Nicotine

As notorious pairings go, it's up there with Bonnie and Clyde. Cigarettes and alcohol "taste" good together, as almost any smoker will tell you. Easing into a drink, for many smokers, is inseparable from the act of lighting up. It's the reason a cocktail party can wither the resolve of someone who is trying to quit smoking.

Re "When Choice Becomes Tyranny," by Jonathan Turley, Commentary, March 21: Now into my early 80s, very proud of the trio I planned and birthed, I have long felt that the pro-choice position is fair. Women should have sovereignty over their own bodies. But pro-choice does involve more than a simple yes or no. Because pregnancy can be interrupted legally in the very early weeks, the decision made early is of consequence mainly to the mother. In my long life I have been aware of abortions but have never heard of anyone who regards the choice as easy.

Some people may truly be born to smoke. A new study has found that the brains of men and women with naturally hostile, aggressive personalities respond more to nicotine than their nonhostile contemporaries. This trait was identified by researchers at UC Irvine School of Medicine. Dr.

For many years, doctors have been trying to harness the memory-enhancing powers of nicotine without exposing people to the carcinogenic chemicals in cigarette smoke. A nicotine patch could be the answer. Several studies have shown that nicotine can improve attentiveness among patients with attention deficit disorders, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and mild to moderate Alzheimer's.

Smokers who want to quit can find plenty of help -- from behavioral counseling to nicotine patches and gum to the smoking-cessation pill Zyban -- but those aids don't work for everyone. Seventy percent of smokers say they would like to break the habit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But, in a study of Wisconsin smokers published earlier this year, 70% of smokers said they had tried to quit one to five times; most relapsed within a week.

Having given birth to four premature babies, Evelyn Rivera has experienced the problems that smoking during pregnancy can cause. Now pregnant with her fifth child, Rivera has finally quit. She credits a regimen of counseling and nicotine gum offered as part of a national study aimed at making it easier for pregnant women to quit, or at least reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke. "Smoking is one of the most modifiable causes of poor pregnancy outcomes in the United States," said Dr.

It's hard to believe it's been five years since smokers were kicked to the curb of bars and nightclubs in L.A. The city that gave birth to the "barfly" and glamorized cocktail lounge culture thick with smoke in Raymond Chandler-esque noir films has officially made the "smoky bar room" an oxymoron. This doesn't mean people have stopped smoking. Far from it. They just moved outside. At first, smokers flocked to smoke-easies that turned a blind eye to the ban with a wink and a nod.

"Giving up smoking is easy," claimed Mark Twain. "I've done it a thousand times." Fortunately, the average smoker is able to quit smoking after three or four attempts -- and many will begin their efforts in the new year. Although nicotine patches, hypnotism and acupuncture may increase a smoker's odds of successfully quitting the habit, what you eat -- and when -- can help ameliorate symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, including irritability, depression, insomnia and weight gain.

In describing the hazards of cigarettes, scientists have always assumed that it was nicotine that made them addictive and tar that caused cancer. New research shows that nicotine may cause lung cancer as well. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, National Cancer Institute researcher Phillip Dennis reports that lung cells stimulated with nicotine showed enhanced cell growth and survival, meaning the cells are less likely to die if they become cancerous or abnormal.