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http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/07/04/youthsmoking.html
Some young people show signs of addiction after inhaling just one cigarette, say U.S. researchers.
In a four-year study of more than 1,200 sixth-grade students in Massachusetts, 10 per cent of those who smoked were addicted within two days of first inhaling, and another 25 per cent were hooked within a month.
Among the 217 students who had smoked, just over half became addicted.
Symptoms of nicotine addiction can appear when young people are smoking as little as one cigarette per month, the study found.
"Laboratory experiments confirm that nicotine alters the structure and function of the brain within a day of the very first dose. In humans, nicotine-induced alterations in the brain can trigger addiction with the first cigarette," Joseph R. DiFranza, a professor of family medicine & community health, said in a news release.
Some young people show signs of addiction after inhaling just one cigarette, say U.S. researchers.
In a four-year study of more than 1,200 sixth-grade students in Massachusetts, 10 per cent of those who smoked were addicted within two days of first inhaling, and another 25 per cent were hooked within a month.
Among the 217 students who had smoked, just over half became addicted.
Symptoms of nicotine addiction can appear when young people are smoking as little as one cigarette per month, the study found.
"Laboratory experiments confirm that nicotine alters the structure and function of the brain within a day of the very first dose. In humans, nicotine-induced alterations in the brain can trigger addiction with the first cigarette," Joseph R. DiFranza, a professor of family medicine & community health, said in a news release.