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Nicotine Shown To Reduce Symptoms of Schizophrenia (newatlas.com)
New submitter future guy quotes a report from New Atlas: A meta-analysis of worldwide studies conducted in 2005 definitively showed what many doctors had been anecdotally noting for decades. Schizophrenia patients were much more likely to become heavy smokers than than those in the general population. In fact some studies found over 80 percent of those diagnosed with schizophrenia were smokers. There were many social and psychological hypotheses proposed to explain this strange anomaly, but none were ever sufficient. A new study published in Nature Medicine has not only revealed how smoking can normalize the impairments in brain activity associated with schizophrenia, but unlocks an entirely new field of drug research to combat the disease. The study expanded on the recent discovery of a genetic mutation, labelled CHRNA5, that was identified as being associated with the cognitive impairments seen in schizophrenic patients. The scientists took mice with the CHRNA5 gene variant and discovered they displayed similar characteristics to those suffering from schizophrenia, such as an inability to suppress a startle response and an aversion to social interaction. Using brain imaging technologies the research team discovered the mice with the CHRNA5 gene variant displayed symptoms of hypofrontality, a state of decreased blood flow in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Hypofrontality is commonly thought to be a prominent cause of many symptoms of schizophrenia, as well as being associated with other psychiatric conditions including Bipolar Disorder and ADHD. As well as identifying the role this gene variant plays in causing hypofrontality, the study examined how nicotine acted to restore normal activity to the prefrontal cortex. The researchers found that within one week of daily nicotine dosing the impaired brain activity in mice with schizophrenic characteristics had normalized.
Thus, neurotypicals are liars. Why should I want to be like them again?
Petco will start selling Marlboros next to the cat food.
Interesting, I suspect that increased Norepinephrine in the prefrontal cortex mediated by the activation of Nicotinic receptors increases prefrontal cortical control over the limbic system. I wonder if Atomoxetine would do the same thing.
My personality changed drastically when I gave up tobacco. Twenty-five years later I'm still not the happy-go-lucky fellow I was when I smoked.
Imo it has to do with timing systems.
The voices from my microwave have been telling me this for years.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I know it's not the first post but the voices insisted I post anyway. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
I believe that nicotine can not only reduce the symptoms schizophrenia, but completely eliminate them (in sufficiently large doses).
The paranoid war on terrorists is explained at last.
Everybody start smoking again for world peace.
it sounds like this should be a commercial. Do you tend to avoid social situations..yes.. do you hear voices..no. does the tv talk directly to you..no. do you think everyone around you is talking about you..of course
light up a cowboy killer. you might have a low blood flow to your prefrontal cortex, and some gene variant that these little tobacco puffers can cure!
studies also show higher intellect leads to less socializing. No desire to talk to dummies is a mental health problem that must be cured. More deliberate dumbing down of the people
I've never been a smoker myself, but my imaginary friend from childhood vanished around the time I started hanging out with smokers. She came back too, shortly after I stopped breathing secondhand smoke. If I ever start smoking firsthand, it might kill her. We've been imaginary friends so long now I just couldn't do that to her.
Hmmm.. That explains why my psycho ex-girlfriend would calm the fuck down when she'd have a cigarette...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Weirdly enough the lung cancer rate of schizophrenics is significantly lower than the population as a whole despite a higher than normal rate of smoking. http://www.schizophrenia.com/s...
Interestingly they also have lower rates of rheumatoid arthritis. Presumably there's a link between the immune system and schizophrenia.
Your mom leaves the basement to go smoke? Mine too.
Schizophrenia fights off memetic viruses that have infected the neurotypicals.
In the Western World there is a moral imperative to denounce cigarets, alcohol, drugs and anything that smacks of fun. It is our proud Christian heritage. Right or wrong, we are emotionally dedicated to this cause and will not be deterred by inconvenient facts. Proper taxing and licensing of these corrupt activities can make them technically legal, but never morally acceptable.
The 'inconvenient facts' are that there is an element in each of these activities that benefits society and individuals. In the case of tobacco, one immense benefit is nicotine.
Nicotine is closely related to choline which millions take for mental benefits. It helps students learn and remember. It helps stressed workers and others to feel calm. And nicotine does the same.
Subversive scientists are learning about benefits in alcoholic beverages and illicit drugs despite pressure from legislators and moral dictators and timid journalists who are afraid to publish the findings. Medicine, the law and the church (superstition) are keeping us in the dark ages.
...omphaloskepsis often...
No wonder I'm the only sane person in my family. Everyone else smokes.
A friend of mine worked with schitzos. The medical and government policy was to pile on the tobacco as they all knew it was mostly good for their condition. Even the schitzos knew this as they would do whatever the hell they could for more.
Is this the sort of science that wasn't done as it was so obvious that everyone assumed that it had already been done.
Umm, I'll take schizophrenia instead. So will myself. And me.
*Yes Yes I know you can inject nicotine instead of smoking cigarettes and getting lung cancer. There are after all other types of cancer one could want.
because article mentions Nicotine yet only talks about Smokers, yet does not address other sources of nicotine (e.g. tomatoes)
That's not what the voices in my head tell me...
fucking a schizofrenic girl addicted to dick... hmm...
