From: mha23x@gmail.com   
      
   Nicotine Therapy for Schizophrenia?    
   By Traci Pedersen   
   ~ 1 min read   
      
      
   Individuals who suffer from schizophrenia may be more inclined to smoke   
   cigarettes because the nicotine reduces negative symptom severity, researchers   
   report.   
      
   Negative symptoms are defined as a decline or absence in the traits needed for   
   normal functioning. These include loss of interest in everyday activities,   
   lack of emotion, social withdrawal, reduced ability to plan or carry out   
   activities, neglect of    
   personal hygiene, and loss of motivation.   
      
   “Although smoking has a wide range of well-established ill effects on human   
   health, these findings do raise the possibility of exploring nicotinic   
   pathways for novel treatments of schizophrenia,” said the researchers.   
      
   In two large independent samples, researchers found that Chinese men with   
   schizophrenia were more than twice as likely to smoke cigarettes compared to   
   those without schizophrenia, and half as likely to quit smoking.   
      
   Among the combined 1,139 male patients with schizophrenia, smoking was found   
   to be consistently and significantly associated with reduced negative symptoms   
   on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and it remained consistent even   
   after researchers    
   took into account antipsychotic use.   
      
   This was the only one of the five dimensions of symptomatology measured that   
   was significantly reduced, however. Smoking had no effect on positive,   
   cognitive, or depressive symptoms, overall, and although it seemed to increase   
   excitement in the two    
   samples combined, the link was not significant in the individual study samples.   
      
   “These observations support the hypothesis that smoking alleviates negative   
   symptoms in schizophrenia patients, which may account for the heavier smoking   
   pattern among schizophrenia patients,” said lead researcher Jimmy Lee  of   
   the Institute of    
   Mental Health at Woodbridge Hospital, Singapore, and colleagues.   
      
   Their results revealed that 42.4 percent of patients with schizophrenia were   
   current smokers, compared with 16.8 percent of 535 individuals from the   
   general population. The lifetime prevalence was 54.1 percent versus 29.3   
   percent.   
      
   Contrary to the notion that schizophrenia patients may smoke to reduce the   
   side effects of their antipsychotic treatment, smoking was not associated with   
   the use of antipsychotics or their side effects.   
      
   The researchers note that transdermal nicotine treatment has already been   
   proven to increase short-term cognitive function in non-smoking schizophrenia   
   patients.   
      
   Schizophrenia is a rare but serious psychiatric disorder, usually beginning in   
   late adolescence, and is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, paranoia,   
   cognitive impairment, social withdrawal, self-neglect and loss of motivation   
   and initiative.   
      
   Source:  PLoS One   
      
      
   https://psychcentral.com/news/2013/09/08/nicotine-therapy-for-sc   
   izophrenia/59285.html   
      
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