Making e-cigarettes less appealing to teens

By UHS News Team

Jan. 20, 2016

Categories: Cancer  /  Children's Health  /  Heart Health  /  News

Many kids think e-cigs are a healthy alternative to smoking cigarettes. That’s no surprise, said Dr. Ryan Van Ramshorst of University Health System’s Community Medicine Associates. Talking to KSAT’s Adrian Garcia about a CDC report on rising e-cigarette use among youth in the United States, Dr. Van Ramshorst predicted the numbers will get worse before they get better, but that legislation can help. “I think at least in the short term (youth e-cigarette use) is going to continue to increase,” Dr. Van Ramshorst said, “and a big factor contributing to this is the advertising that’s being put forth by the …Read More >

Tags: e-cigarettes, smoking, teens, vape

A resolution to kick the habit

By UHS News Team

Jan. 13, 2016

Categories: Cancer  /  Heart Health  /  News  /  Wellness

This is a time of year that Rafael Velasco, a health educator with University Health System, gets a flurry of inquiries from people who want to quit smoking. “It’s resolutions,” Velasco said. It’s not unusual for a number of those resolvers to drop off pretty quickly. “With human behavior, it’s very difficult to curb a lot of the things we do.” But tobacco cessation doesn’t have to mean cold turkey. In fact, that doesn’t work so well for many smokers, such as those who have smoked a pack or two a day for 10 or 20 years. Quitting completely and …Read More >

Tags: cigarettes, smoking, tobacco

Smoking and drug use tied to stillbirths

By UHS News Team

Categories: News  /  Pregnancy

For several years, a national study that includes San Antonio-area hospitals has been trying to get at one of the most difficult and devastating questions in pregnancy – what can be done to prevent stillbirths? The study’s latest findings point to one answer that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise: avoid tobacco and illicit drugs, including marijuana. The Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network looked at hundreds of live births and stillbirths in five regions across the country, including San Antonio, between 2006 and 2008. In most cases, they were able to perform tests for the presence of drugs and nicotine.  They …Read More >

Tags: children's health, drug use, obstetrics, pregnancy, research, smoking, stillbirth