Free Republic

~snip~I'm not weaning myself off heroin. If you'd asked me six months ago, I'd have guessed that would be an easier job. The one thing I would never be able to do (I knew, in the depths of my soul) was stop smoking. And yet, today, it's a month since my last cigarette. Before that, I hadn't gone a day without smoking since I was 14.~snip~ I never wanted to give up. People would point out the health risks (as though they might not have occurred to me, despite most of my family dying from cancer), without understanding that the...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Some 5,000 patients suddenly found themselves without an ob/gyn last November when Dr. Tara Wah closed her practice in Tallahassee, Fla. Wah, 55, informed her patients in a letter that she could "no longer afford to make ends meet." After 24 years, "I'm working longer hours than ever," she wrote. "Insurance payments for patient care have stayed virtually the same for the last 15 years, while the cost of doing business, including health insurance, staff salaries and supplies have risen." The rising cost of malpractice insurance, particularly for her specialty, was the straw that broke the...

With a little help from their spouses, even the most stubborn of smokers can quit, study findings show. Researchers found that middle-aged smokers married to other smokers--generally among the most unwilling to kick the habit--are more likely to quit when both spouses make the attempt together. Past research has highlighted the importance of a supportive spouse during a smoker's quit attempt. The new study shows that for both men and women, having a smoking spouse join them in the attempt may boost the odds of its success--regardless of other factors that affect smokers' ability to kick the habit, such as...