http://www.latimes.com/health/news/20001122/t000112223.html
For the full story use this URL
http://www.latimes.com/health/news/20001122/t000112223.html
Wednesday, November 22, 2000 Mentally Ill Twice as Likely to Be Smokers,
Study Finds
Tobacco: Special programs may be needed to encourage patients to quit,
given their isolation and tendency to use nicotine to fight depression,
experts say.
By ROSIE MESTEL, Times Medical Writer
Nearly half of all cigarettes purchased in the United States are
smoked by people who suffer from mental illnesses, according to Harvard
Medical School research.
Mentally ill people are roughly twice as likely to smoke cigarettes
as those without mental illnesses, according to the research, published in
today's Journal of the American Medical Assn. Not only does the habit put
them at greater risk for serious ailments such as heart disease and lung
cancer, but in some cases it can interfere with the effectiveness of
medications to treat their disorders.
Smoking is often used as a form of self-medication because nicotine
can have a powerful impact on mood, according to previous research. And
because people with mental illnesses tend to be more cut off from
mainstream society and less able to motivate themselves to quit, it may
take specially targeted educational efforts to reduce the smoking rates in
this group, experts say.
"What works on ordinary, mentally healthy adults may not work as well
when we're dealing with adults with mental problems," said John Banzhaf,
executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, a Washington-based
nonprofit advocacy group and a professor of public interest law at George
Washington University.
The numbers, though striking, are less surprising when it is
considered that drug and alcohol dependencies were among the mental
illnesses studied--smoking rates are high in such groups. In addition, in
any given year, one in five U.S. adults is estimated to suffer from some
form of mental illness. One in 20 suffers from a severe mental illness.
<SNIP>
just me,
Marjorie
68/58/55
*********************************************************************************************
Shortcut to Mail Options click here:
http://parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com/mailopt.html
