A new research linked hyperactivity and impulsiveness to a lower chance of people suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) giving up smoking. The new survey followed 583 smoking adults over a period of 8 weeks, during which time the participants, 43 of which were clinically diagnosed with ADHD, were given advice on why they should drop smoking, nicotine gum and buproprion, a specific drug.

 

Out of the patients with no ADHD symptoms, 55 percent managed to quit smoking during the study, which, in the real world, would be a real achievement. The ADHD group, which was divided into two separate categories – those suffering from inattention and those with hyperactivity – exhibited significantly different results.

 

While ADHD patients suffering from inattention displayed a 54 percent chance of giving up smoking, a percentage very similar to that obtained by people who were not diagnosed with the syndrome, those who had hyperactivity exhibited a far lower tendency of renouncing their habit.

 

"Greater understanding of the divergent associations that exist between the different kinds of A.D.H.D. have important public health consequences for smoking cessation and decreased tobacco-related mortality in this population," said Lirio Covey, PhD, a professor of clinical psychology at both the Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, who is also the lead author of the current study.

 

He went on to say that "The effect of ADHD by itself on smoking cessation has rarely been examined; the effects of the individual ADHD symptoms on smoking cessation, even less so. To our knowledge, the effects of inattention or hyperactivity at baseline as separate domains of A.D.H.D. on cessation treatment outcome have never been examined. The knowledge gained from further study of how these early onset disorders of nicotine dependency and ADHD are related could lead to early prevention of either one or both of these conditions."