| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Emma Parker
April 29, 2010
Suite B, 28 Harley Street,
London, United Kingdom
It Is Not Either/Or: Depression and Smoking ARE Correlated.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics (United States), an estimated 24.8 million men (23.1 percent) and 21.1 million women (18.3 percent) are smokers. Asia, Australia and the Far East are by far the largest consumers (2,715 billion cigarettes), followed by the Americas (745 billion), Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Economies (631 billion) and Western Europe (606 billion).
The figures are terrifying. In the meantime, the connection between depression and smoking has been proved by the government survey conducted recently. The survey discovered that more than a half of middle-aged men who suffer from depression are also smokers. The same situation is with the depressed women under the age of 40. Half of them are nicotine addicted.
It was found that young people at the age of 20 predisposed to depression are more likely becoming smokers than their counterparts (43% against 22%). The harder depression symptoms are - the higher is the likelihood of becoming nicotine addicted.
Considering the survey results, correlation between smoking and depression is obvious. The question “why depressed people tend to smoke more” was beyond the scope of the survey, but some researchers have suggested they might be self-medicating, with cigarettes somehow acting as a calming or relaxing mechanism – relaxing, but detrimental.
The appropriate alternative to eradicate both evils can be antidepressants. They used to help smokers quit including GlaxoSmithKline's Zyban, known generically as bupropion, and Pfizer's Chantix or varenicline. It was registered that in dosage of 1mg, Zyban eases the smoking withdrawal syndrome. Zyban does not contain nicotine. The medicine belongs to the class of atypical antidepressants, thus it can reduce the withdrawal symptoms like irritability and anxiety. At the same time it helps to overcome the depression. So the two main effects of the preparation are: decrease in withdrawal symptoms or their complete elimination and mood elevation.
About 7% of U.S. adults had depression in the years 2005 - 2008, the researchers said. Globally, tobacco kills about 5 million people yearly, according to the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers," the CDC says. "Cigarette smoking is responsible for about one in five deaths annually, or about 443,000 deaths per year."
This statistics won't leave indifferent even the most committed smokers. Depressed generation poisoning its health with nicotine can't be considered as mighty and strong nation.
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