Did not RTFA. I'll just stick with the headline and assume I'm all good from here. Cough cough
to quit smoking.
Forget taking your jobs, I'll take your daughters.
Kind Regards,
street shitter
Go Joorb punishing them for being sick and trying to be bootstrapy
Bleh, kissing a smoker. Been there, done that, no desire for a repeat.
So, smoking tobacco may cure religion.
I always knew, that people standing in Minus temperatures before buildings in a storm to smoke, were mentally ill.
A lot of smokers I've known say they only smoke in bars or other social situations.
Interesting, I suspect that increased Norepinephrine in the prefrontal cortex mediated by the activation of Nicotinic receptors increases prefrontal cortical control over the limbic system. I wonder if Atomoxetine would do the same thing.
Also see this earlier Slashdot article: https://science.slashdot.org/s...
On that article I responded to:
The title says peppers but it says nicotine is actually the chemical at work. There are actually a few positive effects nicotine possesses, the negative effects of smoking are mediated by the oxidation products of cigarettes.
Which makes me wonder if electronic cigarette products may not only be not bad for you, but even potentially beneficial as they give you a low dose of nicotine through vaporization without the oxidation caused by burning.
https://slashdot.org/comments....
Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
Indeed. Suicide, accidents and overdoses have been shown to be very effective at reducing lung cancer rates!
Heroin causes addiction, and is the only treatment.
Did she have a traumatic love making experience before that? ;)
All these links to stories about declassified photos, yet all *I* want to see is one ONE measly photo of the mice, stepping out of this lab, taking a smoke break, just hanging out with these guys in their lab coats. Maybe showing off their "tracks" from other labs, or something.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
As the high school saying goes, if she smokes, she pokes. They have a lot fewer inhibitions. Couple of minutes of nasty taste vs an hour of anything-you-want sex? Yeah, I'll take that.
God what a predictable cookie-cutter comment.
Well, but there is this...
Technically, this is a hardware problem and may be resolved at some point, but as it is presently integral to the process, I'm pretty comfortable with "vaop(u)r is extremely harmful"
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
I had a girlfriend a while back and it was like being with two different people at times. I recall now that she used to smoke when we first met and then stopped at some point soon after (I'm a non-smoker). One moment she'd be talking about eloping and then later she be talking about how she never wants to get married to anyone and that we're astrologically incompatible as partners anyway. One moment she's a sex kitten and we're humping like rabbits and then later I'm changing clothes in front of her and she's all embarrassed to see my penis.
Stop setting them on fire; the smoking will stop.
What do cat lovers have to do with anything? Isn't it a documented and indisputable fact that crazy old ladies eat cat food after they have run out of human food in the house? Kind of like: "I'm eating cat food? Must be running out of food... gotta go to the store again!"
In other news, life is a series of tradeoffs.
Indeed. I could have tried to quit, with a very high risk of failure, and put my daughter at risk - or I could take the much more guaranteed but not 100% effective option. I opted for the latter.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
Remove nicotine from someone that has become addicted to it and their schizophrenia increases.
Smoking calms people because they are effectively engaging in deep breathing exercises as they smoke. Nicotine is a stimulant and by itself should not calm people.
I just want you to look at yourself and what you just said - you could have tried to quit, and put your daughter at risk... only a severe addict could ever rationalize a statement like that. Keep trying...
I just want you to look at yourself and what you just said - you could have tried to quit, and put your daughter at risk... only a severe addict could ever rationalize a statement like that. Keep trying...
News flash: Nicotine is physically addictive, and the act of smoking is psychologically addictive.
Film at eleven.
My mother's psychiatrist gave my mother a nod for smoking. I wish her psychiatrist was there to also hold her hand while she needed 6 liters of oxygen a minute. She's died at 66.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
they eat eachother.
Ever kissed a meateater... down there? I will state, for the record... that vegetarian chicks definitely taste better.
Ever kissed a meateater... down there? I will state, for the record... that vegetarian chicks definitely taste better
To borrow from another joke, I respond: Wrong Hole!
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
I'm sorry, are you under the impression that cigarettes don't cause severe addiction?
In ADHD people, medications that are stimulants are often prescribed to help calm them. In other words, it has the opposite of the usual effect, due to their condition. So maybe nicotine is the same way for these people?
Smoking calms people because they are effectively engaging in deep breathing exercises as they smoke. Nicotine is a stimulant and by itself should not calm people.
Yeah that's why they give kids amphetamines so they can sit still isn't it.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
Seeing as Non-cancer related illness like heart disease were still higher than general population, I'm gonna say your hypothesis a swing and a miss.
A last-ditch effort to attract the only customer deemed worthy of the product?
Requiem for the American Dream
What worked for me was picturing some giant overbearing asshole behind a big desk (potentially wearing some kind of cowboy hat) leaning over the desk to bark an order to a minion re. enforcing his will over the world's population solely for his own financial gain. What a fucker. Don't buy him another five-pool yacht.
Requiem for the American Dream
Many (all?) antipsychotic drugs have some heavy side effects. Patients pretty much have to decide between illness, obesity, parkinson symptoms or any combination of those 3. No wonder they might get heart diseases.