Schizophrenia Support Group
Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by impairments in the perception of reality and by significant social dysfunction. Untreated schizophrenia is typically characterized by demonstrating disorganized thinking and experiencing delusions or auditory hallucinations.
Hello all, I don't much post on here,but do read post and wanted to share an article on this topic that helps with this disorder. I am 45 yrs old and dealt with shizophrenia since 1999.with proper meds,,and smoking nictotine that helps me.
This week, on Monday, I wanted to quit smoking, but it did not work,..instead, was sleeping half a day and felt weird...so I started smoking again and now doing well.I am going to share this article to my Phd doctor in April and to anyone here that might be helpful.
Here is the article that I had found on the net.. My best wishes to all who deals with this illness..
Liliann
Smoking and Schizophrenia
Thanks to research advances, scientists are learning how and why smoking and schizophrenia are so tightly linked. Nicotinein cigarettes and other formsappears to help normalize some of the cognitive and sensory deficits that people with this disorder experience. Scientists have looked inside the brain to uncover regions involved in deficits of schizophrenia and to learn how and where nicotine works to combat them. Now, enhanced knowledge is helping scientists develop drugs to treat this debilitating disorder.
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Scientists have found that smoking and schizophrenia are tightly linked, but are not sure why. Could nicotine actually be helping the disorder? If so, then it is a double-edged sword, because smoking is a life-threatening behavior.
Now, new research on the effects of nicotine in people with schizophrenia is beginning to answer these questions and uncover clues that may help to treat this serious disorder.
Schizophrenia is characterized by disordered thinking; hallucinations, such as hearing voices; and delusions, such as paranoid beliefs that people are conspiring against you. Schizophrenia affects about 1 percent of the population and places a substantial burden on those afflicted, their families, and society.
Many people with schizophrenia smoke, and their unique smoking behaviors have led scientists to believe that nicotine, the addicting substance in tobacco, may represent a form of self-medication, normalizing some central nervous system deficits involved in the disorder.
People with schizophrenia smoke up to three times more than the general population and more than most psychiatric populations. Schizophrenia patients who smoke also have higher levels of nicotine in their bodies because they tend to extract more nicotine per cigarette than other smokers.
Nicotine and its brain receptorsproteins on the surface of cells that receive chemical messagesare keys to understanding the links between smoking and schizophrenia. Already, research has revealed that:
Nicotine and its receptors are involved in functions such as cognition or thinking ability, reward, movement, and pain relief.
Schizophrenia patients have fewer and more poorly functioning nicotinic receptors, especially in the hippocampus, cortex, and cells that wrap the thalamusbrain areas involved in several cognitive and sensory deficits of schizophrenia.
Increased nicotine intakefrom smoking cigarettes or sometimes from a skin patch, gum, or nasal spraymay temporarily normalize sensory disruptions of schizophrenia. For example, nicotine may improve eye tracking abnormalities, mostly by altering activity in the hippocampus and brain areas involved in eye movement. Nicotine also has been reported to improve the brains ability to filter sounds and to respond and adapt to strong sensory inputs.
Cognitive ability in people with schizophrenia may get a boost from nicotine as well, including temporary enhancements in learning, memory, processing speed, and attention. Several studies have examined spatial working memorythe ability to hold information in the brain and recall it when prompted. Spatial working memory is involved in planning, judgment, and attentiontasks that people with schizophrenia find difficult. Schizophrenia patients who smoked or who received nasal spray nicotine temporarily enhanced their spatial working memory, and those who quit had further impairments.
Smoking also may help decrease medication side effects and other symptoms of schizophrenia. According to one study, receiving nicotine through a skin patch reversed the cognitive slowing associated with haloperidol, a common drug for schizophrenia. Nicotine may improve lack of motivation and indifference in this population, as well. However, it remains unclear if nicotine minimizes hallucinations and delusions, and some studies have reported that people with schizophrenia who quit smoking did not experience worsening of their symptoms.
