Smokers quitting tobacco also drink less alcohol

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/bc-sqt071916.php

Public Release: 21-Jul-2016
Smokers quitting tobacco also drink less alcohol
BioMed Central

People who have recently begun an attempt to quit smoking tobacco are more likely to try to drink less alcohol than other smokers, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.

In England, people who attempted to stop smoking within the last week reported lower levels of alcohol consumption, were less likely to binge drink, and were more likely to be classified as 'light drinkers' (having a low alcohol risk) compared with those who did not attempt to stop smoking.

Lead author Jamie Brown, from University College London, England, said: "These results go against the commonly held view that people who stop smoking tend to drink more to compensate. It's possible that they are heeding advice to try to avoid alcohol because of its link to relapse."

Previous research has shown that tobacco dependence and alcohol consumption are closely related.

•••••

This was an observational study which means that it cannot demonstrate cause and effect. It may be that smokers choose to restrict their alcohol consumption when attempting to quit smoking to reduce the chance of relapse. Alternatively, it could be that people who drink less are more likely to quit smoking. If this is the case, smokers with higher alcohol consumption may need further encouragement to quit smoking.

Jamie Brown adds: "We can't yet determine the direction of causality. Further research is needed to disentangle whether attempts to quit smoking precede attempts to restrict alcohol consumption or vice versa. We'd also need to rule out other factors which make both more likely. Such as the diagnosis of a health problem causing attempts to cut down on both drinking and smoking."

•••••