Science Media Centre

New research published today in the New Zealand Medical Journal has highlighted the link between unhealthy behaviours like drinking and smoking. NZ Newswire’s David Williams covered the story. An excerpt (read in full here): Hit booze in smoking battle: experts The government should consider alcohol law changes as part of the battle against smoking after [...]

British public health experts have made a call for films depicting smoking to be classified as R18, but a New Zealand academic thinks such an action may not be the solution. In an editorial in the medical journal Thorax, public health researchers suggest that placing age restrictions on films depicting smoking may be a way [...]

A new study has found that a smoking cessation drug prescribed in New Zealand is associated with an increased risk of heart attack. The research, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, examined data from several randomised controlled trials and found that the use of varenicline (branded Champix in New Zealand) was associated with a [...]

A review article published in the Lancet this week put forward health priorities aimed at tackling some of the worlds biggest killers – heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory disease. A team of nearly 100 international health experts, led by New Zealander Professor Robert Beaglehole, called on heads of state and governments to [...]

A review article published in the Lancet today puts forward health priorities aimed at tackling some of the worlds biggest killers – heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory disease. A team of nearly 100 international health experts, led by New Zealander Professor Robert Beaglehole, are calling on heads of state and governments to [...]

A scientist who helped develop a cheek swab genetic test for lung cancer risk is calling for it to be subsidised for smokers. In a submission to the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill, Auckland University Associate Professor of Medicine and Molecular Genetics Robert Young weighed in with support for the $150 test to be [...]

Martin Johnston writes in the New Zealand Herald about research from Victoria University suggesting that roll-your-own cigarettes (rollies) might be more expensive than their ‘tailored’ counterparts. This could be due to rollies having a higher tar/nicotine ratio, with tar also containing a number of addictive elements. An excerpt: (read in full here) “Dr Lewis said [...]

Research published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, suggests children of  mothers who smoke heavily during pregnancy are more likely to become career criminals. Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health in the USsurveyed 3,700 mothers between 1959 and 1966 on their smoking habits during pregnancy. In 2000, criminal record checks [...]

Samantha Hayes reports that a University of Otago study has found that despite an international ban on tobacco advertising, YouTube has a great deal of tobacco-related advertising and pro-tobacco video clips. Researchers looked at five different brands, including Malboro, and tobacco-related video clips tended to involve celebrities, movies and sports. An excerpt: (read in full [...]

Rebecca Todd writes in The Press about recent research from the University of Otago showing that smoking doubled a person’s risk of developing depression. The research, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, made it clear that it wasn’t the case that depressed people were more likely to be smokers, but that there was a [...]