Smoking cessation benefits persist in spite of weight gain in patients with mental illness
"These findings highlight the importance of smoking cessation among this vulnerable population," says Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH, of the MGH Department of Medicine, lead and corresponding author of the report. "But they also indicate that continued weight gain associated with tobacco cessation is likely to contribute to a rise in the already high rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension among people with serious mental illness." An increased risk of cardiovascular disease is a primary cause of the greatly reduced life expectancy -- up to 25 years less than the general population -- among those with serious mental illness. Both obesity and smoking are at least twice as high among adults with mental illness, and other risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and elevated cholesterol levels are also more common. While a 2013 study led by another MGH research team found that the health benefits of quitting smoking were not eliminated by resultant weight gain, par...