Smoking affects good night's sleep too

Here is a wake-up call. Smoking ruins productive sleep, leading to cognitive dysfunction, mood disorders, depression and anxiety.

"This study has found a common pathway whereby cigarette smoke impacts both pulmonary and neurophysiological function. Further, the results suggest the possible therapeutic value of targeting this pathway with compounds that could improve both lung and brain functions in smokers," said Irfan Rahman, a researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in Rochester, New York.

Rahman and his team found that tobacco smoke affects clock gene expression rhythms in the lung by producing parallel inflammation and depressed levels of brain locomotor activity. A similar reduction was seen in lung tissue from human smokers and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

They placed two groups of mice in smoking chambers for short-term and long-term tobacco inhalation. One of the groups was exposed to clean air only and the other was exposed to different numbers of cigarettes during the day, said the study published in The FASEB Journal.

Researchers found that mice in smoking chambers were considerably less active following smoke exposure.

"If you only stick to one New Year's resolution this year, make it quitting smoking," chuckled Gerald Weissmann, editor of The FASEB Journal.