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Recent News
Jan
11
Written by:
HealthCPR
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 9:08 PM
Several new databases and methods have made it much easier to keep yourself up-to-date on scientific evidence for the many claims one hears. Below I review my favorites (I apologize to our Canadian readers as this will be US-centric).
First, the “bible” for me continues to be the USPHS “Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence” which can be found at www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco along with brief clinician guides, patient guides, etc. One caveat is that it is based on meta-analyses conducted in 2007 so is somewhat out of date. Another guideline for smokers with psychiatric or alcohol/drug problems is the American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for Substance Abuse (www.psychiatryonline.com) that has a good section on treatment in this group of smokers.
A more up-to-date source is the Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.org) which is a set of meta-analyses for all medical disorders. It contains 176 meta-analyses concerning smoking. For searching I suggest using the following generic keywords or stems (tobacco, smok*, nicotin*, cigar*). The reviews include a “plain language summary” that is often helpful. Every year I search for “new” or “updated” reviews.
For websites, I prefer the www.treatobacco.net website because it’s run by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco and has both clinical summaries (not just conclusions based on meta-analyses) and recent updates about smoking cessation. Another website that focuses on new findings is www.actiontoquit.org supported by a nonprofit organization that puts out informative monthly newsletters you can sign up for. Also, I like the ACCP website (www.tobaccodependence.chestnet.org) as a good overview.
The treatment manuals I like best are Abrams et al The Tobacco Dependence Treatment Handbook and McEwen et al Manual of Smoking Cessation. Both are excellent with lots of practical, hands-on tips. Unfortunately, they are expensive (> $40 USD).
If you are more ambitious, I suggest you go to PubMed (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed), the database for the US National Library of Medicine. I suggest you go to the “advanced search” and enter the keywords “nicotin* OR tobacco OR cigar* OR smok*”, limit your search to titles of articles, and to review articles, guidelines, or meta-analyses. Then save that search and the computer will forward you to the MyNCBI website (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/) and from there you can instruct the website to send you such articles that appeared in the last 30 days once per month. If you limit it to reviews/meta-analyses, you will receive only 1-5 articles/month. And don’t worry, some months you will receive none. Or of course, you could set to once every 3 or 6 months instead. Be sure and check out the “related articles” list as that often gives a better paper than the one you found.
Finally, the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence (www.attud.org – a disclaimer – I am president of ATTUD) has an active listserve in which you can pose questions to fellow tobacco treatment specialists and research experts, but you will have to join ATTUD to access this ($75/yr USD)
News Summary
Social Support is Probably Important But Can we Change It? By Dr. John Hughes Posted on: Friday, November 18, 2011Inclusion: The First Step to a Better System – by Ashley Fraser Posted on: Wednesday, October 12, 2011What To Say to Our Patients About Smokeless Tobacco and E-Cigs for Cessation Posted on: Wednesday, May 04, 2011Recycling Relapsers Posted on: Sunday, March 27, 2011What’s happening in Alberta’s Tobacco Portfolio? Posted on: Sunday, February 20, 2011HealthCPR featured on Alberta Primetime Posted on: Monday, February 14, 2011Mental Health at a Crossroads: Posted on: Monday, February 07, 2011HealthCPR featured on GlobalTV Morning News Edmonton Posted on: Thursday, February 03, 2011How to Keep Up with the Scientific Literature on Smoking Cessation by John R. Hughes Posted on: Tuesday, January 11, 2011New Legislated Cigarette Packaging - A Step in the Right Direction – by Jane Reid Posted on: Friday, January 07, 2011“I am sorry to have to tell you, that your child has Autism” by Cathy Spence (Group Psychotherapist and Registered Psychiatric Nurse, Speakers Bureau: Health Consumers Society) Posted on: Wednesday, December 29, 2010“Exergames” - A Remedy for Childhood Obesity? by David Reid and Dr. Charl Els Posted on: Monday, December 13, 2010Should We Purposely Ask Smokers to Put Themselves in Risky Situations? by John Hughes Posted on: Thursday, December 02, 2010When Health Professionals Smoke…..by Diane Kunyk Posted on: Monday, November 22, 2010How dangerous is alcohol compared to other drugs? By Charl Els Posted on: Monday, November 15, 2010Tackling Bullying – is it a mental health issue? by Cathy Spence Posted on: Monday, November 08, 2010Should We Abandon Use of Single Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Smoking Cessation? by John Hughes Posted on: Sunday, October 17, 2010Integrating Safe and Effective Treatment for Tobacco Use & Dependence into care for persons with SMI Posted on: Thursday, October 14, 2010Edmonton Mayoral Candidates Respond Posted on: Monday, October 11, 2010World for Mental Health Day Fights for Equality with Physical Illness Posted on: Friday, October 08, 2010Edmonton Mayoralty Candidates asked to Respond Posted on: Friday, October 08, 2010Treating Tobacco Addiction: Who is responsible? Posted on: Wednesday, October 06, 2010Should Marijuana be used to Treat Patients? Posted on: Friday, October 01, 2010Meeting WHO Director, Dr. Douglas W. Bettcher Posted on: Friday, October 01, 2010TRaC II (Clinical): Tobacco Reduction & Cessation for Primary Care Clinics Posted on: Friday, October 01, 2010
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News
Issue No. 1 - Summer 2011
Mental Health in Alberta Survey
Has mental illness or addiction affected your life or that of a loved one?
Share your experience, anonymously, with us at HealthCPR.
What single change in Alberta would be of greatest help?
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