Study Sheds Light on Teen Smoking Addiction
A compilation of five years of animal and other studies concludes
that teenagers may be more susceptible to the rewarding effects
of smoking than adults.
The report, "Closing the Gap on Youth Tobacco Use," analyzed
the findings from animal, human, and policy studies conducted by
the University of California at Irvine's Transdisciplinary Tobacco
Use Research Center, as well as findings from Brown University,
the University of Pennsylvania, Southern California University,
and the University of Wisconsin.
The review identified specific factors that promote tobacco use
and addiction among adolescents, including age, changes in the brain
from nicotine (which was found to occur in the brains of adolescent
rats after one exposure), and failure to feel the negative effects
of nicotine as strongly as adults.
"The knowledge gained from working together will help us increase
our understanding of how young people can become vulnerable to tobacco
and the factors that contribute to tobacco dependence," said
Frances Leslie, director of the UC research center and a professor
of pharmacology. "We hope that ultimately, our shared research
will be applied to tobacco-prevention efforts."
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