Why giving up is hard to doDecember 16, 1999It's not just the giving up that's hard. Smokers who abstain from nicotine don't get the full benefit of other rewards either. The usual incentives such as money are less rewarding to smokers when they cut out the nicotine, making it even harder for them to find ways to keep motivated to stop smoking. These research findings were presented today, Tuesday 21 December at The British Psychological Society's London Conference, held at the Institute of Education. Psychologists Lynne Dawkins and Jane Powell from Goldsmith's College, University of London tested 61 smokers and non smokers. They used several trials of a card sorting task. Previous research had shown that being offered a financial incentive for fast sorting resulted in a significant increase in the rate of sorting for healthy non-smokers and for smokers who had recently smoked. Smokers who had abstained for several hours did not show the same increase. In the latest experiments, the smokers were tested after abstaining from smoking for ten hours. They were then tested again either after smoking or wearing a nicotine patch. The non smokers were tested at the same time intervals. The abstaining smokers again showed smaller responses to the incentive, and after nicotine their scores returned to the level shown by the non smokers. Female smokers in particular responded well to both patches and cigarettes. These results suggest that for women at least, nicotine patches may have a useful role in helping people cope during the period of withdrawal from cigarettes. British Psychological Society (BPS) |
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| Related Smoking Current Events and Smoking News Articles Women Can Quit Smoking and Control Weight Gain Many women don't quit smoking because they are afraid of gaining weight. That's because nicotine suppresses the appetite and boosts a smoker's metabolism. Cigarettes Harbor Many Bacteria Harmful to Human Health Cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, concludes a new international study conducted by a University of Maryland environmental health researcher and microbial ecologists at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France. Study raises concerns about outdoor second-hand smoke Indoor smoking bans have forced smokers at bars and restaurants onto outdoor patios, but a new University of Georgia study in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that these outdoor smoking areas might be creating a new health hazard. Early end to key study on benefits of niacin, a B vitamin, in keeping arteries open was premature Heart experts at Johns Hopkins are calling premature the early halt of a study by researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center on the benefits of combining extended-release niacin, a B vitamin, with cholesterol-lowering statin medications to prevent blood vessel narrowing. Athletes on performance enhancers more likely to abuse alcohol, other drugs College athletes who use performance-enhancing substances may be at heightened risk of misusing alcohol and using recreational drugs as well, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 90 percent of Africans are not protected by smoke-free laws As African nations are poised to undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries, nearly 90 percent of people on the continent remain without meaningful protection from secondhand smoke, according to a new report released at a regional cancer conference today. Workplace BPA exposure increases risk of male sexual dysfunction High levels of workplace exposure to Bisphenol-A may increase the risk of reduced sexual function in men, according to a Kaiser Permanente study appearing in the journal Human Reproduction, published by Oxford Journals. Exposure to several common infections over time may be associated with risk of stroke Cumulative exposure to five common infection-causing pathogens may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the January 2010 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Carnegie Mellon researchers link health-care debate to risk of dying in US and Europe The current health care debate in the United States is complicated. Trade-offs between heath care expenditures, lifestyle choices and life expectancy have been suggested but seldom clearly demonstrated. Developmental delay could stem from nicotinic receptor deletion The loss of a gene through deletion of genetic material on chromosome 15 is associated with significant abnormalities in learning and behavior, said a consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in a report that appears online today in the journal Nature Genetics. More Smoking Current Events and Smoking News Articles |
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