Egyptian scientists for the umpteenth time refuted the widespread belief that smoking hookah is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Let me remind you that tobacco smoke in the hookah was formerly believed to be less harmful than the one coming from cigarettes. It was argued that the smoke in hookah undergoes water filtration and cools down before reaching the smoker’s lungs. Full story

I hardly need to mention that the face skin of smokers is rather like parchment than a fragrant rose. Homemade nourishing facial masks are what helps smokers make their skin dried with nicotine look much better. Facial masks are necessary for smokers, because nicotine damages the elastic layer of the skin and reduces skin collagen level. It results in losing essential vitamins as well as in impaired metabolism in the skin and oxygen deficiency. Full story

American scientists discovered that living in a megalopolis is far more harmful than smoking. The negative health impact of urban air is equal to smoking of 300 cigarettes per day. Experts at the Louisiana State University found free radicals in polluted air. These radicals are harmful to the lungs and can cause cancer of different organs in healthy people without their having other disease risk factors. Full story

Many women would try to quit smoking except that they are afraid of putting on unwanted weight. To what extent are these fears true and how can they keep the weight off? The main reason for gaining the weight back lies in the improvement of gastric mucosa and the secretory function of the stomach impaired by the gastritis that develops in smokers gradually. That's why those who quit smoking experience increased appetite and eventually higher metabolism. That explains why you tend to gain your pounds back after discarding bad habit. Full story

Quitting smoking is contagious, as in spreading fast across population. Scientists from Harvard School and California University in San-Diego came to this conclusion after holding an experiment with 12000 participants. As is turns out, quitting smoking becomes a trend and spreads fast across the society. This tendency, in fact, is really good for people’s health. Full story

Whether a woman manages to give up smoking depends on her menstrual cycle, claim experts at University of Minnesota. The study conducted by the scientists involved 200 women trying to quit smoking. Half of the volunteers was in the “follicular” part of the cycle (just after menstruation ended and before ovulation), and the other half – in the “luteal” part (after ovulation and before the next menstruation started). Full story