Effect of exercise on cigarette cravings and ad libitum smoking following concurrent stressors

The health consequences of smoking are well documented, yet quit rates are modest. While exercise has supported decreased cravings and withdrawal symptoms in temporarily abstinent smokers, it has yet to be applied when smokers are experiencing concurrent stressors. This study examined the effect of an acute bout of moderate intensity exercise on cravings (primary outcome) and ad libitum smoking (secondary outcome) following concurrent stressors (i.e., temporary abstinence and environmental manipulation—Stroop cognitive task + cue-elicited smoking stimuli). Twenty-five smokers (> 10 cig/day; Mean age = 37.4 years) were randomized into either exercise (n = 12) or passive sitting conditions. A repeated measure (RM) ANOVA showed that psychological withdrawal symptoms (a measure of distress) were significantly exacerbated after temporary abstinence and then again after the environmental manipulation for all participants (p < .0001, η² = .50). Furthermore, a treatment by time RM ANOVA revealed decreases in psychological withdrawal symptoms for only the exercise condition (p < .001, η² = .42). A treatment by time RM ANOVA also revealed craving reductions for only the exercise condition (p < .0001, η² = .82). Exercise had no effect on ad libitum smoking. This is the first study to use a lab-based scenario with high ecological validity to show that an acute bout of exercise can reduce cravings following concurrent stressors. Future work is now needed where momentary assessment is used in people's natural environment to examine changes in cigarette cravings following acute bouts of exercise.     

Cutting down: insights from qualitative studies of smoking in pregnancy

The adverse effects of smoking in pregnancy are minimised if the mother quits completely in early pregnancy. Smokers are therefore advised to quit abruptly; cutting down is not recommended either as a method of, or alternative to, quitting. However, most pregnant smokers do not quit and cutting down is widely reported. Evidence comes primarily from quantitative studies; qualitative research has contributed little to understandings of cigarette consumption in pregnancy. In consequence, little is known about the place and meaning of cutting down for pregnant smokers. The paper investigates this important dimension of maternal smoking. It explores perceptions and experiences of cutting down among pregnant smokers by examining data from a systematic review of qualitative studies of smoking in pregnancy. The studies were located in high‐income countries and published between 1970 and 2012. Twenty‐six studies, reported in 29 papers, were included, representing over 640 women. Meta‐ethnography guided the analysis and synthesis. Data (participants' accounts and authors' interpretations) were extracted and coded; codes were progressively combined to identify overarching themes (‘lines of argument’). Running through the lines of argument was evidence on cutting down; the paper presents and analyses this evidence. The analysis indicates that cutting down figured centrally as both a method of quitting and, for persistent smokers, a method of harm reduction. While pregnant women were aware that official advice was to quit abruptly, cutting down was seen as a positive behaviour change in often‐difficult domestic circumstances, and one that health professionals condoned. Our findings suggest that cutting down in pregnancy, as an aid and an alternative to quitting, requires greater recognition if healthcare and tobacco control policies are to be sensitive to the perspectives and circumstances of pregnant smokers.     

Clinical similarities in siblings with schizophrenia

Three symptom groups, identified by factor analysis of schizophrenic symptoms, together with other clinical variables, were compared among 80 sibships (169 individuals), containing two or more members affected with schizophrenia. The three factors, which were labelled negative symptom, disorganization, and reality distortion, all showed a moderate but significant degree of correlation between siblings. Age at onset was also significantly correlated. Such a familial pattern of clinical heterogeneity suggests underlying common familial aetiologies that influence the clinical form of the disorder. Whether these are genetic or environmental requires further investigation. This finding confers some external validation on the three factor model. It may be feasible to develop familial symptom patterns as the basis for an a priori approach to linkage heterogeneity. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Schwann cells as underestimated,major players in human skin physiology and pathology

Schwann cells (SCs) have long been recognized for their ability to support repair and promote axon regeneration following injury to the peripheral nervous system. In response to nerve injury, they rapidly dedifferentiate into a precursor-like state, secrete an array of inflammatory mediators and growth factors, proliferate, undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal-like transformation to facilitate migration, phagocytose cellular debris and remodel the extracellular environment to promote regeneration of axons through the site of injury. However, even though a cutaneous role for SCs is becoming increasingly recognized, we argue in this Viewpoint essay that the likely complex functions of SCs in skin physiology and pathology beyond skin sensation and nerve repair deserve more attention and systemic research than they have received so far. For example, SCs promote wound healing, disseminate infection in leprosy, support the growth of neurofibromas/schwannomas and facilitate/accelerate the growth and invasion of melanoma. Despite representing a major dermal cell population, comparatively little is still known about the role of SCs in other dermatoses. To quintessentially illustrate the opportunities that promise to arise from a new skin research focus on SCs, we focus on two dermatoses that are not traditionally associated with SCs, that is, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD), since both show distinct SC changes along with continuous nerve fibre degeneration and regeneration, and an impact of denervation on skin lesions. Specifically, we critically discuss the hypothesis that repeated activation of the SC repair programme occurs in and contributes to psoriasis and AD and delineate experimental approaches how to probe this clinically relevant hypothesis.