Tobacco use is far and away the leading cause of lung cancer, but non-smokers are also at risk, experts say.

People who smoke have the highest risk, and smokeless tobacco is also a threat. About 90% of lung cancer cases could be prevented by eliminating tobacco use, according to the World Health Organization...

If you vape and catch COVID-19, you may feel a whole lot worse than people who come down with the virus but don't use electronic cigarettes, researchers say.

When compared to folks with COVID-19 who didn't use e-cigarettes, those who did were more likely to report chest pain, c...

Quitting smoking is a daunting challenge for anyone, but a new international study suggests that women may struggle more than men to kick the habit.

Women were less likely than men to be successful on their first day of trying to quit, a critical predictor of long-term success, researchers found, although the team also discovered that larger warning labels on cigarette packs might change ...

Think you're safe from lung cancer because you've never smoked? Think again.

While cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, it's possible to get the disease without ever lighting up.

"Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer," said Dr. Missak Haigentz Jr., chief of Thoracic and Head and Neck Medical Oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick.

...

Examining a woman's health in midlife can predict her health decades later, researchers say.

Four specific factors -- higher body mass index (BMI), smoking, arthritis and depressive symptoms -- at age 55 are associated with clinically important declines in physical health 10 years later, a new study reports.

"Age 55 to 65 may be a critical decade," said study co-author Dr. Daniel So...

For smokers, new research suggests it really is never too late to quit.

The study found that folks who kick their habit after a lung cancer diagnosis will likely live longer than those who continue lighting up.

Investigators from Italy concluded that lung cancer patients who stop smoking at or around the time of their diagnosis can look forward to survival times nearly a third (29%...

If giving up tobacco is one of your New Year's resolutions, know that it won't be easy but don't give up. Fifty million ex-smokers in the United States are proof that it can be done.

"More than 70% of smokers want to quit smoking and 40% will make an attempt this year, but only between 4% and 7% can quit without support," Jennifer Folkenroth, national senior director of tobacco programs w...

Nearly all countries agree: Smoking is bad, and getting people to kick the habit is a worthy public health goal.

But no country has ever attempted what New Zealand is about to try: an outright ban on all cigarette sales.

The plan is to let those who already smoke retain the right to keep buying cigarettes if they wish, but as of 2023, anyone under 15 would be prohibited for life fro...

Some smokers who take up vaping may give up tobacco cigarettes altogether -- without ever intending to, a new study suggests.

The researchers see this as a hopeful sign that daily use of e-cigarettes

Quitting smoking is especially important during pregnancy, and now a new study suggests that when it comes to kicking the habit, cash may be just the incentive some women need.

The study results suggest progressive financial rewards for smoking abstinence "could be implemented in the routine health care of pregnant smokers," the French researchers said. Dr. Ivan Berlin of Hôpital PitiÃ...

For those who think vaping is safer than smoking, think again.

A new study warns that vaping triggers the same gene regulation changes that smoking does, so it may raise the risk of cancer and other serious diseases.

"Our study, for the first time, investigates the biological effects of vaping in adult e-cigarette users, while simultaneously accounting for their past smoking exposur...

The evidence against vaping is mounting, and a new study now links e-cigarettes with an increased risk for broken bones.

Over time, vaping appears to increase the risk for fracture of the hip, spine and wrist by 46%, according to the findings. Researchers said these fractures happen from falls while standing and even from lower heights such as sitting.

"My research has painted anot...

About 4 in 10 stroke survivors who were smokers still puff away after their stroke, which puts them at increased risk for another stroke or heart disease, a new study shows.

"If you told a stroke neurologist that 40% of their patients don't have their blood pressure controlled or weren't taking their aspirin or their cholesterol-lowering medication, I think they would be very disappointed...

A fatal heart attack or stroke is often the first indication of heart disease in middle-aged smokers, according to a new study.

It also found that heart disease is the leading complication among smokers when compared with deaths from other causes -- including lung cancer. In addition, smoking is associated with developing heart disease at a younger age and shortening a person's life by as...

If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to know whether it should follow through on its proposed menthol cigarette ban, it need only look to Canada for an answer.

A new study finds that Canada's ban on menthol cigarettes seemed to drive more smokers to quit, with overall cigarette sales dipping after the law took hold.

Researchers found that after menthol ban went into effect...

