PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Electronic cigarettes help smokers with schizophrenia quit

2021-03-16
(Press-News.org) A new study in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, published by Oxford University Press, finds that the use of high-strength nicotine e-cigarettes can help adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders quit smoking.

Some 60-90% of people with schizophrenia smoke cigarettes, compared to 15-24% of the general population. The researchers from the University of Catania, in collaboration with colleagues from City University of New York and Weill Medical College of Cornell University, have assessed here the feasibility of using a high-strength nicotine e-cigarette to modify smoking behavior in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders who smoke cigarettes. In this study 40 adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders who smoked and did not intend to reduce or quit smoking participated in a 12-week study using Juul e-cigarettes loaded with 5% nicotine pods with a follow-up visit at 24 weeks. Researchers measured smoking frequency, smoking reduction, carbon monoxide expired air reduction, smoking cessation, and continuous abstinence 24 weeks after the study began.

Some 40% of participants had stopped smoking traditional cigarettes by the end of 12 weeks. Researchers observed an overall, sustained 50% reduction in smoking or complete smoking abstinence in 92.5% of participants at the end of 12 weeks. Researchers also observed an overall 75% reduction in median daily cigarette consumption from 25 to 6, by the end of the 12 weeks.

After six months, 24 weeks after the study began, 35% of participants had completely stopped smoking conventional tobacco cigarettes, while continuing to use e-cigarettes. Researchers here also measured a significant decrease in daily cigarette consumption was also confirmed at the end of 24 weeks. The study's authors report that 57.5% of participants reduced their cigarette usage by over 50%.

Additionally, researchers found that participants' mean blood pressure, heart rate and weight measurably decreased between the start of the study and the 12-week follow up. Positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia were not significantly different after using e-cigarettes throughout the whole duration of the study. At the end of the study 61.9% of participants reported feeling more awake, less irritable, and experiencing greater concentration, and reduced hunger.

"Smoking is the primary cause of the 15-25 years mortality gap between users of mental health services and the general population, said one of the paper's authors, Riccardo Polosa, professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Catania (Italy). "This study demonstrates that switching to high-strength nicotine e-cigarettes is a feasible highly effective smoking cessation method for smokers who have schizophrenia. And it improves their quality of life too!"

INFORMATION:

Direct correspondence to: Jennifer Theresa DiPiazza
Assistant Professor
Coordinator, Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner specializations
Brookdale Campus, W425
City University of New York. Hunter Bellevue College
212-481-5061
jd1297@hunter.cuny.edu

To request a copy of the study, please contact: Emily Tobin
emily.tobin@oup.com

Sharing on social media? Find Oxford Journals online at END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

A promising breakthrough for a better design of electronic materials

A promising breakthrough for a better design of electronic materials
2021-03-16
Finding the best materials for tomorrow's electronics is the goal of Professor Emanuele Orgiu of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS). Among the materials in which Professor Orgiu is interested, some are made of molecules that can conduct electricity. He has demonstrated the role played by molecular vibrations on electron conductivity on crystals of such materials. This finding is important for applications of these molecular materials in electronics, energy and information storage. The study, conducted in collaboration with a team from the INRS and the ...

Non-invasive skin swab samples are enough to quickly detect COVID-19, a new study finds

2021-03-16
Researchers at the University of Surrey have found that non-invasive skin swab samples may be enough to detect COVID-19. The most widely used approach to testing for COVID-19 requires a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which involves taking a swab of the back of the throat and far inside the nose. In a paper published by Lancet E Clinical Medicine, chemists from Surrey teamed up with Frimley NHS Trust and the Universities of Manchester and Leicester to collect sebum samples from 67 hospitalised patients - 30 who had tested positive for COVID-19 and 37 who had tested negative. The samples were collected by gently swabbing a skin area rich in sebum - an oily, waxy substance produced by the body's sebaceous glands - such as the face, neck or back. The researchers analysed ...

Abuse in childhood and adolescence linked to higher likelihood of conduct problems

2021-03-16
Children who are exposed to abuse before they are eleven years old, and those exposed to abuse both in childhood and adolescence may be more likely to develop conduct problems (such as bullying or stealing) than those exposed to abuse in adolescence only and those who are not exposed to abuse, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry. A team of researchers at the Universities of Bath and Bristol examined data on 13,793 children and adolescents (51.6% boys), who were followed from ages four to 17 years, included in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ...

