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• Highlights
• Introduction
• Nicotine Addiction
• Health Risks
• Quitting Smoking
• Symptoms of Withdrawal
• Failure to Quit
• Lifestyle Changes
• Resources
• References

Smoking

Description

An in-depth report on the health risks of smoking and how to quit.

Highlights

Nicotine

• The amount of nicotine in cigarettes has steadily increased over the last 6 years, according to a report by the Massachusetts Department of Health. Nicotine is the chemical in cigarettes that makes them addictive. Higher levels can make it harder to quit smoking.
• The first signs of nicotine withdrawal appear within 30 minutes of a smoker’s last cigarette, according to a study published in Psychopharmacology .

Drug News

• A study in Chest found that under-the-tongue nicotine tablets helped a significant number of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) stop smoking within 6 months.
• The drug varenicline (Chantrix) significantly reduces cigarette cravings and may work better than bupropion (Zyban), another anti-smoking drug. A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that almost 50% of those who took varenicline were able to quit.

Smoking & Health

• Smokers with asthma who give up smoking considerably improve their lung function in less than 2 months, according to a study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine .
• Smoking nearly doubles the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in postmenopausal women who do not have the most established genetic risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis (HLA-DRB1 SE). The findings were published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases .
• All forms of tobacco raise your risk of a heart attack, according to research published in the Lancet . However, the study also found that the risk of a heart attack among those who stopped smoking slowly decreased over time.
• A study in the British Medical Journal supports earlier research that smokers are at higher risk of developing glucose intolerance.
• A study in Health Services Research found that the average weight gain among former smokers is about 21 pounds, not the 5 -15 pounds that most people think. Fear of weight gain should not keep a person from quitting smoking.

• Review Date: 9/18/2006
• Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital

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