African Americans may find it more difficult to quit

Professor Gary King from Penn State University and his colleagues have undertaken an interesting new study which shows that people who have more melanin in their skin could suffer from the effects of cigarettes addiction more severely. This means that the African American segment of the population may find it more difficult to quit smoking and therefore suffer from more smoking related diseases than Caucasian people. The researchers also pointed out that darker African Americans were likely to suffer more than lighter-skinned African Americans.

The researchers said that they believe that the melanin pigment has a 'biochemical affinity' for nicotine which is the compound that is released into the bloodstream when smokers inhale. They also said that not only were naturally darker people more likely to have a heavy smoking addiction but also those individuals who had dark skin as a result of being exposed a lot to the sun. They said that whatever the case was when people had darker skin they tended to smoke more. They explained that the study was possibly opening up new avenues of research to understand why African Americans give up smoking in smaller numbers than Caucasian individuals.

The study which was published in the clinical journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour should serve as a warning to African Americans not to start smoking in the first place. Research shows that the longer that you smoke for the more difficult it is to give up and that the addictive power of nicotine is not something to be reckoned lightly with.

Ukmedix News has reported on stories of people continuing to smoke even when they have had a heart attack, or when they are suffering from smoking related cancer. It is not worth taking the risk and the only time to quit his right now. Every day that you put it off you make it more difficult.