Use of AI to fight COVID-19 risks harming 'disadvantaged groups', experts warn

2021-03-16
Rapid deployment of artificial intelligence and machine learning to tackle coronavirus must still go through ethical checks and balances, or we risk harming already disadvantaged communities in the rush to defeat the disease. This is according to researchers at the University of Cambridge's Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) in two articles, published today in the British Medical Journal, cautioning against blinkered use of AI for data-gathering and medical decision-making as we fight to regain some normalcy in 2021. "Relaxing ...

A novel recipe for air-stable and highly-crystalline radical-based coordination polymer

A novel recipe for air-stable and highly-crystalline radical-based coordination polymer
2021-03-16
Coordination polymers (CPs) composed of organic radicals have been the focus of much research attention in recent years due to their potential application to a wide variety of next-generation electronics, from more flexible devices to 'spintronics' storage of information. Sadly, they often suffer from their limited stability and poor crystallinity. Researchers from Japan's Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), National Institute of Natural Sciences (NINS) have developed a novel recipe that not only produces a stable material, but offers a variety of other useful attributes. Their findings appear in the journal ...

COVID waste: Archaeologists have a role to play in informing environmental policy

COVID waste: Archaeologists have a role to play in informing environmental policy
2021-03-16
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is creating a viral archive, an archaeological record of history in the making. One aspect of this archive is increased environmental pollution, not least through discarded face-masks and gloves, collectively known as PPE, that characterise the pandemic. These items of plastic waste have become symbolic of the pandemic and have now entered the archaeological record, in particular face-masks. In the UK alone, 748 million items of PPE, amounting to 14 million items a day, were delivered to hospitals in the two or so months from ...

New research reveals possible cause of mystery condition that leaves people paralysed

2021-03-16
Researchers believe they may have discovered a possible cause of a mystery condition that can leave sufferers suddenly unable to walk, talk or see. It's hoped the study - led by the University of York and Hull York Medical School and supported by Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust - will pave the way for new treatments for Conversion disorder which affects around 800,000 people in the UK alone. The condition, also known as functional neurological disorder (FND), causes physical symptoms that would appear neurological but doctors can't find an injury or physical condition to explain them. Professor Christina van der Feltz-Cornelis from the Department of Health Sciences is leading the Conversion And Neuro-inflammation ...

Vulnerable newborns being separated from their mothers in COVID-19 pandemic

2021-03-16
Two-thirds of 1,120 healthcare workers surveyed worldwide would separate mothers and babies with a positive or unknown COVID-19 status. Implementing Kangaroo Mother Care and keeping mothers and babies together could save more than 125,000 newborn lives, representing 65x decreased risk of newborn death compared to the risk of newborn deaths from COVID-19. New research underscores the need for decision-makers and providers, particularly in LMICs, to protect and strengthen care for small and sick newborns during the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the quality of care given to small and sick newborn babies in all regions of the world and threatening implementation of life-saving interventions, ...

Switching from TDF- to TAF-containing ART associated with the development of obesity in people living with HIV

2021-03-15
Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent. 1. Switching from TDF- to TAF-containing ART associated with the development of obesity in people living with HIV Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-4853 URL goes live when the embargo lifts Switching from antiretroviral therapy ...

HIV research: Increased weight gain with TAF medication

HIV research: Increased weight gain with TAF medication
2021-03-15
In Switzerland about 17 000 people are living with an HIV infection, worldwide there are about 38 million. Today, the disease can be treated so successfully that a normal life can be ensured to a great extent. However, weight increases are often observed at the beginning of HIV therapy due to adaptations of the metabolism, which are part of a successful therapy. Therefore, body weight control plays an important role in HIV therapy. It is important, for example, to avoid metabolic problems that can lead to heart attacks or diabetes over the long term. Tenofovir is the drug used as part of the standard HIV therapies. The previously, widely used TDF-based therapy (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, TDF) has been associated with renal side effects and ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase

Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows

[Press-News.org] Electronic cigarettes help smokers with schizophrenia quit