I have been interested in smoking and rheumatic
diseases for quite a while. Some of my blog posts are only in German as I use
these texts also for real life patient education and information. About 10
years ago we developed a leaflet for patient to promote smoking cessation. Some
did und some had problems with weight gain. As weight gain is a constant
problem in a setting, where steroids are used, I’m very concerned about this
issue.
Today I stumbled upon a study by L. Biedermann and
colleagues: “Smoking cessation induces
profound changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota in humans.” They
observed “profound shifts in the microbial composition after smoking cessation”
and “an increase in microbial diversity.” They concluded: “These results
indicate that smoking is an environmental factor modulating the composition of
human gut microbiota. The observed changes after smoking cessation revealed to
be similar to the previously reported differences in obese compared to lean
humans and mice respectively, suggesting a potential pathogenetic link between
weight gain and smoking cessation.”
I think the paper is important not only as there is an
explanation for the weight gain and a rehabilitation of people, who didn’t gain
weight because of consuming more sweets, but it might also lead to therapies
that actively change the composition of the intestinal microbiota. If this
would help people, who quit smoking, maybe it could also help obese people.
Links:
Abstract on Pubmed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23516617
Full article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597605/
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2011/11/fibromyalgia-and-smoking.html
30.08.2013
Besides the above mentioned changes in the intestinal
microbiota there are other mechanism involved as well, which will lead to
weight gain. Nicotine suppresses appetite. Food might act as a replacement for smoking. Sweets
and nicotine act on dopaminergic receptors in the brain, which make us feel
good.
I really thankful to you for this great read!! You did a great study about smoking, keep it up.
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