Eric Wolbert has been a non-smoker for 30 days. He quit his pack-a-day habit because he has watched cigarettes hurt too many people, including his grandparents, who died of lung cancer, he said. As part of his third attempt at quitting, Wolbert signed up for a seven-week group therapy program called "Freedom From Smoking" at WUSTL.

References:

1. July 5, 2009 — How to quit smoking in the Chicago Tribune

and 1 others.

You could blame weeds, trees, and grasses if you start itching, sneezing, coughing, and wheezing this fall. But the usual suspects aren't the only triggers. A host of household items candles, chemicals, stuffed animals, and spices may be the real culprits. Includes advice from WUSTL allergy and immunology professor James Wedner.

References:

1. June 16, 2009 — Revealed: Secret allergy triggers in the CNNhealth.com

and 1 others.

Some genetic traits are easier to defy than others. Others, such as cancer or diabetes, are not so simple to escape. Advice on how you can reduce your risk with proven tips for protecting your health from head to toe. WUSTL surgery professor Ming You, director of the Chemoprevention Program at WUSTL's Siteman Cancer Center, comments on the role heredity plays in asthma, allergies and lung cancer.

References:

1. March 12, 2009 — Control your DNA destiny in the MSNBC.com

A look at allergy triggers other than the usual suspects. Includes comments by WUSTL allergy and immunology chief James Wedner.

References:

1. Oct. 29, 2008 — Secret allergy triggers -- revealed! in the CNN.com

Ventilator tubes treated with silver to reduce infections cut the risk of pneumonia in gravely ill patients by 36 percent compared with similar, untreated tubes, according to a WUSTL study published in JAMA. WUSTL pulmonary specialist Marin Kollef and colleagues conducted the study.

References:

1. Aug. 19, 2008 — Coated ventilator tubes cut pneumonia threat in the MSNBC

and 6 others.

The Beijing Olympics begin in just over three weeks, and the Chinese are trying to clear the air. In a recent test, Beijing's air failed to meet international health guidelines six days out of seven. WUSTL chemical engineering professor Jay Turner comments.

References:

1. July 15, 2008 — China trying different things to improve air quality for Olympics in the CBS Evening News

The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine addiction and sheds more light on how genetics and lifestyle habits join forces to cause cancer.
This finding could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit.
"This is really telling us that the vulnerability to smoking and how much you smoke is clearly biologically based," said WUSTL psychiatry professor Laura Bierut, a genetics and smoking expert who did not take part in the studies. She praised the research as "very intriguing."

References:

1. April 3, 2008 — Genetic Link Tied to Smoking Addiction in the Associated Press

and 256 others.

Parents may now have another reason to worry about their children smoking. Nicotine may cause the teenage brain to develop abnormally, resulting in changes to the structure of white matter — the neural tissue through which signals are relayed. WUSTL School of Medicine's Richard Todd comments.

References:

1. Jan. 5, 2008 — Why smoking behind the bike sheds could harm your grades in the New Scientist (UK)

Teenagers who smoke, or whose mother smoked in pregnancy, are at higher risk of hearing problems and understanding what is being said, a Yale University study says. WUSTL psychiatry professor Richard Todd comments.

References:

1. Jan. 3, 2008 — Smoking link to hearing problems in the BBC News online

and 3 others.

Teenage smokers face a greater risk of developing alcohol addiction than nonsmokers who drink the same amount, according to a new WUSTL study that found one habit could lead to the other.
WUSTL psychiatry professor Richard Grucza, who led the study, comments.

References:

1. Nov. 29, 2006 — Smoking may boost problem drinking in teens in the The Washington Post

and 56 others.

WUSTL researchers led by orthopaedic surgery professor Leesa Galatz say exposure to nicotine delays tendon-to-bone healing, suggesting the cause of failure of rotator-cuff repair following surgery, according to the study published in the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

References:

1. Oct. 18, 2006 — Smoking weakens tendon-to-bone healing in the United Press International

and 1 others.

Front page story -- A quiet revolution in the world of lung transplants is saving the lives of people who, just two years ago, would have died on the waiting list. Changes include who gets a lung transplant first -- people who would soon die without a transplant, but who had a good chance of surviving after one.
Another major change is that more lungs from cadavers have become available.
WUSTL transplant surgeon Alexander Patterson comments. WUSTL has one of the country's largest lung transplant programs.

References:

1. Sept. 24, 2006 — Lung Patients See a New Era of Transplants in the The New York Times

To test whether federal health spending actually helps patients, Medicare has been requiring more and more of the nation's retirees to participate in clinical trials to measure the effectiveness of a growing range of treatments, before agreeing to pay for them. After seeing the clinical trial's results and the risks involved, many patients and the doctors who refer them to surgeons seemed to lose their enthusiasm for the procedure.
That first was a study of a risky but popular operation for patients with advanced emphysema, that was developed by then WUSTL surgeon Joel Cooper, who is now at U. Penn. Cooper published reports of his patients that were so promising that his medical center, Washington University, could hardly keep up with the demand. Cooper still stands by the lung volume reduction operation.

References:

1. March 3, 2006 — Medicare says it will pay, but patients say 'no thanks' in the New York Times

and 2 others.

A single variation in the gene for taste may protect a person against cigarette smoking, a recently published University of Wisconsin Medical School study shows. However, people who could taste the bitterness and continued to smoke reported smoking for reasons other than taste. "There are multiple genes and multiple mechanisms that are associated with various stages of smoking use," said Pamela Madden, an assistant professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at WUSTL.

References:

1. Feb. 27, 2006 — Smoking for its taste could be tied to gene in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

and 15 others.

A two-drug treatment may one day help restore healthy breathing in those with asthma and chronic bronchitis, according to a WUSTL study led by researcher Michael Holtzman. Holtzman and other researchers found that some cells lining the air passages of the lungs transform into another cell type in mice and humans with those disorders, leading to the overproduction of mucus in the airways.

References:

1. Feb. 2, 2006 — Study: Treatment May Aid Asthma Sufferers in the Los Angeles Times

and 61 others.

Cigarette maker Philip Morris has developed an inhaler that could deliver a nicotine mist deep into the lungs, giving smokers a satisfying dose of the addictive drug without the carcinogens, gases and toxic metals that make tobacco smoke so dangerous.
Cloaked in secrecy, the device was invented nearly a dozen years ago at a time the tobacco industry was vigorously denying that nicotine was addictive.
For reasons Philip Morris declines to discuss, the project appears to have stalled.
In a 2003 Tobacco Control article, WUSTL internal medicine professor Walton Sumner wrote on the benefits of an inhaler over tobacco control efforts.

References:

1. Oct. 30, 2005 — The Mystery of Philip Morris' Nicotine Inhaler in the Los Angeles Times

In the never-ending quest to help Americans stop smoking, experts are honing in on customized programs for groups of people with common problems or similar lifestyles. School of Medicine psychologist Edwin Fisher comments.

References:

1. Sept. 19, 2004 — Quitting smoking: Different solutions for different people in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

and 6 others.

The U.S. surgeon general released a report 40 years ago linking smoking and cancer, and yet a quarter of the adult population still smokes. "The people who could quit, quit. Now we're left with a group of really committed smokers," said Laura Bierut, associate professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine. Bierut is trying to track down the genetic factors that contribute to alcohol and nicotine addiction.

References:

1. Feb. 16, 2004 — Why some people just can't quit in the Seattle Times

and 10 others.