Young, Black Americans are experiencing significant spikes in obesity, type 2 diabetes and smoking, all risk factors for heart attack and stroke.

Between 2007 and 2017 -- before the COVID-19 pandemic and the concerns it has created -- hospitalized Black Americans aged 18 to 44 had sharp increases in these risks. They were also having higher rates of health complications and poor hospital ...

Adults who vape could suffer a stroke at least a decade younger than those who smoke tobacco, a new study has found.

E-cigarette users have a 15% higher risk of stroke at a younger age than traditional tobacco smokers, according to preliminary findings.

"The median age to have a stroke was 48 years of age for e-cigarette users compared to 59 years of age for traditional tobacco smok...

Smokers who kick the habit before age 45 can nearly eliminate their excess risk of dying from lung or other cancers, a new study estimates.

It's well-established that after smokers quit, their risk of tobacco-related cancers drops substantially over time.

Researchers said the new findings underscore the power of quitting as early as possible. Among more than 400,000 Americans they f...

Smokers may think electronic cigarettes will help them quit, but a new study finds no evidence that's the case.

Researchers found that among Americans who'd recently quit smoking, those who were using e-cigarettes were just as likely to relapse in the next year as non-users were.

And the risk of relapse was actually slightly increased among former smokers who were using any type of ...

As COVID-19 has surged throughout the United States for the past year and a half, some may have picked up an old bad habit or started a new one.

How do researchers know this? They discovered that cigarette sales jumped during the first 15 months of the pandemic, exceeding their own estimates by 14%.

It's not entirely clear whether that's because current smokers are smoking more, for...

For those who smoke or drink, it's only a small step to marijuana, researchers report.

"Legal consumption of alcohol and tobacco may directly increase the level of illicit drug use. However, the relationships are complex," said researcher Dr. Zoe Reed. She is a senior research associate in the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

The...

More U.S. teens use e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes and marijuana together, posing greater risks to their health and behavior than if they used only one substance, a new study finds.

Called "triple users," this group score high on a profile of psychosocial risk, which includes fighting, risky sexual behavior and behaviors such as not wearing seat belts, according to lead researcher T...

A specimen cup full of bloody urine.

Decaying feet that sport blackened, rotting toes -- some already amputated.

A pale boy with dark circles under his eyes, drawing breath through an oxygen mask.

Around 179,000 deaths in the United States might have been prevented over the past decade if smokers had been forced to confront such images every time they reached for a pack of cig...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced that it had rejected the applications of nearly a million electronic cigarettes and related products.

But it also delayed a decision on the fate of the leading vape product brand, Juul, drawing an outcry from anti-vaping groups.

Juul products will remain on the market for now, more than 10 years after e-cigarettes first be...

Women smokers puff fewer cigarettes than men but have more trouble quitting, French researchers report.

"Our findings highlight the need to provide smoking cessation interventions tailored to the needs of women," said Ingrid Allagbe, a doctoral student at the University of Burgundy, who led the research.

The study included nearly 38,000 smokers (about 43% women) aged 18 and older in...

The arteries of young people who drink stiffen sooner in their lives, which could increase their risk for heart disease and stroke later on, a British study reports.

People's arteries naturally become less elastic with age, but certain factors -- including alcohol and tobacco use -- can speed up the process. This study included more than 1,600 people in the United Kingdom. Their alcohol u...

While breathing in secondhand smoke is known to harm kids' lungs, new research suggests that children whose parents smoked are also more prone to developing rheumatoid arthritis later in life.

"Our findings give more depth and gravity to the negative health consequences of smoking in relation to [rheumatoid arthritis], one of the most common autoimmune diseases," said lead author Dr. Kazu...

Young, healthy adults who try vaping for the first time may experience an immediate reaction that can harm cells and lay the groundwork for disease, according to a new study.

Just 30 minutes of vaping can increase oxidative stress, which occurs when there is an imbalance between free radicals (molecules that damage cells) and antioxidants that fight them, researchers said.

"Just lik...

Gangrene. Throat cancer. A newborn on a feeding tube.

Gruesome warning images like those on cigarette packs do indeed scare smokers, but they should be combined with other anti-smoking measures, a new study finds.

These kinds of graphic warning labels were approved by U.S. lawmakers in 2009, but implementation has been stalled until legal challenges to the law by the tobacco industr...