Smoking Doesn't Make You Happy
March 7, 2008
If you are planning to ignore the messages of national No Smoking Day on 12th
March by claiming that smoking is one of the few pleasures left to you, then
recent research from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England
may make you think again.
Extensive research carried out by Dr Iain Lang at the Peninsula Medical School
looked at the relationship between smoking and psychological wellbeing. Dr Lang
and colleagues used a measure of quality of life called the CASP-19 and found
that smokers experienced lower average levels of pleasure and life satisfaction
compared with non-smokers. The difference was even more pronounced in smokers
from lower socio-economic groups.
In short - smoking doesn't make you happy.
Dr. Lang and his team carried out a study involving 9176 individuals aged 50 or
over, who took part in ELSA, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The
studies for the research categorised people as never-smokers, ex-smokers and
current smokers, and used household wealth as an indicator for socio-economic
position.
Said Dr. Lang: "We found no evidence to support the claim that smoking is
associated with pleasure, either in people from lower socio-economic groups or
in the general population."
He added: "People may feel like they're getting pleasure when they smoke a
cigarette but in fact smokers are likely to be less happy overall - the pleasure
they feel from having a smoke comes only because they're addicted. These results
show smoking doesn't make you happy - in fact, it is associated with poorer
overall quality of life. Anyone thinking of giving up smoking should understand
that quitting will be better for them in terms of their well-being - as well as
their physical health - in the long-run."
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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More information is available by logging on at http://www.pms.ac.uk/.
The Peninsula Medical School is a joint entity of the University
of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and the NHS in the South West of England,
and a partner of the Combined Universities in Cornwall. The Peninsula Medical
School has created for itself an excellent national and international reputation
for groundbreaking research in the areas of diabetes and obesity, neurological
disease, child development and ageing, clinical education and health technology
assessment.
Source: Andrew Gould
The Peninsula
College of Medicine and Dentistry
Medical News Today: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
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