Craving Response Tied to Difficulty in Quitting Smoking
Smokers who experience the biggest dropoff in craving after their first cigarette of the day tend to have the hardest time quitting, according to research conducted by the Yale School of Medicine.
Health News Digest reported May 2 that a study of 207 smokers found that “there are significant changes in craving, withdrawal, and affect related to smoking the first cigarette of the day, with the largest of these changes observed for craving,” according to lead study author Benjamin Toll. “Moreover, changes in tobacco craving in response to the first cigarette of the day may be a novel predictor of smoking relapse that should be tested in future studies.”
Previous studies have shown that smokers who have their first cigarette right after they wake up also have more trouble quitting.
The study was published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
