Smokers more likely to suffer from the blues

Washington, April 25 : Smokers are 41 per cent more likely to suffer from depression than those that have never had a puff, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Navarra, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Harvard School of Public Health (USA) have linked depression to tobacco use after completing a six-year study with 8,556 participants.

"Over the course of the tracking and data collection stage, 190 smokers who initially did not present depression were diagnosed with this disease by a doctor," said Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez, director of the research project and Chair Professor of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health. "In addition, 65 who were not diagnosed indicated that they were taking antidepressants during this period," he added.

Also, he points to "genetic and/or environmental disposition, which will increase the probability that the tobacco habit is retained and that the user will suffer depression as an independent issue."

The study indicated that those who had given up tobacco more than a decade previously have a lesser probability of developing depression than those who have never smoked.

Besides this, the researchers found that an increase in tobacco use was correlated with a lessening of physical activity in the smoker's free time.

ANI