According to an analysis of 172 research papers published over the past 50 years, women who smoke whilst pregnant could be increasing the chance of their baby being born malformed by up to 25 per cent. As it stands an estimated 17 per cent of women in England and Wales smoke whilst they are pregnant, read more »

Children who discuss important issues with their fathers are less likely to take up smoking in their early years, a study has found. A study conducted by a team at Cardiff University involving 3,500 youngsters aged between 11 and 15 asked participants to rate how often they spoke to their fathers about important issues on read more »

An ambitious plan to cut the number of smokers in England by half over the next ten years has been unveiled by ministers. The past decade has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of people smoking. Figures have fallen by almost a quarter to 21% and the government hopes to increase this by a read more »

Those who quit smoking are actually increasing their chances of developing type two diabetes, BBC News reports. Research shows that quitters have a 70% increased risk of developing type-two diabetes in the first six years without cigarettes compared with non-smokers. One of the main reasons for the increase in risk is due to the fact read more »

Research shows that from the 1st January 2010 almost half of all smokers in England will attempt to quit. In order to aid their quests the NHS have launched a free stop-smoking kit, reported BBC News. Figures show that more than half of smokers (54%) believe they need help in managing their cravings with seven read more »

Smokefree United is an NHS piloted scheme, which provides coaching and support to help football fans and players to stop smoking. Upon signing up to the virtual club of quitters, the members will receive weekly contact over a four week period via emails and texts, entry into competitions which gives them a chance of winning read more »

For smokers who are trying to quit, their first step is usually the baby step of switching to a low-tar brand. At first glance it seems like the sensible thing to do. Of course they are less harmful than the full strength cigarette so you are decreasing the damage to your lungs. A definite step read more »

Subtle branding on cigarette packets is misleading smokers into thinking some products are less harmful than others, reports the BBC. Despite the EU ban on any claims that some cigarettes are safer than others, a number of brands have found a loophole to exploit. A survey of 1,300 people has found that products using the read more »