Heavy Smokers with Schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia who are heavy cigarette smokers are more likely to use substances such as alcohol than are those with the disease who are non–heavy smokers. Heavy smokers also are more likely to have elevated cholesterol, a retrospective analysis of 745 patient records has found. In light of the health risks associated with heavy smoking and elevated cholesterol, "every effort to decrease cigarette intake or stop smoking should be made for smokers with schizophrenia as part of a multifaceted treatment plan," wrote Heidi J. Wehring, Pharm.D., of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Baltimore, and her colleagues. "Every effort to decrease cigarette intake or stop smoking should be made for smokers with schizophrenia as part of a multifaceted treatment plan," wrote Heidi J. Wehring, Pharm.D. The investigators reviewed the records of patients who had been admitted to inpatient mental health facilities in Maryland between 2003 and 2007 with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a history of cigarette smoking. Patients were identified as either heavy smokers, which means they smoked one or more packs of cigarettes per day, or non–heavy smokers, which was defined in the study as less than one pack per day at admission. Records that did not specify the extent to which patients smoked were not included in the data analysis. Dr. Wehring and her colleagues then looked at the records to determine patients’ use of substances such as alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), phencyclidine (PCP), inhalants, and amphetamines. They also looked at other health risks, such as history of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, height and weight used to calculate body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.