4 Troubled Teens Blog

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Secondhand Smoke Associated with Depression, Mood Changes

Non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke can experience depression and mood changes, according to two new studies.

  • Dr. Mark Hamer of University College London found that people exposed to secondhand smoke undergo changes in hormones that regulate stress, which in turn may cause them psychological stress.
  • He studied 5,569 smokers and 2,595 smokers, having them provide saliva samples and answer questionnaires.

"Our data are preliminary, but there is a strong possibility that the observed association reflects a causal link," Dr. Hammer wrote in a report published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The second study found increased depression among people experiencing secondhand smoke. Dr. David Lee of Miami Miller School of Medicine, whose study was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, based his conclusions on an analysis of data from a survey of 3,000 adults.

Labels: depression, tobacco use

Posted By: Troubled Teens

Comments:

cosmo kramer on 6/10/2010
Yet more evidence why we need to increase our efforts to stop kids from smoking. When you can prevent a person from smoking during their teen years, you can almost guarantee that that person will never start smoking. With all the attention that's paid to teen drinking and drug use (important efforts, don't get me wrong) I think we sometimes feel relieved if a young person is "only" smoking cigarettes. We need to realize that "only" smoking can lead to a lifelong struggle with many many problems.