Quit-smoking drug linked to suicides

Many smokers who take pills to quit the habit have developed suicidal tendency and at least 15 have committed suicide while on medication since 2008, Australian drug-control authority has said.

Hundreds of people have considered killing themselves while taking the popular quit-smoking pill Champix and 15 have in fact committed suicide, the statistics show.

In an update sent to doctors, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said 206 "suicide-related events" and 15 suicides had been linked to the drug, which has been prescribed more than a million times since becoming available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme two and a half years ago, The Age reported.

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Diabetes could harm lungs just like smoking .

People with diabetes may have impaired lung function, which is similar to the impairment found in smokers, according to a recent study.


Researchers from The Netherlands conducted a literature review of 40 studies describing the pulmonary function data of 3,182 patients with diabetes and 27,080 control subjects.

The meta-analysis showed that, in the absence of overt pulmonary disease, diabetes was associated with a modest but statistically significant impairment in lung function in a restrictive pattern.

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