One cigarette may trigger smoking urge years later

NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) Preteens who have tried smoking just once have an increased risk of becoming a regular smoker years later, UK researchers report in their study, published in the journal Tobacco Control.

Dr Jennifer Fidler of University College London and her colleagues found that young people who reported trying just one cigarette at age 11 were twice as likely to become regular smokers by age 14, even if they didn't have a single puff in the intervening years.

While there are many possible explanations for the findings, Fidler told Reuters Health, ''I think there's a lot to be said for the fact that having smoked at an early age breaks down barriers which might prevent a person from trying cigarettes later on.'' For example, she notes, kids who've had a first puff may feel more comfortable holding a cigarette and less intimidated about smoking in front of their peers.

''The sort of person whose likely to try cigarettes at a very young age is also the sort of person who's likely to try it again at a later time point, when the environmental situation might be better,'' Fidler added.

She and her colleagues also suggest that a first cigarette might change reward pathways in the brain, making a person more vulnerable to the effects of nicotine later on -- what they term a ''sleeper effect,'' or ''period of dormant vulnerability.'' No matter what the reason, it may be ''more important to try and prevent children from trying a first cigarette than we previously thought,'' Fidler said.

Fidler and her team followed an ethnically and economically diverse group of nearly 2,000 students who completed questionnaires annually from age 11 to age 16. Fourteen per cent reported that they tried smoking at age 11. The next year, these children were more than six times as likely as those who hadn't smoked to be regular smokers.

The increased risk gradually fell, but even 3 years later, at age 14, teens who had tried cigarettes once as 11-year-olds were still more than twice as likely to be smoking regularly.

The findings show, Fidler said, that it's crucial to direct anti-smoking interventions toward children who admit to having experimented with cigarettes. ''There is a group of smokers out there who appear to be nonsmokers but they have tried smoking once several years ago, and we know now that they are more vulnerable to smoking.'' REUTERS SI PM1026