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• Critical Genetic Link Found Between Human Taste Differences And Nicotine Dependence 

Could an aversion to bitter substances or an overall heightened sense of taste help protect some people from becoming addicted to nicotine? That's what researchers at UVA have found using an innovative new method they've developed to analyze the interactions of multiple genetic and environmental factors. Their findings one day may be key in identifying people at risk for nicotine dependence.

In a study published in the October 10, 2008 issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics, University of Virginia Health System researchers report that two interacting genes related to bitter taste sensitivity, TAS2R16 and TAS2R38, play an important role in a person's development of nicotine dependence and smoking behavior. Researchers found that people with higher taste sensitivity aren't as likely to become dependant on nicotine as people with decreased taste sensitivity.

"This new knowledge is an important tool in predicting whether a person is likely to become a smoker or not," says lead investigator Ming Li, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences who specializes in addiction and genetics research.

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Parental Warning: Second-hand Smoke May Trigger Nicotine Dependence Symptoms In Kids 

Parents who smoke cigarettes around their kids in cars and homes beware - second-hand smoke may trigger symptoms of nicotine dependence in children.

The findings are published in the September edition of the journal Addictive Behaviors in a joint study from nine Canadian institutions.

"Increased exposure to second-hand smoke, both in cars and homes, was associated with an increased likelihood of children reporting nicotine dependence symptoms, even though these children had never smoked," says Dr. Jennifer O'Loughlin, senior author of the study, a professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and a researcher at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal.

"These findings support the need for public health interventions that promote non-smoking in the presence of children, and uphold policies to restrict smoking in vehicles when children are present," adds Dr. O'Loughlin, who collaborated with researchers from the Université de Sherbrooke, the Université de Moncton, the University of British Columbia, McGill University, Concordia University and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec.

Study participants were recruited from 29 Quebec schools

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• Smoking parents can hook kids on nicotine 

a strongly worded Montreal study shows someone else's smoke can lead to nicotine addiction in children.

"Increased exposure to second-hand smoke, both in cars and homes, was associated with an increased likelihood of children reporting nicotine dependence symptoms -- even though these kids had never put a cigarette in their mouths," said epidemiologist Jennifer O'Loughlin, senior author of the study and a professor at the Universite de Montreal.

Published in the September edition of the journal Addictive Behaviors, the study, involving nine Canadian institutions, builds on previous findings on second-hand smoke in non-smokers and withdrawal symptoms including depression, anxiety and trouble concentrating.

The physiological consequences of second-hand smoke have already been shown, O'Loughlin said of bar and restaurant workers (before the cigarette ban) with nicotine metabolites in their urine and saliva as if they had smoked.

Also, it is known that children exposed to second-hand smoke started smoking earlier than other children

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Secondhand Smoke Causes Nicotine Dependence In Kids 

Children who are being exposed to secondhand smoke coming from their smoking parents are at risk of developing nicotine dependence symptoms.

A joint team of researchers from nine Canadian health institutions looked at 1800 children aged from 10 to 12 from 29 Quebec schools. The children were questioned about their parents' smoking habits, whether they smoke near children (in car or at home) or no, about overall health and behaviour.

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• Health Buzz: Statins and ALS and Other Health News  

How Secondhand Smoke Affects Kids

Children exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke by smoking parents may experience symptoms of nicotine dependence, according to a study published this month in the journal Addictive Behaviors. About 1,800 kids, ages 10 to 12, completed questionnaires that probed for nicotine-dependence symptoms and exposure to secondhand smoke. "According to conventional understanding, a person who does not smoke cannot experience nicotine dependence," study lead author Mathieu Bélanger said in a statement. "Our study found that 5 percent of children who had never smoked a cigarette, but who were exposed to secondhand smoke in cars or their homes, reported symptoms of nicotine dependence."

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Casual Smokers at Greater Risk for Alcohol-Use Disorders  

Young adults who are casual smokers are 16 times more likely than nonsmokers to be hazardous drinkers and five times more likely to have alcohol-use disorders (AUDs), a U.S. study finds.

Sherry A. McKee, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, and her colleagues analyzed data on 5,838 adults, aged 18 to 25, who provided information about their current smoking behavior, weekly consumption of alcohol, frequency of alcohol use, frequency of binge-drinking behavior, rates of hazardous drinking, and rates of AUD diagnoses.

The study was published online in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research and was expected to be published in the December print issue of the journal.

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• Mass. giving away nicotine patches  

State health officials have begun giving away nicotine patches to people recovering from drug or alcohol addictions who want to stop smoking.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Tuesday announced the giveaway of a four-week supply of patches to anyone who calls the state's Quitline at 1-800-TRY-TO-STOP. The program runs through the end of the year.

Health Commissioner John Auerbach said the smoking rate among people entering substance abuse treatment tops 75 percent, compared to the statewide smoking rate of 16.4 percent.

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The Role of GABRA2 in Alcohol Dependence, Smoking, and Illicit Drug Use in an Australian Population Sample 

Background: Multiple studies have shown that genetic variation in the α-2 subunit of the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor (GABRA2) is associated with risk for alcohol dependence. Recent reports have suggested that GABRA2 may exert its influence on dependence through factors such as sensitivity to alcohol's intoxicating effects and that GABRA2 may also contribute to a common underlying genetic vulnerability to both alcohol and drug dependence. The present study tested for association between GABRA2 and alcohol dependence, smoking, and illicit drug use within the Australian population. . . .

Conclusions: The GABRA2 allelic associations found in clinical case–control studies have detectable but minor effects on DSM-defined alcohol dependence in the general community. Systematic comparisons of allelic effects on alcohol dependence in clinical cases and in the general community are required.

