The team at King’s found that 57 percent of people arriving at mental health services with their first psychotic episode were smokers, greater than general population average.
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However, the study acknowledges the difficulty of linking cause and effect with another theory with a link possible between smoking and the presence of excess dopamine, a chemical produced by the brain responsible for transmitting signals in the nerves.
A recent smoking study helmed by a group of scientists from Kings College in London suggests that excessive dopamine through nicotine exposure can pose risks of developing serious mental illnesses among chain-smokers.
Meanwhile, the latest study still requires longer-term investigation about the association between daily smoking, sporadic smoking, nicotine dependence and the development of psychotic disorders.
We have known for some time the people suffering from schizophrenia and other psychoses smoke more than the general population.
But a new research has shown that smoking can triple the chances of developing psychosis. The higher rate of smoking among patients diagnosed with schizophrenia was previously thought to be explained by self medication – researchers thought smoking was used by patients to help them relax.
However, if this were the case, researchers would expect the rates of smoking to increase only after an individual had developed psychosis. But there is much debate about whether this is causal or whether there may be shared genes which predispose people to both cannabis use and schizophrenia. The findings challenge the common belief that people with the disorder were more likely to resort to smoking as a form of self-medication to ease the distress of hallucination. Referring to this type of study, lead researcher Dr. James McCabe stated, “It’s very difficult to establish causation”.
The team stressed they had not conclusively proven that smoking causes psychosis, saying further research must be done.
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The researchers said nicotine altered levels of the brain chemical dopamine, which has already been implicated in the psychosis. An excess in dopamine is the best explanation for the cause of psychotic diseases like schizophrenia. He added that although the link is hard to prove “without a randomized trial”, this could be the start for targeting public health measures to the mentally ill. This study was also connected with past research which suggests that there is also a link between psychosis and cannabis consumption, particularly in the case of patients who have depression.
