According to the authors -
Smoking decreases appetite, and smokers often report that they smoke to control their weight. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the anorexic effects of smoking would facilitate the development of novel treatments to help with smoking cessation and to prevent or treat obesity.
Now I don't know about you, but when I read something being hyped in the media as "new and groundbreaking" by scientists who are seeking an "Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the anorexic effects of smoking would facilitate the development of novel treatments to help with smoking cessation and to prevent or treat obesity.", I see behind-the-scenes efforts likely directed at generating pharma profits, instead of any true concern for smokers' health.
I'm also not sure that I automatically accept the authors' premise that nicotine is fully the cause for weight loss in smokers. According to an article published in The Independent -
British and American tobacco companies deliberately added powerful appetite-suppressing chemicals to cigarettes to attract people worried about their weight, according to internal industry documents dating from 1949 to 1999.
The presence of appetite-suppressing chemicals could help explain why smokers who quit often gain weight, according to Swiss researchers in the European Journal of Public Health. They call for stricter rules on tobacco additives amid suggestions that sensitive documents are being removed from databases by the industry to avoid disclosure.
So, like most people sick of the hypocrisy surrounding smoking, I can't help but wonder why scientists aren't directing their efforts towards removing the cause of the problem, instead of devising ways to treat the symptoms. Wouldn't that seem more scientific?
This Science article has been written about in just about every news site, and pseudo news site, that I've come across.
ReplyDeleteOf all the Science articles published in this month's journal, doesn't anyone wonder why this article is getting so much exposure as opposed to any other, and who would be funding such exposure?
I think this study (PDF) may help back up the claim that appetite suppressants could have been added to cigarettes.
ReplyDeleteWeight gain and incident obesity among male snus users
According to a study recently reported in JAMA, researchers undertook a large long-term study into the impact of smoking patterns and weight gain on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
ReplyDeleteThe study found that for most people (excluding diabetics), quitting smoking was associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Crucially, this effect was not significantly influenced by weight gain associated with quitting smoking.
Source: Quitting smoking benefits outweigh weight gain risk