• April 19, 2024

Smoking is addictive and is the cause of a long list of diseases such as lung cancer , but it affects men and women differently due to the process it generates in the brain of each one.

Thus, the release of dopamine in men dependent on nicotine when smoking is consistent and rapid in ventral striate , while in women it is in the dorsal putamen , reveals a study of Yale University .

The above is reflected in the fact that women are more affected by the sensation of smoke , like the taste and smell of smoke, making them need a cigarette in the hand (although it is low in nicotine) to be able to "give the blow" and drop the cigarette.

For their part, men are affected by the nicotine in itself, which means that although they can do without a cigar, they resort to tobacco chewable. They do not care what the smoking activity brings, but get the substance that their body asks for.

Other differences

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) indicates that women smoke fewer cigarettes per day, tend to use those that are low in nicotine and do not inhale as deeply as men.

One of the big differences in how it affects the smoking men and women are less likely to leave the habit, and also that if they do, they are more likely to suffer relapse affirms the NIDA.

This confirms that strategies that focus on drug reward tend to work better for men. But in women the treatment should be directed to eradicate the reasons why they do it, such as stress, "says Kelly Cosgrove , author of the study of Yale University .

Damage to health

The smoking increases the risk of having a vascular brain accident , and it causes deadly diseases like pneumonia , emphysema and lung cancer, indicates the National Health Service .

It is estimated that 40% of men in the world smoke , compared to 9% of women, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) .