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• German Doctors Want Smoking Classified as a Sickness  

Germany's Federal Medical Society is proposing that nicotine addiction be classified as an illness in a bid to help the country's smokers quit. Not everyone is behind the idea. . . .

The Federal Medical Society suggests that smokers who have a real dependency should be assessed for treatment by doctors in the same way as those suffering from physical ailments or complaints. If the smoker is then determined by the doctor to have an addiction, the appropriate recovery program should then be prescribed.

The idea behind the proposal is to increase the pressure on smokers by labeling them as sick and in need of medical help. It is also a way of getting smokers off the weed and on to the road to recovery by providing professional help.

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• Smoke alarm: dope use hooks puff daddies onto nicotine  

THE North Coast is the smoking capital of NSW, with researchers saying that widespread cannabis use could be causing more than half of young men in the area to become addicted to nicotine.

Three in five male residents aged between 25 and 34 smoked, research conducted by the North Coast Area Health Service and the University of Sydney has found.

The smoking rate in the north of the state was significantly higher than that of NSW in general, which is one in three young men.

While other regional areas recorded higher smoking rates than the state average - with 39 per cent of young men in western NSW and 34 per cent in southern NSW smokers - they did not come close to the North Coast figures.

Researchers proposed that young men living in "alternative lifestyle" communities of the north had developed a nicotine dependence resulting from "mulling", or mixing cannabis with tobacco.

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• Study Probes Why Smokers Find It Hard to Quit  

If you're not craving a hit of nicotine the moment you declare you are quitting smoking, your battle just got a little tougher, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

"We have observed previously that the idea of smoking a cigarette becomes increasingly attractive to smokers while they are craving," lead investigator Michael Sayette, a University of Pittsburgh professor of psychology, said in a university news release. "This study suggests that when smokers are not craving, they fail to appreciate just how powerful their cravings will be. This lack of insight while not craving may lead them to make decisions -- such as choosing to attend a party where there will be lots of smoking -- that they may come to regret."

The study, published in the September issue of Psychological Science, examines the "cold-to-hot empathy gap" -- that is, the tendency for people in a "cold" state (one not influenced by visceral factors such as hunger or fatigue) to improperly predict their own behavior when in a "hot" state (hungry, fatigued). This is, in part, because those in the cold state can't recall the intensity of their past cravings.

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• Cigarettes' Power May Not Be In Nicotine Itself, New Study Suggests 

A Kansas State University psychology professor's research suggests that nicotine's power may be in how it enhances other experiences. For a smoker who enjoys drinking coffee, the nicotine may make a cup of joe even better.

And that may explain why smoking is so hard to quit.

"People have very regimented things they do when they smoke," said Matthew Palmatier, assistant professor of psychology at K-State. "If you think about where people smoke or who they smoke with, you realize that it occurs in very specific places, often with a specific group of people. Maybe it's a reason why nicotine is so addictive -- if you get used to having that extra satisfaction from things you normally enjoy, not having nicotine could reduce the enjoyment in a given activity.

"People may not be smoking to obtain a pleasurable drug state. They may be smoking in order to regulate their mood, and that effect could make nicotine more addictive than other drugs."

Palmatier said much previous research on nicotine addiction has looked at the drug itself rather than the other factors he is studying. ...

Palmatier has a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to understand how this phenomenon can be used to better design tobacco addiction treatments . . .

Palmatier and colleagues published a paper on their research in the August issue of Neuropsychopharmacology.

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The big picture is trying to figure out why people smoke. There are a lot of health risks, and the majority of smokers already know what they are. They want to quit but can't. It's not because nicotine is a potent drug; it doesn't induce significant amounts of pleasure or euphoria. Yet, it's just as difficult if not more difficult to quit than other drugs.
Matthew Palmatier, assistant professor of psychology at Kansas State University.

Study links gene, nicotine  

A new study released Friday links those different reactions to genetics, said research project leader Ovide Pomerleau, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Those who experience a pleasurable buzz during their first cigarette are more likely to have a variant of the CHRNA5 nicotine receptor gene.

They're also more likely to become addicted smokers - and more likely to develop lung cancer, previous research has found.

"That's a really surprising element, that the same gene that would make you like it and make you addicted would cause a disease process ... it's a terrible trap,'' Pomerleau said.

For the CHRNA5 study, conducted by a multi-university team, researchers surveyed a total of 435 smokers and non-smokers and took DNA samples.

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If your first cigarette gave you a buzz & you now smoke, a gene may be to blame  

Now, a new study links those first experiences with smoking, and the likelihood that a person is currently a smoker, to a particular genetic variation. The finding may help explain the path that leads from that first cigarette to lifelong smoking.

The new finding also adds to growing suspicion surrounding the role of a particular nicotine-receptor gene in smoking-related behaviors and in lung cancer. Other researchers have already linked variations in the same genetic region to smokers’ level of dependence on nicotine, to the number of cigarettes smoked per day and to a far higher risk of lung cancer — the ultimate outcome of a lifetime of smoking.

In a paper published online today in the journal Addiction, a multi-university collaborative team of researchers specializing in statistical genetics, gene analysis, and trait analysis reports an association between a variant in the CHRNA5 nicotine receptor gene, initial smoking experiences, and current smoking patterns.

The genetic and smoking data come from 435 volunteers.

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Gene hooks smokers at first puff 

Puffing on a first cigarette is a rite of passage for many teenagers, but whether it is enjoyable may be partly down to genetics, researchers suggest.

University of Michigan scientists have identified a gene variant found more often in people who said their first cigarette produced a "buzz".

These people were much more likely to go on to become regular smokers, the journal Addiction reports.

The researchers say the finding may help development of anti-smoking drugs.

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