Can't quit smoking? Blame your BRAIN

Some people manage it first time, for others it's a never-ending battle.

Now, scientists say they can identify the smokers who are most likely to relapse – by looking at their brains.

Those who ended up relapsing within a week showed significant changes in their brain when they were abstaining.  

The changes, which were not found in successful quitters, were seen in the brain’s working memory system.

This is the part of the brain network that keeps people focused and promotes self-control.

Researchers discovered that in people who struggled to quit, there was less activity in this area.

They say identifying these changes to the brain could help distinguish successful quitters from those who fail at an earlier stage.

The breakthrough could also help researchers come up with new ways to help smokers quit.

The new test, it is claimed, has an 80 per cent accuracy rate.

Most people who manage not to smoke for seven days after deciding to quit go on to be tobacco-free for at least six months afterwards.

Therefore, giving support to people in the first seven days is vital.

This is the first time changes people’s working memory - caused by abstaining from smoking - have been used to accurately predict relapse in smokers, said senior author Dr Caryn Lerman, of the University of Pennsylvania.

The study’s lead author, Profesor James Loughead, also of Penn Medicine, added: 'The neural response to quitting even after one day can give us valuable information that could inform new and existing personalised intervention strategies for smokers, which is greatly needed.'

Globally, five million die as a direct result of tobacco a year, and a further 600,000 or more die as a result of second-hand smoke, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It has warned that smoking is the ‘biggest public health threats the world has ever faced’.

In the U.S., where the study was carried out, smoking is at an all-time low in adults.

However, there are still 42 million Americans who do smoke, including teenagers and young adults.

In the study, researchers used MRI scans to explore how briefly quitting smoking affects the working memory.

They recruited 80 smokers aged between 18 and 65 who reported smoking more than 10 cigarettes a day for more than six months.

Volunteers had two MRI sessions: one immediately after their last cigarette and one 24 hours after abstinence began.

After having smoking cessation counselling, participants set a future target quit date.

Seven days after the target quit date, participants completed a monitoring visit, during which smoking behaviour was accessed, including a urine test.

Past research strongly suggests that if a person is tobacco free after seven days, they will likely remain that way for six months, if not longer.

It is therefore, highly predictive of long-term quitting success.

(dailymail.co.uk)

ANN.Az