The Association Between Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Nicotine Use among Medical students
Abdelrahman Atef Shafeq;
Abstract
ince tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable deaths in Western societies so understanding the link between smoking and ADHD is very important to deal with such hazardous behavior.
People suffering from ADHD show higher rates of nicotine dependence than people who do not experience ADHD-symptoms. Why this happens is currently not fully understood. Several explanations were discussed here. In order to get a better grasp on this relationship, the merits and limitations of the most common explanations, self-medication, and cognitive and social factors were discussed here.
The self-medication theory shows great theoretical strength in that the known effects of nicotine have been shown to better cognitive and attentional deficits, which are common to ADHD. Several studies showed at least some evidence underlining the possibility of self-medication for ADHD-smokers.
More evidence for self-medication has been found in the differences in smoking habits linked to specific symptom severity. In general, most of the evidence points to more severe inattention problems being linked to higher smoking rates. This finding could be explained from a self-medication point of view. Nicotine is known to have a positive influence on attention. Since more inattentive ADHD-patients seem more likely to smoke, they possibly use this as a way to overcome their inattentiveness.
Results from studies to the neurological background of smoking and ADHD are mixed. On the one hand it seems that several processes which are over reactive in an ADHD-brain might be calmed through nicotine intake, which may be interpreted as self-medication. On the other hand it has been implied that the direct reward of smoking might be larger because of a badly functioning dopamine system. This would imply that not self-medication, but over rewarding of nicotine causes higher smoking rates among ADHD-patients.
Thus when a person with ADHD therefore quits smoking, it is likely that he or she will experience more severe withdrawal effects in that the symptoms of his/her ADHD will
People suffering from ADHD show higher rates of nicotine dependence than people who do not experience ADHD-symptoms. Why this happens is currently not fully understood. Several explanations were discussed here. In order to get a better grasp on this relationship, the merits and limitations of the most common explanations, self-medication, and cognitive and social factors were discussed here.
The self-medication theory shows great theoretical strength in that the known effects of nicotine have been shown to better cognitive and attentional deficits, which are common to ADHD. Several studies showed at least some evidence underlining the possibility of self-medication for ADHD-smokers.
More evidence for self-medication has been found in the differences in smoking habits linked to specific symptom severity. In general, most of the evidence points to more severe inattention problems being linked to higher smoking rates. This finding could be explained from a self-medication point of view. Nicotine is known to have a positive influence on attention. Since more inattentive ADHD-patients seem more likely to smoke, they possibly use this as a way to overcome their inattentiveness.
Results from studies to the neurological background of smoking and ADHD are mixed. On the one hand it seems that several processes which are over reactive in an ADHD-brain might be calmed through nicotine intake, which may be interpreted as self-medication. On the other hand it has been implied that the direct reward of smoking might be larger because of a badly functioning dopamine system. This would imply that not self-medication, but over rewarding of nicotine causes higher smoking rates among ADHD-patients.
Thus when a person with ADHD therefore quits smoking, it is likely that he or she will experience more severe withdrawal effects in that the symptoms of his/her ADHD will
Other data
| Title | The Association Between Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Nicotine Use among Medical students | Other Titles | العلاقة بين مرض فرط الحركة وقلة الانتباه في الراشدين واستخدام النيكوتين في طلاب الطب | Authors | Abdelrahman Atef Shafeq | Issue Date | 2017 |
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