FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Department of Preventive Medicine

Margaret Caufield – (901) 448-6732 mcaufiel@uthsc.edu or

Department of Communications and Marketing

Dena Owens – (901) 448-4072 dowens10@uthsc.edu

 

 

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Earns $4.4 Million Grant to Study

How to Avoid Weight Gain after Smoking Cessation

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Memphis, Tenn. (November 11, 2010) – The Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has received a $4.4 million grant to test a weight loss plan using interactive technology that will occur in conjunction with a smoking cessation program.  The intervention targets young adult smokers who want to quit, but avoid weight gain that often occurs afterward.  The study, Treating Adults at Risk for Weight Gain with Interactive Technology (TARGIT), is funded by the National Institutes of Health and will begin in December.  TARGIT organizers currently seek 330 study participants ages 18 to 35.

Smoking cessation offers numerous health benefits; however, an unwanted side effect is associated weight gain, which occurs in about 80 percent of those who quit.  Smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States today.  Statistics indicate that the habit increases rates for coronary artery disease, chronic lung disease and lung cancer.  Some individuals delay an attempt to quit smoking because they are concerned about weight gain, while others start to smoke, assuming the habit will help them avoid gaining weight.    

“Young adult smokers who try to quit smoking are as successful as other smokers in breaking the habit, yet are at high risk for weight gain when they quit smoking,” said Karen Johnson, MD, MPH, principal investigator of the TARGIT study and professor in the UTHSC Department of Preventive Medicine.  “We believe that an easily accessible behavioral weight loss program targeted to young adults will be successful in helping smokers lose weight or prevent weight gain when they quit smoking.” 

To be part of the study, the UTHSC Department of Preventive Medicine seeks men and women between the ages of 18 and 35 who are normal weight or above, smoke 10 or more cigarettes per day, and want to quit smoking.  Enrolled participants will receive free nicotine patches, access to a telephone tobacco-quit line, and interactive technology.  Interested persons should call (901) 448-STOP (448-7867) or visit www.targitstudy.org for more information about TARGIT.

As the flagship statewide academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service.  In 2011, UT Health Science Center celebrates its centennial: 100 years advancing the future of health care.  Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main UTHSC campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.  UTHSC has additional colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy plus an Allied Health Sciences unit in Knoxville, as well as a College of Medicine campus in Chattanooga.  Since its founding in 1911, UTHSC has educated and trained more than 53,000 health care professionals on campuses and in health care facilities across the state.  For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.

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