nicotine

(MedPage Today) -- Smokers are no more likely to give up cigarettes for good by using nicotine replacement products such as patches and gum than if they did not use those quit-smoking aids, a prospective cohort study showed.

Scientists say nicotine can rev up brain cells that normally signal people to stop eating when they're full, researchers report in the journal Science.

It was a walk in the park Monday for smokers trying to get around the city's strict new ban against light up in public places.

Nicotine fiends fired up their smokes in Central Park and cheerfully flouted the new law, knowing full well that there aren't enough Parks Department officers to stop them.

Secondhand smoke may foster nicotine cravings and make it harder for cigarette smokers to quit.

Recent experiments showed nicotine had a direct relationship to blood sugar levels: the more nicotine there was in blood, the higher the blood sugar level.

The city Health Department counted 39,000 people who enrolled in their Nicotine Patch and Gum Giveaway this year - 1,000 people less than last year.

The agency has handed out 250,000 free patches and gum since the annual giveaway began in 2003 and credits the program with getting 82,000 people to kick smoking.

E-cigarettes are becoming more popular -- and some users say the nicotine-vapor devices helped them quit smoking.

Do they really work? Are they safe enough?

It’s never easy to quit smoking.

But research shows that medications and nicotine replacement therapies can double the chances that a smoker will successfully quit.

A new smoke-free inhaler gives would-be quitters a vapor with nearly as much nicotine as a cigarette and less harshness than currently available devices.