People with schizophrenia are heavy consumers of tobacco and more addicted than mentally healthy people, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Schizophrenia Research. And, as they find it harder to quit smoking, these patients are 12 times more likely than others to die of a heart attack.
Researchers from the University of Montreal (Canada) compared, using neuroimaging techniques, the brain reactions of 18 smokers with schizophrenia and 24 smokers without mental health problems. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to assess their depressive symptoms.
The results of the study showed that the prevalence of smoking in people with schizophrenia is high and the smoking cessation rate is low. Smokers with schizophrenia are 12 times more likely to die from smoking-related heart disease than people who don’t smoke.
“Smoking is a real problem among people with schizophrenia,” explains Stéphane Potvin, researcher at the Institut universitaire en santé santé de Montréal and author of the study. “Their health and their life expectancy are often jeopardized by this addiction whose cerebral mechanisms were until now still unknown”, continues the associate professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal.
New studies needed
The researchers wish to carry out other studies to understand what was the cause of this strong addiction to nicotine.
“It is necessary to explore solutions that will support these people in their efforts to give up cigarettes concludes the researcher. “That’s why we want to continue our research, to find out whether this activation of the ventral part of the prefrontal cortex is caused by the disease itself or by antipsychotics.”
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