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Surprise -- smoking may offer health value
RICHARD WATTS
Canadian Press
Tuesday, August 3, 1999
Victoria -- It's probably something your doctor will never admit. But,
in a few cases, it appears smoking can be good for you.
Hints of evidence indicating there are benefits to nicotine appear from
time to time in medical studies. But even then authors tend to play down
the evidence.
For example, a recent issue of the Health Canada report on chronic
diseases in Canada contains a study on deaths due to dementia. In the
study is a reference to several other studies that suggest nicotine can
help Alzheimer's patients.
''Although the evidence is equivocal, some epidemiologic studies suggest
that nicotine may protect against Alzheimer's disease,'' said the
report.
"In addition, nicotine may enhance cognition in normal individuals, in
patients who already have Alzheimer's disease and in animals."
Dr. Fred Bass, in charge of the B.C. Medical Association's stop-smoking
campaign, agrees that Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients both appear
to benefit from nicotine.
Dr. Bass said some studies even suggest that people with Parkinson's
disease may live longer if they smoke.
As a former smoker and as a doctor committed to helping people quit the
habit, he said the news that smoking can help certain people shouldn't
be a surprise, especially brain/nervous system diseases like Alzheimer's
and Parkinson's. Nicotine's benefits are what make smoking such a hard
habit to break -- it's why people still do it, despite all the evidence
that proves tobacco smoke is truly toxic, he said.
Nicotine mimics a chemical that works in the transformation of
information along the nervous system and in the brain, Dr. Bass said.
Cigarettes allow nicotine to be delivered to the spots in the body where
it works with a precision that any pharmacologist would envy.
''Smokers don't smoke because it's stupid,'' said Dr. Bass. ''Smoking is
actually a very functional thing to do.''
''Smoking can focus your attention, control your moods and it's
something that allows you to control the dose precisely to suit your own
needs.''
But he said, as a physician, he would never advise anyone to smoke. And
faced with a patient who insisted that smoking appeared to help
alleviate symptoms of a medical condition, Dr. Bass said he would look
for an alternative.
''I'd say, since you have a specific need for nicotine and your brain
screams at you when it isn't supplied with nicotine, let's see if you
can't switch to something else.''
Dr. Bass cautioned, however, that he knows of no studies examining
whether nicotine gum or nicotine patches can help Alzheimer's or
Parkinson's patients.
Copyright © 1999 Globe Information Services
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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