Weight loss through smoking

摘要

Anyone who has tried to stop smoking knows that quitting is frequently followed by a rapid weight gain1 of some 4 or 5 kilograms, and as much as 13 kilograms. It isn't surprising, therefore, that despite a general decrease in the rates of smoking within the past decade2, it remains prevalent in professions such as acting and modelling, in which being thin is often a job requirement. Indeed, the prospect of a gain in weight is a major deterrent to many smokers who want to quit but who see it either as a threat to their appearance or, wrongly3, as a greater threat to their health than smoking. Writing in Science, Mineur et al.~4 shed light on the molecular targets of nicotine in the brain that are responsible for the compounds ability to suppress appetite. Their data may lead to alternative - healthy - ways of maintaining reduced body weight.