Almost forty years since the United States government first released the Surgeon General’s warning about the health risks of smoking, Americans continue to use tobacco, which some claim to be the cause of 430,700 deaths each year.
Because nicotine is a highly addictive substance, many smokers find quitting a big challenge. Even though there a variety of cession programs available to smokers, many have yet to find an effective method to quit.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, however, have launched a number of studies examining smokers’ failed efforts at quitting. The studies, funded by the UW’s Trans-disciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center, seek to reduce tobacco dependence.
Previous studies have shown that nicotine alters the body’s set point for weight. Some claim American smokers obsessed with body image refuse to quit because of a quick gain of five to ten pounds.
To encourage smoking cession, Associate Professor Dr. Douglas E. Jorenby, Director of Clinical Services at the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, is investigating whether aerobic exercise and use of the nicotine patch discourages post-quitting weight gain in women.
Many researchers are also taking a close look at the fact that 90 percent of all smokers try cigarettes before their 21 birthday.
Dr. Charles Landry, Professor at the Department of Psychiatry, is conducting a yearlong study on adolescents and their propensity to exhibit higher risk-taking tendencies. Factored with a lack of impulse control, many teens find themselves experimenting with nicotine, Landry said.
Another study, led by Megan Piper, a graduate student at the UW Clinical Psychological department, focuses on the significant emotional change related to withdrawal.
“We are looking at the negative emotions induced by quitting — the irritable, sad emotions and the degree of anger, depression suffered” Piper said.
While most of the studies have been conducted by UW professors and are based in Madison, the UW’s Tobacco Use Research Center has also allocated funding for off-campus research.
In a collaborative effort with UW-Milwaukee, Dr. Pamela K. Pletsch of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is conducting a study on the circumstances that motivate pregnant women to quit smoking, to stay smoke-free during pregnancy and to prevent post-partum relapse.
Pletsch said the study has found a variety of reasons why pregnant women stop smoking, but most subjects quit to protect their baby’s health.
“Many said cigarettes tasted different during pregnancy, that family members and friends were not supportive of smoking, while some used pregnancy as a turning point in their lives to quit,” Pletsch said.
Pletsch said the researchers are learning from people who have been successful in quitting.
“We’re using these strategies to develop programs for people so they can quit on their own,” Pletsch said.
