*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on PsychCentral.
New research suggests that a young person smoking at least 10 cigarettes a day increases the risk of psychosis when compared to non-smoking young people.
The risk is also raised if the smoking starts before the age of 13.
Finnish researchers analyzed a comprehensive database of over 9,000 individuals born in North Finland in 1986. The results were recently published in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.
“This was an extensive longitudinal study based on the general population. It revealed that daily and heavy smoking are independently linked to the subsequent risk of psychoses, even when accounting for previous psychotic experiences, the use of alcohol and drugs, substance abuse, and the parents’ history of psychoses.
Smoking begun at an early age was a particularly significant risk factor. Based on the results, prevention of adolescent smoking is likely to have positive effects on the mental health of the population in later life,” said study leader and Academy Research Fellow, Professor Jouko Miettunen.
The aim of the study was to investigate whether young people’s daily cigarette smoking is associated with a risk of psychoses, after accounting for several known, confounding factors, such as alcohol and drug use, the hereditary taint of psychoses and early symptoms of psychosis.
Fifteen-sixteen year-old members of the 1986 cohort were invited to participate in a follow-up study carried out in 2001-2002. The final sample included 6,081 subjects who answered questions on psychotic experiences and alcohol and drug use. The follow-up continued until the subjects had reached the age of 30.
The research team has also conducted a study on cannabis use, which has been published in The British Journal of Psychiatry. That study found that teenage cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of psychosis. It also showed that people who had used cannabis and had psychotic experiences early in life experienced more psychoses during the period of study.
“We found that young people who had used cannabis at least five times had a heightened risk of psychoses during the follow-up, even when accounting for previous psychotic experiences, use of alcohol and drugs and the parents’ history of psychoses.
The two studies were part of Jouko Miettunen’s research project “Trends and interactions of risk factors in psychotic disorders – Northern Finland birth cohort studies 1966 and 1986”, which was funded by the Academy of Finland.
Source: PsychCentral
https://psychcentral.com/news/2018/03/13/smoking-tied-to-higher-risk-of-psychosis-in-youth/133690.html