FOR QUITTERS

Adapting to your audience

The inability to speak English is no longer a barrier for many recent Asian immigrants who want help quitting smoking. New free, confidential Asian Smokers' Quitlines are intended for people more comfortable speaking Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Vietnamese. The program recognizes that smoking rates are relatively high among those immigrant groups, and that a counselor familiar with the smoker's language and culture is more likely to help that person kick the deadly habit.

THINK-OFF

Only great thinkers need apply

Talk about a provocative question in this rough economic climate. The 2010 Great American Think-Off asks: “;Do the wealthy have an obligation to help the poor?”;

A nonprofit cultural center in Minnesota organizes the annual amateur philosophy contest. Anyone can enter an essay of 750 words or fewer by April 1; see details at http://www.think-off.org. In June, four finalists will debate the question live, with the winner deemed “;America's Greatest Thinker for 2010.”;

PASS THE PLACEBO

Should we be down about this?

Executives at pharmaceutical companies might have been depressed this week to hear that some of the widely prescribed anti-depressant drugs that they make and sell are no more effective for most patients than placebo pills.

That was the conclusion of a new analysis of the drugs appearing in The Journal of the American Medical Association, which reviewed data from previous trials on two types of drugs—Paxil and imipramine—and found that their effectiveness varied with the severity of the patient's depression. In other words, the less depressed you are, the less likely the drugs will help. This finding gives a boost to conversation therapy, which some psychiatrists see as a good thing.