Health Highlights: Sept. 28, 2008

Sept. 29 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Light Cigarette Nicotine Brain Activation Almost as Strong as Regular Cigarettes, Study Says

Apparently, just about only thing "light" about cigarettes who are advertised that way is the wording in the ad itself.

According to a news release from the University of California at Los Angeles, the latest research indicates that so-called light cigarettes deliver nearly as much nicotine to the brain as regular cigarettes.

UCLA psychiatry professor Dr. Arthur L. Brody and his colleagues found that even the smallest amount of nicotine in a person's system will activate a significant percentage of the brain's nicotine receptors. It is the receptors in the brain that lead to nicotine addiction.

Brody and his colleagues looked at the effect on the brain of a type of cigarette called a de-nicotized cigarette, which contains only a fraction of nicotine (0.05 milligrams) in both light and regular cigarettes.

They found that even that low a nicotine level is enough to occupy a sizable percentage of receptors. "The two take-home messages are that very little nicotine is needed to occupy a substantial portion of brain nicotine receptors," Brody said in the news release, "and cigarettes with less nicotine than regular cigarettes, such as 'light' cigarettes, still occupy most brain nicotine receptors."

And even though de-nicotinized cigarettes activate about 66 percent fewer receptors in the brain than light cigarettes, it's still enough to "light up" almost 25 percent of them, Brody says. "Researchers, clinicians and smokers themselves should consider that fact when trying to quit," he concludes.

The UCLA study is in the current online edition of the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.

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Melamine Contamination From China Found in Some Snack Foods

China's melamine contamination problem may be spreading to the snack world.

In the wake of recalls late last week of a vanilla-flavored snack known as white Rabbit from stores in Britain, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia, the Associated Press reports that the product was also removed from store shelves in Hong Kong. Government officials say the snack contained more than five times the allowable amount of melamine, the wire service reports.