If you thought smoking was bad, hear this

It’s well known that smoking cigarettes can directly and often fatally damage the lungs. Now, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), new research shows that cigarette smoking also decreases the levels of a critical enzyme called monamine oxidase B in the kidneys, heart, lungs and spleen. Too much or too little of this critical enzyme can have an effect on a person’s mental or physical health.

“When we think about smoking and the harmful effects of smoke, we usually think of the lungs and of nicotine,” said Dr. Nora DVolkow, NIDA’s director. “But here we see a marked effect on a majobody enzyme in parts of the body far removed from the lungs that we know is due to a substance othethan nicotine.”

Thirty percent of the U.S. population over the age of 12 (71.5 million people) uses tobacco. In addition to causing more than 440,000 deaths each year, smoking costs more than $75 billion in direcmedical costs each year.

When smokers quit, they often experience physical and emotionawithdrawal symptoms.

Research has shown that nico

ine, like cocaine, heroin and mari

uana, increases the level of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which affects the brain pathways that control reward and pleasure.

Recently, scientists pinpointed a particular molecule (the beta 2

b2] subunit of the nicotine cholinergic receptor) as playing an impor

ant role in who is more likely to become addicted to cigarettes.

Another study found dramatic changes in the brain’s pleasure circuits during withdrawal from chronic nicotine use. These changes are comparable in magnitude and duration to similar changes observed during the withdrawal from other abused drugs

uch as cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and alcohol. Scientists

ound that laboratory rats whose nicotine was withdrawn suddenly had a harder time experiencing pleasure from other sources.

The results of this research may help develop better treatments for withdrawal symptoms that can in

erfere with quitting smoking.

Studies have shown that medication combined with behavioral

reatment, including psychological

upport and skills training, have the highest long-term success rates in helping smokers quit using tobacco.

For more information on nicoine addiction, visit the website www.smoking.drugabuse.gov.