Cigarette Smoking, Nicotine, and Body Weight

Smokers generally gain weight when they quit smoking; this weight gain can lessen some of the health benefits of quitting smoking. We review the effectiveness of behavioral and pharmacological approaches to mitigating weight gain in the context of quitting smoking and consider mechanisms that could potentially account for the effects of smoking and nicotine on body weight. Understanding how nicotine affects body weight may lead to novel pharmacological and behavioral interventions for obesity as well as concurrent obesity and nicotine dependence. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2011) 90 1, 164–168. doi:10.1038/clpt.2011.105