| Women stand a better chance of successfully | | | | effect on mood, as evidenced by the |
| quitting smoking if they stop during the later | | | | well-documented premenstrual syndrome, or PMS. |
| phase of their monthly menstrual cycle, according | | | | In addition to mood factors, the researchers |
| to new research conducted at the University of | | | | suggested that female hormones might play a |
| Minnesota and published in the May 2008 edition of | | | | role in the speed with which nicotine is |
| the journal Addiction. | | | | metabolized. |
| Sharon Allen and co-workers discovered that | | | | The study of 200 female smokers was |
| women who quit smoking right before they start | | | | conducted by the Tobacco Use Research Center |
| to ovulate--the so-called follicular stage--relapsed | | | | at the University of Minnesota. Earlier work by the |
| more often than women who quit during the | | | | group, published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, |
| "luteal" stage, defined as the two weeks between | | | | had established a strong suspicion that "withdrawal |
| ovulation and the start of a new cycle. In the | | | | symptomatology in short-term smoking cessation |
| study, 86 percent of women who gave up | | | | in women is increased in the late luteal phase |
| smoking during the follicular phase relapsed during | | | | when pre-menstrual symptomatology is the |
| the first 30 days, compared to 66 per cent of | | | | highest." The group concluded that "it seems |
| women who quit during the later luteal phase. | | | | prudent to recommend that women quit during |
| "Our findings support an important role for ovarian | | | | the follicular phase of their cycle." |
| hormones in nicotine addiction and smoking | | | | In short, the work suggests that female smokers |
| cessation," the authors wrote. | | | | would be well advised not to inaugurate a quit |
| The ebb and flow of estrogen and progesterone | | | | attempt in the ten days preceding ovulation. |
| during the menstrual cycle can have a direct | | | | |