Hooked for life after one cig?

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Hooked for life after one cig?

 

 

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1854799.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery

The drive to smoke after trying just one cigarette can lie dormant for three years or more, according to new research.

A "sleeper effect" could mean that people still desire cigarettes long after they try their first one.

The study, published in Tobacco Control from the British Medical Journal, found teenagers who smoked a cigarette at the age of 11 were twice as likely to take up smoking within the next few years.

Researchers believe the desire to smoke could be reawakened by "triggers" such as periods of stress.

The study was based on surveys of more than 2,000 11 to 16-year-olds at 36 schools in south London over a five-year period.

Researchers also took measurements of salivary cotinine, an indicator of nicotine intake in the saliva.

Pupils who tried smoking once at the age of 11 were twice as likely to be regular smokers by the age of 14.

The study showed that held true even after a gap of three years or more.

Researchers took into account other factors that influenced smoking, such as whether a parent smoked, upbringing and social deprivation.

They said it was possible that nicotine from just one cigarette could change the "reward pathway" in the brain - whereby chemicals are released which make you think you enjoy something.

That pathway might then be triggered by factors such as stress and depression, or the school environment.

Another theory is that trying a cigarette might simply break down the social barriers that prevent teens from smoking, such as fear of upsetting adults or worries about how to smoke or how they look.

Lead researcher, Jennifer Fidler, who is based at the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Unit at University College London, said: "For the first time we've shown that there may be a period of dormancy between trying cigarettes and becoming a regular smoker - a "sleeper effect" or vulnerability to nicotine addiction.

"The results also indicate that prior experimentation is a strong predictor of taking up smoking later."