Chain smoking explained

Chain smoking is the practice of smoking several cigarettes in succession, sometimes using the ember of a finishing cigarette to light the next. The term chain smoker often also refers to a person who smokes relatively constantly, though not necessarily chaining each cigarette. The term applies primarily to cigarettes, although it can be used to describe incessant cigar and pipe smoking as well as vaping. It is a common indicator of addiction.^[1]

Causes

Many people chain-smoke when drinking alcoholic beverages, because alcohol potentiates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, leading to re-sensitization, hence inducing a craving.^[2]

The extent to which chain smoking is driven by nicotine dependence has been studied. It does not seem that the amount of nicotine delivered is a significant factor, as the puff volume correlates poorly with the frequency of cigarette consumption.^[3]

Clinical use

Chain smoking is given as an example of excessive addictive behavior in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.^[4] It may be used as a form of aversion therapy for smokers who are unused to such heavy smoking, inducing them to give up altogether.^[5]

Ventilation

Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) professionals claim that an airflow of about 30 cubic meters per minute per smoker is required to maintain satisfactory air quality when the smokers are chain smoking.^[6] However, research confirms that current HVAC systems, while important for general air quality, cannot control exposure to secondhand smoke.^[7]

Notable chain smokers

• Walt Disney, American animator and film producer, who died of lung cancer aged 65
• George Formby, English actor, who died of heart attack aged 56
• Steve McQueen, American actor and racing driver, who died of cancer aged 50
• J. Robert Oppenheimer, American theoretical physicist, who died of throat cancer aged 62
• Renaud Séchan, French singer
• Mao Zedong, Chinese politician, who died of heart attacks aged 82

See also

• Binge drinking
• Health effects of tobacco
• Tobacco smoking

References

Notes and References

1. Book: Charles, Gerras . The Encyclopedia of Common Diseases. 17 . 1976 . Rodale Press . 978-0-87857-113-0.
2. 10.1080/14622200310001656957 . Psychopharmacological interactions between nicotine and ethanol . Rose . J. . Brauer . L. . Behm . F. . Cramblett . M. . Nicotine & Tobacco Research . 2004 . 6 . 1 . 133–44 . 14982697.
3. 10.1016/0091-3057(92)90535-N . Effects of smoking abstinence and chain-smoking on puffing topography and diurnal nicotine exposure . Kolonen . S. . Tuomisto . J. . Puustinen . P. . Airaksinen . M. M. . . 1992 . 42 . 327–32 . 2 . 1631188. 30397734 .
4. Book: Helen, Keane . What's Wrong with Addiction? . 2002 . 100 . Melbourne University Publish . 978-0-522-84991-2.
5. Book: Cocores, James . The Clinical Management of Nicotine Dependence . 1991 . Springer-Verlag . 978-0-387-97464-4 .
6. Book: Rock, Brian A. . Ventilation for Environmental Tobacco Smoke . 13 January 2006 . Elsevier Science . 978-0-08-052539-6. 48 .
7. Book: The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General . 92 . Office of the Surgeon General, US Department of Health and Human Services. 2006 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20090205173605/http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/report/fullreport.pdf . 2009-02-05 .