Nicotine may help lessen some symptoms of schizophrenia by increasing deficient levels of the chemical dopaminewhich is thought to regulate key emotional responsesin areas of the brain such as the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex. The nucleus accumbens is involved in reward and pleasure, and the prefrontal cortex organizes complex cognitive and social behaviors.
Since evidence shows that nicotine positively affects schizophrenia, scientists are exploring drugs that act like nicotine in the brain but do not have adverse health consequences. Researchers now are working on safer and less toxic drugs that potentially could enhance cognition. These drugs may help treat schizophrenia.
One type of nicotinic receptor, known as the alpha-7 receptor, is proving to be a major target for schizophrenia drug development. These receptors are found in brain regions important for cognition, including the cortex and hippocampus. Already, scientists have completed preliminary tests of drugs for schizophrenic nonsmokers based on a toxin, called anabaseine, found in marine worms and ants. Subjects showed improved sensory processing and cognition, especially attention.
Scientists continue to research the biology and function of different nicotinic receptors. As knowledge advances, so will development of new and safer drugs to help treat schizophrenia. Hopefully, better symptom control also will lessen the desire for nicotine, and help people with schizophrenia snuff out smoking.
This week, on Monday, I wanted to quit smoking, but it did not work,..instead, was sleeping half a day and felt weird...so I started smoking again and now doing well.I am going to share this article to my Phd doctor in April and to anyone here that might be helpful.
Here is the article that I had found on the net.. My best wishes to all who deals with this illness..
Liliann
Smoking and Schizophrenia
Thanks to research advances, scientists are learning how and why smoking and schizophrenia are so tightly linked. Nicotinein cigarettes and other formsappears to help normalize some of the cognitive and sensory deficits that people with this disorder experience. Scientists have looked inside the brain to uncover regions involved in deficits of schizophrenia and to learn how and where nicotine works to combat them. Now, enhanced knowledge is helping scientists develop drugs to treat this debilitating disorder.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scientists have found that smoking and schizophrenia are tightly linked, but are not sure why. Could nicotine actually be helping the disorder? If so, then it is a double-edged sword, because smoking is a life-threatening behavior.
Now, new research on the effects of nicotine in people with schizophrenia is beginning to answer these questions and uncover clues that may help to treat this serious disorder.
Schizophrenia is characterized by disordered thinking; hallucinations, such as hearing voices; and delusions, such as paranoid beliefs that people are conspiring against you. Schizophrenia affects about 1 percent of the population and places a substantial burden on those afflicted, their families, and society.
Many people with schizophrenia smoke, and their unique smoking behaviors have led scientists to believe that nicotine, the addicting substance in tobacco, may represent a form of self-medication, normalizing some central nervous system deficits involved in the disorder.
People with schizophrenia smoke up to three times more than the general population and more than most psychiatric populations. Schizophrenia patients who smoke also have higher levels of nicotine in their bodies because they tend to extract more nicotine per cigarette than other smokers.
Nicotine and its brain receptorsproteins on the surface of cells that receive chemical messagesare keys to understanding the links between smoking and schizophrenia. Already, research has revealed that:
Nicotine and its receptors are involved in functions such as cognition or thinking ability, reward, movement, and pain relief.
Schizophrenia patients have fewer and more poorly functioning nicotinic receptors, especially in the hippocampus, cortex, and cells that wrap the thalamusbrain areas involved in several cognitive and sensory deficits of schizophrenia.
Increased nicotine intakefrom smoking cigarettes or sometimes from a skin patch, gum, or nasal spraymay temporarily normalize sensory disruptions of schizophrenia. For example, nicotine may improve eye tracking abnormalities, mostly by altering activity in the hippocampus and brain areas involved in eye movement. Nicotine also has been reported to improve the brains ability to filter sounds and to respond and adapt to strong sensory inputs.
