Austrian Medical University: Nicotine addiction differs in men, women

Women smoke cigarettes more often due to stressful situations and begin earlier in life, while men tend to smoke when they are content, research from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria has revealed. Ahead of the annual meeting for the Austrian Society of Gender Medicine on Friday, Andjela Baewert from the University's Clinic for Pschiatry and Psychotherapy said women have a different form of nicotine dependence, and as they process the drug faster they tend to feel nicotine withdrawal sooner, making it harder to give up the addiction. This then leads to increased incidences of depression, anxiety disorders, and insonmia, and an increased relapse rate, Der Standard newspaper reported. In addition women have a higher association between smoking and weight regulation and fear that stopping smoking will increase their appetite. Baewert said addictions are worse the earlier one begins smoking, and said amongst 15-year-olds in Austria 21 percent of girls smoke, compared to 19 percent of boys, while current Europe-wide figures for adults have male smoker numbers at a much higher rate. Baewert called for gender issues to be included in prevention, treatment, and care measures. Additionally she called for a general ban on smoking in restaurants to protect minors, saying that the need to go outside to smoke cigarettes would lower the frequency of consumption.