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• Q&A: Passive smoking

  Pressure is mounting for a total ban on smoking in public places. An update to a major review by the Government-appointed Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health (SCOTH) has highlighted the health risks associated with passive smoking.

• Smoking curbs: The global picture

  The BBC News Website traces the recent wave of smoking bans around the world as governments seek to improve the health of their populations.

• Timeline: Smoking and Disease

  BBC News Online traces key developments in the half a century since researchers began their landmark investigation into links between smoking and life-threatening diseases.

• Smoking & Diseases

  Smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease, says the World Health Organisation. According to their figures, it is responsible for approximately five million deaths worldwide every year. Tobacco smoking is a known or probable cause of approximately 25 diseases, and even the WHO says that its impact on world health is not fully assessed.

• Any form of tobacco 'is harmful'

  Public health experts are warning that more effort needs to be made to alert people in the developing world to the dangers of smoking tobacco.

• Smoking 'harms key lung enzyme'

  Smoking appears to reduce a key enzyme in the lungs which helps regulate blood pressure, research suggests. The researchers used sophisticated scans and a chemical tracer to show levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase were 50% lower in the lungs of smokers.

• Beans and soya beat lung cancer

  Mounting evidence suggests eating a diet rich in plant foods such as beans and soya cuts the risk of lung cancer. The latest study involving more than 3,000 US people found those who ate more of these foods were less likely to develop lung cancer.