Publication Date:
2012-02-22
Description:
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death, responsible for over 400,000 premature deaths every year in the United States and weighing heavily on an economy with a nearly $200 billion combined cost of health care and lost productivity (1). Despite the deleterious immediate and long-term effects of smoking, only 3% of smokers successfully quit, although 70% of all smokers express the desire to do so (2). Nicotine is the main addictive psychoactive ingredient present in tobacco smoke (3). Chronic exposure to nicotine initiates neuroadaptation; these alterations, in turn, promote continued tobacco use. When a smoker attempts cessation, this new...
Print ISSN:
0027-8424
Electronic ISSN:
1091-6490
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
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