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Stupid Story!!!

 
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wlittle



Quit Date:
April 5, 2003

Posts: 15
Location: Madison, WI

PostPosted: February 16, 2004 5:47 PM    Post subject: Stupid Story!!! Reply with quote

This story below... makes me want to "rant"!!!
I can't believe the US spends money on these "researchers" to do such dumb studies. Why can't we spend the money on helping people to quit smoking! Or on cancer research!

Ahhhhhhh.... I'm so mad.
_________________________________
Oddly Enough - Reuters

Hostile People May Be 'Born to Smoke', Study Finds
Fri Feb 13, 8:13 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People with hostile or aggressive personality traits may have genetic tendencies that make them "born to smoke," U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

Brain imaging studies suggest that the same genetic variations that give people hostile personality traits may also make them more likely to become addicted to nicotine, the team at the University of California Irvine reported.

"We call this brain response a 'born to smoke' pattern," Dr. Steven Potkin, a professor of psychiatry and a brain imaging specialist who led the study, said in a statement.

Potkin's team was following up on evidence suggesting that people with hostile personality traits are more likely to become addicted to cigarettes and have trouble kicking the habit.

Writing in the journal Cognitive Brain Research, Potkin and colleagues said they tested volunteers by giving them standard psychiatric personality exams and separating them into two groups -- those with higher tendencies to anger, aggression and anxiety, and those with low-hostility traits.

Both groups included smokers and nonsmokers.

They were given nicotine patches to wear and their brains were imaged using positron emission tomography, or PET scans.

The scans showed no metabolic changes in the brain cells of the low-hostility volunteers but the response of the "hostile" personalities was clear, Potkin said.

And the hostile smokers needed a higher dose of nicotine to get the same response that nonsmokers had to the nicotine patch -- suggesting they had become habituated to nicotine.

"Based on these dramatic brain responses to nicotine, if you have hostile, aggressive personality traits, in all likelihood you have a predisposition to cigarette addiction without ever having even touched a cigarette," Potkin said.

"In turn, this might also help explain why other people have no compelling drive to smoke or can quit smoking with relative ease," he added.
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Wanda
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kevin
Site Admin


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Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: February 16, 2004 7:03 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

interesting...

although the story does seem to bring out a certain level of hostility in you, Wanda...

Laughing
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wlittle



Quit Date:
April 5, 2003

Posts: 15
Location: Madison, WI

PostPosted: February 18, 2004 9:42 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes! And such a good point too!
I was angry... yet, I was able to quit!

I am at the moment, not angry. But, still disappointed in the waste of money to find stupid excuses.

Smoking is just so horrible. I am grateful I was able to make it!

I hope everyday that more and more people can find a way to quit.
And don't read this story as an excuse not to try to give up the cigs!
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Wanda
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SueM



Quit Date:
November 15, 2001

Posts: 25
Location: Maine

PostPosted: February 18, 2004 10:49 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

our government at its best.
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Angel



Quit Date:
November 11, 2004

Posts: 208
Location: MI

PostPosted: April 12, 2004 10:04 AM    Post subject: smoking study Reply with quote

My husband saw this story on some news program and latched on to it like a life raft. Not only is this study a huge waste of money (unless they were able to find some little smoking switch in the brain they could turn off), but it gives aggressive people (or 'tough guys') an excuse. We've always been an intense couple and this was his perfect back door. Thanks a lot, stupid California college people!

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Zuzu



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Location: Marin

PostPosted: April 12, 2004 11:48 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess I don't think it's a stupid study. I think it's great when they identify patterns that might uncover the nature of addiction and addictive behaviors that might lead to targetted interventions for subgroups of people. I do think that people with certain psychiatric diagnosis might find it more difficult to quit smoking than other people.. and if brain imaging studies help to define additional interventions for those folks I think that's cool.

I do think that there's a great deal of waste in the medical research establishment - ESPECIALLY among behavioral reseach... but.. and.. this particular study doesn't represent that waste for me. Viva la difference!

-Zuzu
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alison



Quit Date:
June 3, 2003

Posts: 751
Location: Next Stop, Michigan

PostPosted: April 12, 2004 12:54 PM    Post subject: Studies Reply with quote

I think it is a bad idea to use such information to justify an addiction but it is important work. The idea that alcoholism was an illness not a weakness of character went a long way in helping the alcoholic to understand that they do not deserve all that happens to them, They are sick and just like any other illness it needs to be treated.

People still view smoking as a weakness of character and/or stupidity and it is nice to see justification that folks addicted to this are wired differently than people who escape addiction. I have struggled with why I became addicted and certain friends did not. It doesn't excuse or allow the addiction but by identifying the fact that there is a difference physically between nicotine addicts and others (no matter how they group them) it opens the doors to treatments and understanding.

I am always interested in any study that helps to understand the nature of addiction, Knowledge is power.
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Zuzu



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PostPosted: April 12, 2004 1:35 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm so with you Alison. I've heard some people express that they needed to "learn" to enjoy smoking.. how their bodies perhaps rebelled initially... for me it felt like "coming home" when I started smoking - it's like the drug was what had been missing all my life!

I also wonder at how for some people quitting, while not easy, does appear to happen easier. I know the all knowing "they" chalk that up to those individuals having greater will power, strength of character, etc. etc. I'm not so sure. I think that people who are able to successfully quit on their first try likely have genetic or other factors which might, in general (not universally) predispose them to more rapid recovery from addiction or the like. Perhaps they weren't actually addicted in the "same way" as the large majority of other people who attempt to stop smoking who are NOT successful on their first try.

I do think that if you see behavior traits in children - for example children with anger management issues - you might, based on this research, see that you have a child that is predisposed to nicotine addiction. While other children might try nicotine, it's the kid with the anger issues that's more likely to become addicted. So what could you do with this? You could start targetted intervention programs to those kids.

Personally I do think that it's obvious that children with anger management issues, low self esteem, ADHD, etc are more prone to addiction(s) - be they nicotine addiction or other substances. Strong feelings are hard to hold in our culture and even more difficult to hold when a person has difficulty articulating and working through what they're feeling. Of course people who experience those kinds of issues are more prone to medicating themselves - that's not so suprising. But to see that something unique may be happening on a biochemical level.. that's intriguing and may point to unique treatments and/or interventions for people with the anger issues... and perhaps a surrogate marker (changes in brain imaging scans) that may indicate successful candidate therapies for intervention.

Ultimately, what I think is really "bad" about the research as it was reported via press release is that imaging technologies have advanced leaps and bounds in the past few years. They hold such great potential in revolutionizing research in understanding, treating and/or monitoring of human diseases/conditions. The scientific community, however, does such a piss poor job of articulating the how and why behind all of this.. why it's important, the "so what" of research of this nature. It's why there's often little public support for research... and little public involvement in democratizing the scientific process...

Anyways.. what a great topic for a rant!!! Thanks!

-Zuzu
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alison



Quit Date:
June 3, 2003

Posts: 751
Location: Next Stop, Michigan

PostPosted: April 12, 2004 1:50 PM    Post subject: Pree releases Reply with quote

I have always said that scientist should not be allowed to name things or write about their discoveries. They have no idea how to write for the masses and the folks who report often don't really understand what they are reporting or miss the point thus report incorrectly.

I like the idea that youth are targeted for anti-smoking campaigns and understanding which groups are most likely to become addicted can only help the folks responsible for deciding where the limited monies are spent.
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alison
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