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This shows that physical activity can be a successful smoking-cessation aid and that a community-based program might offer that. Because doing it on your own is very difficult," said Carly Priebe, postdoctoral fellow in UBC's school of kinesiology and lead author of the study. One hundred and sixty-eight smokers from across Canada registered for the 2016 Run to Quit program at Running Room stores, and 72 of them stuck it out until the final week, when 37 participants had their claims of quitting verified by carbon-monoxide testing. The number of successful quitters held up during follow-up interviews six months later. The group that finished the program also included 91 per cent who reported reducing their smoking. The weekly sessions included classroom time divided between running instruction and strategies for quitting smoking, plus an outdoor walking/running component that progressed toward a five-kilometre run. Participants had access throughout the program to one-o...

For many students, college involves a lot of socializing at parties and at bars, and alcohol is a common factor in these social environments. Excessive alcohol use, in the form of binge drinking, is extremely common among college students, and one study has estimated that as many as one third of young North Americans and Europeans binge drink. So, what defines binge drinking? The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism describes a binge as drinking five or more drinks for men and four or more for women within a two-hour period, and for many college students, these limits wouldn't equate to a particularly heavy night. Previous research has linked binge drinking to a variety of negative consequences including neurocognitive deficits, poor academic performance, and risky sexual behavior. While numerous studies have shown that the brains of chronic alcoholics have altered brain activity, there is also evidence that bingeing can change adolescents' brains. Eduar...