Cognitive ability in people with schizophrenia may get a boost from nicotine as well, including temporary enhancements in learning, memory, processing speed, and attention. Several studies have examined spatial working memorythe ability to hold information in the brain and recall it when prompted. Spatial working memory is involved in planning, judgment, and attentiontasks that people with schizophrenia find difficult. Schizophrenia patients who smoked or who received nasal spray nicotine temporarily enhanced their spatial working memory, and those who quit had further impairments.
Smoking also may help decrease medication side effects and other symptoms of schizophrenia. According to one study, receiving nicotine through a skin patch reversed the cognitive slowing associated with haloperidol, a common drug for schizophrenia. Nicotine may improve lack of motivation and indifference in this population, as well. However, it remains unclear if nicotine minimizes hallucinations and delusions, and some studies have reported that people with schizophrenia who quit smoking did not experience worsening of their symptoms.
Nicotine may help lessen some symptoms of schizophrenia by increasing deficient levels of the chemical dopaminewhich is thought to regulate key emotional responsesin areas of the brain such as the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex. The nucleus accumbens is involved in reward and pleasure, and the prefrontal cortex organizes complex cognitive and social behaviors.
Since evidence shows that nicotine positively affects schizophrenia, scientists are exploring drugs that act like nicotine in the brain but do not have adverse health consequences. Researchers now are working on safer and less toxic drugs that potentially could enhance cognition. These drugs may help treat schizophrenia.
One type of nicotinic receptor, known as the alpha-7 receptor, is proving to be a major target for schizophrenia drug development. These receptors are found in brain regions important for cognition, including the cortex and hippocampus. Already, scientists have completed preliminary tests of drugs for schizophrenic nonsmokers based on a toxin, called anabaseine, found in marine worms and ants. Subjects showed improved sensory processing and cognition, especially attention.
Scientists continue to research the biology and function of different nicotinic receptors. As knowledge advances, so will development of new and safer drugs to help treat schizophrenia. Hopefully, better symptom control also will lessen the desire for nicotine, and help people with schizophrenia snuff out smoking.
How did you give up smoking the nicotine patches out for many many years now do have the side effect of causing very vivid dreams does mess around with some peoples sleeping patterns it is a funky experience to me...
Was a theory that I came across on the net that nicotine does reduce effective levels of med treatment.
cigarettes are evil don't kid yourself. you get more benefit from the anxiety breathing method anxiety being a major part of scitz http://www.anxietyaustralia.com.au/treatment/breathing.shtml remind you of anything it's having a smoke without the nicotine honestly all of your above sounds like proper gander from ciggy companies to sell more smokes.
I do have to point out again I am a smoker myself and did just stub one out. I'm not some health freak that's never smoked one in there life but think it's all rubbish from my own experience and what things I've learned
You're right max, it does make certain antipsychotics less effective. Cigarette smoke has a certain enzyme in it that increases metabolism of certain antipsychotics i.e. makes it so that less medication gets through to you. The most affected is Clozapine/Clozaril, though Olanzapine/Zyprexa is another. So if you start smoking on Clozapine, you're going to have to increase the dose. If you stop smoking whilst taking it, you're going to have to reduce the dose.
There is some evidence that it also improves cognition and makes voices more bearable, etc. And also that it reduces the stiffness, tremors, etc. from medication.
In the DSM-IV-TR, the statistics are that up to 90% of people with schizophrenia are regular cigarette smokers.
I had a very hard time stopping, but managed it in the end.
Since I finished my course requirements at the end of 2011, I wanted to quit smoking again. Even with the crutch of nicotine gum, my first 5 nights of not smoking were horrible - I spent so many hours crying and I felt like I could not talk to anyone or even go outside. I cracked after I made it through the first week and smoked two ultra-lights while out with a friend and I have to admit, I felt normalized a bit having done so.
My mom told me something similar about smoking and schizophrenia years ago and I am still not sure if I am completely convinced. I do remember often thinking that I was less happy nd to some degree, less functional, when I was not smoking, but I still think it would be different if I could get a few consecutive, smoke-free years under my belt. I do still love smoking, but I don't think I could enjoy it occasionally (like some people I know) without it quickly turning into a daily habit again.