives. Dr Pawan Gupta, senior consultant, Pulmonary Medicine at BLK-MAX Super Specialty Hospital, Delhi stated that for patients with COPD or cardiovascular risks, every cigarette avoided matters. "Scientific review, ?including those by the Royal College of Physicians (UK), show that non-combustible nicotine delivery carries significantly lower risks compared to smoking. That evidence cannot be ignored," Gupta said. Public Health England (PHE, UK) has estimated that smoke-free nicotine alternatives are up to 95 per cent less harmful than smoking because they remove tar and combustion. Globally, nicotine pouches have gained traction as discreet oral alternative

Doctors at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) here have warned that smoking significantly increases the risk of developing a slipped disc, also known as lumbar disc herniation. The warning came after a successful surgery was performed on a patient referred with recurrent lumbar disc herniation. A team led by surgeon Dr Bhaskar Borgohain recently carried out a tubular microdiscectomy successfully to relieve the pressure on the S1 nerve root on a patient admitted to the hospital. Four large fragments of the disc were removed during the minimally invasive procedure, he said. "Research suggests that smoking is one of the risk factors for slipped discs, possibly due to damage to collagen fibres in the disc's outer ring caused by toxic hydrocarbons in cigarette smoke," Dr Borgohain said. He added that such damage weakens the structure of the spinal discs, making them more prone to rupture or herniation, particularly in the lower

Experts warn that even short exposure to secondhand smoke can damage the heart, lungs and blood vessels, with children and pregnant women at higher risk

France has struggled to kick its smoking habit. A new public health decree published Saturday aims to change that. In the coming days, smoking will be banned in all French parks and sports venues, at beaches and bus stops, in a perimeter around all schools, and anywhere children could gather in public. In a country where smoking has for generations been glamorised in cinema and intertwined with the national image, government crackdowns on tobacco use have met resistance. "In France, we still have this mindset of saying, this is a law that restricts freedom," Philippe Bergerot, president of the French League Against Cancer, told the Associated Press. The ban aims "to promote what we call denormalisation. In people's minds, smoking is normal," he said. "We aren't banning smoking; we are banning smoking in certain places where it could potentially affect people's health and ... young people." It's been illegal to smoke in restaurants, bars and public buildings since a series of bans

Smoking and hookah don't just harm your lungs and heart-doctors warn they also quietly damage sexual function, disrupt hormones, and reduce fertility in both men and women

This year's theme-'Bright products. Dark intentions'-exposes how tobacco firms use flavours, design, and digital marketing to lure young users

Starting July 1, France will ban smoking in public spaces like parks, beaches, and bus stops to protect children's health; violators may face fines up to 135 euros ($154)

Women over 40 face a higher risk of chronic lung disease, possibly due to indoor pollution, hormonal shifts, and misdiagnosis - not just smoking

With the opening of a smoking area within the Security Hold Area close to Gate 07, Srinagar International Airport "inaugurated" a new facility for travelers, which was criticised by netizens

Campaign launched by the UK government aims to encourage people to quit smoking as part of their New Year's resolutions

According to a Korean study conducted on 5.3 million people, the heart may take several decades to match the condition of non-smokers naturally after quitting smoking

Cutting down smoking to five per cent of current rates by 2050 would increase life expectancy by a year among men and 0.2 years in women, according to recent global modelling studies published in The Lancet Public Health journal. The researchers found that based on current trends, smoking rates around the world could continue to reduce to 21 per cent in men and about four per cent in women by 2050. Along with improving life expectancy, accelerating efforts to eliminate tobacco smoking could avoid 876 million years of lives lost to death, researchers forming the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factors (GBD) Tobacco Forecasting Collaborators said. They also found that banning sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products could prevent 1.2 million lung cancer deaths across 185 countries by 2095. Of these deaths, nearly two-thirds would be averted in low- and middle-income countries, because they tend to have more younger populations compared to high-income ones, the author

The effect of exposure to certain pesticides "rivalled" that of smoking in increasing cancer risk in farmers, according to a US study that compiled 69 such chemicals, including four commonly used in India. Researchers found that for three types of cancer -- non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia and bladder cancer -- the effects of pesticide exposure were "more pronounced" than those of smoking, widely acknowledged as a cancer risk factor. "We present a list of major pesticide contributors for some specific cancers but we highlight strongly that it is the combination of all of them and not just a single one that matters," senior author Isain Zapata, an associate professor at the Rocky Vista University, US, said. The list, compiled in the study published in the journal Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society, features 69 pesticides, including 2,4-D, Acephate, Metolachlor, Methomyl. These four are among many commonly used in India to combat various threats to crop yields, such as insects an

Tardy uniform wage implementation, health hazard plague workers

No Smoking Day is celebrated every year across the world to spread awareness about the bad impacts of smoking. It urges individuals to stop smoking and promotes a smoke-free environment