A rising number of prescriptions for drugs to treat obesity and to help people stop smoking are being handed out in Scotland. Figures yesterday estimated that more than 10,500 people in Scotland are on daily drug treatment for obesity. The statistics also revealed a 31 per cent increase in prescriptions for smokers trying to kick the habit in the past year. Experts have warned that smoking and obesity remain two of the greatest challenges facing public health in Scotland. Yesterday’s figures showed that 394,420 therapies to help smoking cessation were prescribed in Scotland during 2009 ... Jump to full article >>

It’s true that the nicotine in tobacco products reduces your appetite and perks you up when you feel your energy level drop because of hunger. But those effects don’t last long, and before you know it, you’re hungry again. Using smoking to maintain a lower body weight has other drawbacks. Smoking does nothing for your muscle tone. You might weigh less, but you won’t have the toned muscles or the increased energy that comes with maintaining a lower weight through exercise and eating right. If you are smoking because you are afraid of the weight you may put on when you qu ... Jump to full article >>

For those cigarette-lovers who are willing to decrease the risks related to their habit, the best advice is to give up smoking. But for those smokers, who tend to continue lighting, it is important to know whether consuming less cigarettes or preferring lower tar smokers can reduce the health risks. Lower tar cigs In the past, many public health authorities considered that lowering the amount of tar in cigarettes would be the most effective solution to product change with an objective of lowering the health risks. Now, many scientists agree in opinion that cigarettes with lower amounts of tar ... Jump to full article >>

Her Twilight books are already a global phenomenon to rival Harry Potter. Now booksellers are bracing themselves for a new wave of hysteria after publishers revealed author Stephanie Meyer is releasing her first new work for two years. Thousands are expected to queue overnight to be the first to get their hands on her novella The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner. It will be released in June and is expected to be the biggest selling novel of the year. The book will follow the life of Bree, a vampire character that features in the third Twilight title, Eclipse. She forms part of the vampire army ... Jump to full article >>

A rare letter that gives an insight into the cosseted life first class passengers enjoyed on board the Titanic is expected to fetch up to £25,000 at auction. The letter, from perfumer Adolphe Saafeld to his “wifey”, as he calls her, describes fine lunches, long dinners, satisfying cigars and strolls around the ill-fated liner. The letter, dated 10 April 1912, the first day of the voyage, reads: “Dear Wifey, Thanks for your wire … The weather is calm and fine, the sky overcast. “So far the boat does not move and goes very steadily. It is not nice to travel alone a ... Jump to full article >>

Rights abuses and corruption exacerbate poverty in Afghanistan, where 36 percent of the population lives in “absolute poverty,” says a U.N. report. The report released in Geneva by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said 9 million Afghans or 36 percent of the population “are believed to live in absolute poverty and a further 37 percent live only slightly above the poverty line” despite about $35 billion of outside aid sent to the country between 2002 and 2009. “Poverty actually kills more Afghans than those who die as a direct result of the armed conflict ... Jump to full article >>

The H1N1 swine flu virus is still circulating in the United States, and health officials have noted a troubling uptick in the number of cases in several southeastern states, particularly Georgia, in recent weeks, U.S. health experts said Monday. “We are continuing to see people with serious illness from H1N1 pandemic virus, especially in some of the southeastern states,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during an afternoon press conference. “Although disease rates are much lower on average around the country than last fal ... Jump to full article >>

For the cigarette industry, the menthol debate is about to flare up again. The new federal advisory board for tobacco regulation plans to meet for the first time Tuesday in Washington. Topping the agenda is one of the most contentious, and racially charged, health issues that Congress deferred last year when it empowered the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco for the first time. The question: what to do about menthol flavorings in cigarettes, which account for almost a third of the nation’s $70 billion cigarette market? Opponents of smoking, seven former secretaries of health a ... Jump to full article >>

The richest men across the globe, recognized for their charity efforts and fortunes larger than the gross domestic product of the majority of poorer nations decided to unite their forces to struggle against the growing smoking rates in Africa and Asia. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, on the second position in the 2009 Forbes Billionaire list and Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City and a well-known anti-smoking campaigner, are rendering more than $500 million to decrease smoking rates in China, Indonesia and India, and try to eliminate the “the smoking epidemic” in Africa. B ... Jump to full article >>

College basketball’s marquee rivalry apparently ends on Tobacco Road. North Carolina coach Roy Williams is picking Duke to win the national championship next week in Indianapolis, which might be considered treason by the most ardent of Tar Heel fans. The top-seeded Blue Devils play West Virginia on Saturday, with the winner meeting the Michigan State-Butler winner in the final. “I think Duke is the favorite. They’ve proven that, they’re the No. 1 seed, they deserved the No. 1 seed,” Williams said Monday, calling West Virginia his second choice. “Duke is the ... Jump to full article >>

A family is crowding round the new-born baby; mother is smiling but exhausted. Someone says: ‘He’s got his mum’s eyes.’ another chips in: ‘Look at those legs – he’s going to be a rugby player like his dad.’ As the baby grows, signs of intelligence will be linked to a clever parent or relative; musical or sporting ability likewise. How talented we are, how likely we are to develop diseases such as diabetes or alzheimer’s, even whether we have a sunny or a gloomy nature, are all heavily influenced by our genes. Or are they? Among the most rad ... Jump to full article >>