Stressed? Then put out that cigarette
Source: Agencies |
June 18, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SMOKERS often say they need a cigarette to calm their nerves but a British study has found that stress levels may go down after a person kicks the habit.
A study of 469 smokers who tried to quit after suffering heart disease found that those who stayed away from cigarettes for a year reported a reduction in perceived stress levels.
Stress levels were essentially unchanged among patients who went back to smoking, researchers from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry said.
The study, reported in the journal Addiction, supported the theory that, for some people, smoking actually contributes to chronic stress.
"Smokers often see cigarettes as a tool to manage stress, and ex-smokers sometimes return to smoking in the belief this will help them cope with a stressful life event," researcher Peter Hajek said.
Yet studies have shown that non-smokers tend to report lower stress levels than smokers do.
The reason for that difference has been unclear, but it could mean that people vulnerable to stress are more likely to smoke.
On the other hand, smoking itself may generate long-term stress, even if people feel it offers them temporary relief from trying situations.
Hajek's study found that most of the 469 smokers - 85 percent - believed at the start of the study that smoking helped them deal with stress to some extent. Half said the habit "very much" helped them cope.
But one year later, the study participants were surveyed again, at which point 41 percent had not returned to smoking.
On average, Hajek and his colleagues found the abstainers showed a 20 percent reduction in their reported stress levels, while patients who had gone back to smoking showed little change.
A study of 469 smokers who tried to quit after suffering heart disease found that those who stayed away from cigarettes for a year reported a reduction in perceived stress levels.
Stress levels were essentially unchanged among patients who went back to smoking, researchers from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry said.
The study, reported in the journal Addiction, supported the theory that, for some people, smoking actually contributes to chronic stress.
"Smokers often see cigarettes as a tool to manage stress, and ex-smokers sometimes return to smoking in the belief this will help them cope with a stressful life event," researcher Peter Hajek said.
Yet studies have shown that non-smokers tend to report lower stress levels than smokers do.
The reason for that difference has been unclear, but it could mean that people vulnerable to stress are more likely to smoke.
On the other hand, smoking itself may generate long-term stress, even if people feel it offers them temporary relief from trying situations.
Hajek's study found that most of the 469 smokers - 85 percent - believed at the start of the study that smoking helped them deal with stress to some extent. Half said the habit "very much" helped them cope.
But one year later, the study participants were surveyed again, at which point 41 percent had not returned to smoking.
On average, Hajek and his colleagues found the abstainers showed a 20 percent reduction in their reported stress levels, while patients who had gone back to smoking showed little change.
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