Smokefree America recently offered these tips to get a smoker to quit. As respiratory therapists, it is important that we urge our patients to quit. Many of our patients are addicts who have tried and failed, sometimes multiple times. The article, which appeared in the Sept. 8 edition of USA Today, gives the following hints. 1. Nag wisely. ...

Smoking has always been the proverbial thorn in a respiratory therapist's side. We deal with smokers every day. Many of our patients require our services because of their smoking history. Whether it is the COPDer who polluted his lungs with cigarettes, or the baby we see in the emergency department on a regular basis because she lives in a house ...

The New York Daily News has released a story about how the smoking rate in the South Bronx is among the highest in the United States, along with the asthma rate. The article provides some loose correlation between smoking and asthma. While respiratory therapists and asthma educators have known about this correlation for years, the article may help ...

A new wind is blowing in the fight against cigarette smoking. New graphic warning labels will appear on cigarette packaging beginning in 2012--and the Food and Drug Administration needs your help picking them. The pictures are geared toward making an impression, particularly on kids, who may be thinking about how cool they will look when they ...

As I predicted, the FDA has come out against electronic cigarettes. On Sept. 9, E-CigaretteDirect LLC, Ruyan America Inc., Gamucci America (Smokey Bayou Inc.), E-Cig Technology Inc., and Johnson's Creek Enterprises LLC received warning letters from the agency. E-cigarettes, intended for smoking cessation, are being illegally marketed. The ...

June 22 marked the one-year anniversary of the day President Obama signed a law to turn power to the Food and Drug Administration over tobacco advertising. The terms ''light,'' ''low,'' and ''mild'' have been taken away. Now, tobacco companies must rely on color coding or other practices to show their different ''flavors'' of cigarettes. Many of ...

Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia received all F's in the American Lung Association's grading system for the state of tobacco control in 2009. No state received straight A's. The report states that while great strides have been made in controlling the availability and education about tobacco, ...