Health

Depression causes smoking
by Claudia Sonea

Recent studies revealed the fact that most of the pregnant women are smoking despite that they know it causes the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, and low birth weight, death from SIDS, and learning and behavior disorders. Dr. Jan Blalock of the University of Texas M.D Anderson Cancer Center says that is futile to appeal to old messages like quite for your baby and that is why he created the program Baby Steps; to find solutions to women's problems, because depression is the one causing the need to smoke and it must be treated. Dr. Renee Goodwin, a Columbia University epidemiologist, did a study on 1500 women and discovered that more than 22 percent smoked during pregnancy and about 12 percent were classified as nicotine-dependent. 30 percent had a mental health disorder and the vast majority suffered depression. In the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology she stated that the smokers who quit during pregnancy are about three times as likely to have a disorder. According to Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse the reason is that Nicotine and other chemicals in cigarette smoke can act like weak antidepressants. The smoking habit is more a disease than a choice and for those that want to get rid of the habit it gets worst due to the sadness, lethargy or other depression symptoms. Texas' Project Baby Steps tries to find out some therapy methods because the antidepressants are not yet safe and there is no certitude that will not affect the pregnancy. The purpose is to help the vulnerable group to solve some of the problems they have. Goodwin warns that it is no longer enough only to inform about the risk and that treatment programs should be created.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070910/ap_on_he_me/healthbeat_pregnant_smokers;_ylt=AlJFsHFMGLphnG7tKvaOnY.s0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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posted by Blog TechSource @ 5:03 PM