NIH Radio
A Few "Harmless Puffs" Can Lead One Towards Nicotine Addiction
Brief Description:
You might think just a few puffs of a cigarette would be harmless. But according to a new imaging study supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, those so-called "harmless" puffs can get you started on the road towards being hooked.
Transcript:
Akinso:You might think just a few puffs of a cigarette would be harmless. But according to a new imaging study supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, those so-called "harmless" puffs can get you started on the road towards being hooked. You might think just a few puffs of a cigarette would be harmless. But according to a new imaging study supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, those so-called "harmless" puffs can get you started on the road towards being hooked. Researchers found that the amount of nicotine contained in just one puff of a cigarette can occupy about 30 percent of the brain's most common type of nicotine receptors, while three puffs of a cigarette can occupy about 70 percent of these receptors. When nearly all of the receptors are occupied, the smoker becomes satisfied for a time. However this level of satisfaction wears off, driving the smoker to continue smoking throughout the day to satisfy cigarette cravings according to lead scientist, Dr. Arthur Brody of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Brody: There's really two main take home points. The first is that cigarette smokers are basically walking around with their brains saturated with nicotine all-day long. The minute the saturation levels starts to go down, they start craving cigarettes again. The other interesting take home point is that it takes very little smoking to start to occupy these receptors. So it points to the fact that, there may be other aspects of smoking and other brain systems that are important for keeping people smoking. So for example the taste of cigarettes, the feel of cigarettes in someone's hand, the smell of cigarettes; all those things may act on systems outside of the nicotine system to also be important in maintaining addiction to tobacco. So our study also pointed to the fact that there might be other factors besides just nicotine as being important for maintaining cigarette smoking.
Akinso: The scientists used PET scans to view the brains of smokers and assess nicotine distribution. Dr. Brody said a more complete understanding of how nicotine affects the brain can help scientists develop better therapies for people looking to kick the habit. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland.
About This Audio Report
Date: 8/25/2006
Reporter: Wally Akinso
Sound Bite: Dr. Arthur Brody
Topic: Smoking
Institute(s): NIDA
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