it tells us about the link between the brain and the smoking habit

Did you know that individuals who suffer from mental illness are far more likely to smoke than people who don't? It is estimated that as many as 40 percent of mentally ill people smoke which is far higher than the figure for non smokers.

The information is interesting because it tells us about the link between the brain and the smoking habit. Many people believe that smoking is purely a physical addiction that is caused by a craving for nicotine but researchers are increasingly coming around to the hypothesis that the mental make up of a person can play a large part in addiction.

One of our news writers in the Ukmedix newsroom says that he never had any problems with smoking from a physical point of view. In fact he says that he hated the effect that the cigarettes had on him physically but found it extremely difficult to snap out of the psychological craving to light up. People often talk about "smoking triggers" which make them really want to light up. It could be a simple cup of coffee with friends on a sunny day that really reinforces the urge to smoke after they have been smoke free for months. In this case it is clear that the craving is a psychological one as opposed to a physical one because the nicotine would have been well out of the system by then.

Try to identify the smoking triggers that really make you want to light up and do your best to avoid them for as long as possible. One of the reasons why the smoking cessation drug Champix is so effective is that it does not work on controlling the physical cravings of the smoking habit but actually acts on brain receptors which control addiction. Champix has the highest success rates of any smoking cessation therapy to date.