# E-cigs help smokers with schizophrenia to quit



## Hooked (18/3/21)

https://www.coehar.org/electronic-cigarettes-help-smokers-with-schizophrenia-quit/
16 March 2021

"Smoking prevalence among people with mental disorders is about two to four times higher than in the general population. People with schizophrenia spectrum disorders smokes [sic]more heavily and is [sic] more dependent on tobacco cigarette than those without mental illness.

As a result of high smoking rates, people with a mental health condition also have high rates of morbidity and mortality from smoking-related diseases compared with the general population. Therefore, quitting smoking is particularly important for this group.

Progress in reducing smoking prevalence in people with mental health diagnoses has been very slow compared to the general population. Successful implementation of smoking cessation in people with schizophrenia is challenging, mainly because – in people with schizophrenia – the undesirable neurobiological and psychosocial consequences from stopping smoking are more pronounced and result in early relapse.

Randomized clinical trials of smoking cessation treatment (varenicline, bupropion, nicotine replacement therapy) in schizophrenia have shown modest efficiency and only in the short term.

*The research*
The researchers from the University of Catania (Italy) and University of Stirling (UK), in collaboration with colleagues from the City University of New York (USA) and Weill Medical College of Cornell University (USA), have assessed 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.

*Key findings*

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 smokinga bstinence 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."

Reactions: Winner 1 | Informative 5


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