health 70

Researchers at Kings College London and the Charles University in Prague who studied people attending a stop smoking clinic in the Czech Republic, found that successful quitters had a considerable improvement in their depression . And two-thirds (66.3 per cent) of those who had moderate or severe depression when smoking described no or minimal symptoms during a one-year follow up. The researchers also found that all those who received the specialist behavioural support and medication provided by the clinic, were more likely to remain smoke free for a year if they went back for repeat visits. But they noted that people with depression were still less likely to quit successfully than those without. This highlights that different groups can benefit to different extents from the same support, and suggests that people with mental health problems need extra help. Smoking rates among people with mental health conditions are more than double those of the general population (approxim...

The study, published this month in the  Journal of Pain and Symptom Management , is among the first to examine the effect of anxiety and depression on survival rates for lung cancer patients. The findings build on similar previous research looking at breast cancer patients, further deepening scientists' understanding of the effect of psychosocial  factors on survival rates for patients diagnosed with cancer. "The question of whether anxiety and depression affect survival in cancer patients has been of interest to scientists for decades, but long-term research has been limited," said Andrea Vodermaier, the study's lead author and postdoctoral research fellow in the UBC department of psychology. "Our study confirms that there is indeed a link for lung cancer patients, and that it's important for health-care providers to treat not only their tumour but also focus on the full emotional experience of the patient." For the study, researchers followed 684...