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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 1998;279:1857.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Breaking up is hard to do—especially for smokers who seek to sever their relationship with nicotine. Now, a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) may provide some clues as to why many people find quitting the smoking habit so difficult and may suggest better ways of treating nicotine withdrawal (Nature. 1998;393:76-79).

Abrupt withdrawal from chronic nicotine exposure induces the same kind of withdrawal reaction in the brain's pleasure circuits seen with cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, and alcohol, according to animal studies conducted by researchers from the Scripps Research Institute.

Rats were given steady doses of nicotine to produce blood levels equivalent to those of a person smoking 1 packs of cigarettes a day for 1 week. To measure the sensitivity of the rats' brains to pleasurable stimulation, the researchers allowed the rats to self-administer pulses of electricity in the lateral hypothalamus, part . . . [Full Text of this Article]