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CHICAGO (IslamOnline) - In a recent study, scientists found that smoking could be a cause of depression, contrary to what was once believed that smoking was a result of depression. The findings were published in Pediatrics, the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The researchers speculated that nicotine, or other smoking byproducts, might have a depressive effect on the central nervous system. "The thing that bolsters the idea is that there is evidence that anti-depressant drugs are helpful in treating nicotine addiction," said Dr. Elizabeth Goodman, an adolescent-medicine specialist at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati, who led the study. The study analyzed data from teens questioned in 1995 and 1996 in a U.S. study on adolescent health. It included 8,704 teens that were not initially depressed, and 6,947 teens who were not initially smokers. Evidence suggesting depression was a cause rather than a result of smoking evaporated when researchers took into account other factors that may have prompted the teens to start smoking, such as friends' use of tobacco and poor grades. After a year's time, 4.8% of the nonsmokers had developed depressed symptoms compared with 12% of those who initially smoked at least a pack a day. Previous work of the AAP has indicated that 90% of all smokers begin the habit during their teens. Over the past 10 years, the number of smokers has decreased in every age group except teenagers. And among teens, the number of young women smokers has increased. |
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