Alcohol-dependent people quickly process nicotine in their bodies and that may make it more difficult to quit smoking, suggests a small study of Polish men.
When nicotine metabolism is higher, people tend to have a harder time quitting smoking, Gubner told Reuters Health by phone.
If two people are trying to quit smoking and using a nicotine patch, the person with a faster nicotine metabolism will clear the chemical from their body faster and feel the desire to smoke again sooner, he said.
The researchers write in Drug and Alcohol Dependence online April 14 that heavy alcohol use may trigger the enzyme primarily responsible for metabolizing nicotine. And faster nicotine processing could explain the poor rates of quitting smoking among people who are alcohol dependent.
The results might be useful for helping recovering alcoholics quit smoking, they add. More research is needed to know if nicotine replacement therapy is more effective after people stop heavy drinking, however.
Quitting alcohol and quitting smoking are complicated undertakings, and nicotine and alcohol could have some synergistic effects on reward and pleasure, Gubner said. Also, heavy drinking can affect decision-making, including the decision to smoke less or not at all, how sad!!!
REFERENCE : DRUG ALCOHOL DEPENDENCY, 2016.
