How many alpha 5's do you have?

I have had a few complaints on this blog that I don’t present enough independent data. Well honestly people, if you would read back through the history of work you will see multiple articles dealing with a variety of issues related to smoking and electronic cigarettes--faced from both sides. I stand up for the smoker and their rights, and sometimes I play the devil’s advocate when I’m feeling up to it. I hope you will see that even though the majority of you think I’m biased and presenting one side--I am trying over the course of time--to give you many sides of a very heated issue to debate. 

So, in light of your many opinions, please let me present some more independent data. Now, the study I’m presenting is pretty scientific, and if you would like to read it for yourself  then feel free to look it up because I’m not going to break down all the nitty gritty here. I mean, do you really care about your alpha 5 receptors in a part of your brain called your habenula? I didn’t think so. So, you may just have to trust me on this one.

Now, you probably should care a bit about those alpha 5’s simply because researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have found those little babies to be an essential player in how addicted to nicotine you are. I don’t think its any mystery that some people are more addicted to nicotine than others.  For some people, that very first cigarette may trigger a lifetime of struggle--and for others it’s more social and easier to lay down when they want to.  Thanks to this study, research is now showing that some people may have a flaw in the receptors in the brain that trigger a complex series of events that, well, basically makes you need more nicotine than the average person.  And to those people, I say sorry about your luck.

Nicotine is a majorly addictive substance--and one that researchers know creates an addiction that is incredibly hard to break.  That said, the results of this study showed that  (in the case of mice) having fewer alpha 5’s made them crave nicotine in higher amounts.  So why does this matter? The most significant benefit may lie in more effective, personalized cessation treatments in the future.  With better treatment comes higher success rates and a healthier population--who wouldn’t want that?