Childhood ADHD may be risk factor for smo
My DX brother chain smokes, he self medicates with cigarettes. i'm the same.. always have something in my mouth... now i'm in my 30s and still do it..
Childhood ADHD may be risk factor for smoking
By LEE BOWMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
October 03, 2005
- The more symptoms of attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder a young person reports during childhood, the greater his or her risk of becoming a regular smoker, researchers at Duke University Medical Center found.
"It may be something about the symptoms themselves that cause people to smoke, but we aren't certain of that," said Scott Kollins, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke and lead author of the study, published Tuesday in Archives of General Psychiatry.
"What our data clearly show is that for every symptom of ADHD reported in childhood, the stronger the likelihood that person would smoke regularly during adolescence or early adulthood."
The researchers stress that their findings don't mean that diagnosis of ADHD as a child leads a person to become a smoker, particularly since the study only looked at self-reported symptoms and not a clinical diagnosis.
But they said their findings make it all the more important that children who exhibit a high number of ADHD symptoms get additional or specialized education about the hazards of smoking.
"Smokers who reported the most inattentive or hyperactive-impulsive symptoms as children started smoking, on average, a year earlier than those who reported the fewest numbers of symptoms," Kollins said. "This extra year of smoking is very important from a public health perspective."
Among the current smokers, having more ADHD symptoms was also associated with higher consumption of cigarettes per day, the researchers found.
ADHD is a common psychiatric disorder that affects approximately 5 percent of school-aged children. It is characterized by difficulty in paying attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity displayed in various settings to an extent that they impair day-to-day functions.
In order to consider why people with ADHD seem to smoke more often than those who don't have it, the researchers turned to data gathered in a national survey of teen health that asked more than 13,800 individuals about ADHD symptoms and tobacco use.
The scientists say more research will be needed to understand exactly what the relationship is between ADHD symptoms and smoking risk, particularly if certain symptoms or clusters of symptoms are more indicative of risk.
"We want to understand the mechanisms that underlie what we've found and see if that information can be used to prevent smoking or help more people quit," said Joseph McClernon, an assistant research professor of psychiatry at Duke and a co-author of the study.
The researchers are already comparing how adult smokers with and without ADHD fare in smoking-cessation programs, and if their withdrawal symptoms are any worse.
On the Net: http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org
I think hyperactivity leads to smoking because smoking is a hyper act (requires a lot of movement), and nicotine feels calming to many people. Being a reformed smoked meself, I have talked to other smokers about this and many agree. Any other smokers out there, reformed or not, agree?reformed smoker and add...
u may have a point..
ok
reformed
like the anglicans
anglicans were not technically reformed.. you are referring to the protestants..
why am i so clever???
Funny, when I first read the subject line, I thought this said that children with ADHD lead to parent's smoking!
[QUOTE=TillyT]Funny, when I first read the subject line, I thought this said that children with ADHD lead to parent's smoking!
[/QUOTE]
Ah, ha! Another study?
My MIL has ADHD and is an avid smoker. In the 7 years I have known her she has tried to quit maybe 20 times??? She has to obsessively do something with her hands and if it is not smoking, it's eating. When she tries to quit smoking she starts to gain weight and that terrifies her so she goes back to smoking. Nevermind that her mother died of emphysema -- she self medicates with it and it helps "calm her down" (her words). As one who has been in a psychiatric hospital before smoking was prohibited, I can tell you that 90% of the people on that psych ward smoked (drove me nuts). They were also caffeine addicts, but, although people could smoke there, they couldn't have caffeine...lol. We had decaf. These were people who had severe psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar, severe depression...and most had been committed against their will (I had gone voluntarily because I was so depressed and pregnant and wanted to finally get diagnosed...I knew something was wrong). There are papers talking about how smoking actually helps those with schizophrenia. I think the bottom line is, anyone who is different is at a higher risk of smoking. The sole exception, imo and experience, are autistic kids. They tend to be such rule followerers, with such a rigid sense of what is "right" and "wrong" (no gray areas) that the only way I can imagine them smoking is if told to by a parent or in with peers who pretended to be their friends but actually wanted to tease them and get them into trouble. Smoking is a form of self-medicating for many people. I'm glad I didn't start, in spite of the bipolar. Trust me, drinking and abusing drugs is right in there with the smoking. People get desperate and do w hat they have to do in order to feel more "normal" and if their prescription meds aren't doing the trick or are wrong, or if they are misdiagnosed, they will smoke, drink, and even go further. Again, I heard stories about much substance abuse while in the hospital. Interesting article.Enter Your Email below to claim your Free Book