Research: Why Women Find it Harder to Quit Smoking than Men

[Vocalek]

Locating nicotine receptors


Cosgrove and colleagues scanned the brains of 52 men and 58 women, about half of whom were smokers. The researchers examined nicotine receptors in the brain by using a radioactive marker that binds specifically to an important group of receptors that are primarily responsible for the body's physical dependence on nicotine, Cosgrove said.

Smokers in the study had abstained from smoking for a week so that their nicotine receptors would be free to bind to the marker used for imaging.


The researchers found that male smokers had about 16 percent more nicotine receptors in an area of their brain known as the striatum, 17 percent more in the cerebellum, and 13 to 17 percent more in the cortical region, or outside layer, of the brain compared with male nonsmokers. Female smokers, on the other hand, had similar numbers of nicotine receptors in these brain regions.

Why are female brains different?


Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in N.Y., agreed more attention should be paid to non-nicotine related smoking therapies.


"You can replace all the nicotine you want, and people might still want to smoke," Horovitz said. For instance, smoking is a big stress reliever for some people. Even the act of deep breathing is a part of the habit, and breathing exercises may help smokers because they mimic puffing a cigarette, Horovitz said.

Read more: Why women find it harder to quit smoking | Fox News

One question we failed to ask in our CASAA survey of e-cigarette users was gender. Any guesses whether there are more male than female users or vice versa?
​

 

[Petrodus]

One question we failed to ask in our CASAA survey of e-cigarette users was gender.
Any guesses whether there are more male than female users or vice versa?

My guess is there are more male users.
Boys and their toys thing

 

[Spazmelda]

I'd guess more men as well, for the same reason Petrodus said.

 

[CES]

The differential expression of nicotine receptors in interesting- but where they imaged has little to do with addiction. I'd like to know about the level of receptors in the ventral tegmentum and the nucleus accumbens- those are the areas that are involved in the the reward pathway of addiction. I'd love a link to the actual research.

This link embedded in the story is junk Anatomy of Addiction: Why It's So Hard to Quit Smoking | MyHealthNewsDaily.com nicotine receptors in the brain are there to respond to acetylcholine, so of course they continue after you quit smoking, they have jobs to do without nicotine.

Scientists aren't completely sure what happens to the nicotine receptors in the brain if no more nicotine is received.

"In theory, what you'd expect to happen is the receptors would just die off," Piper said. But a 2002 study in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology showed after quitting smoking cold-turkey, feelings of depression and tension remained, even 31 days after the last puff of smoke was taken.

The results indicate the nicotine receptors persist in the brain, even a month after quitting smoking, she said.

Nicotine causes the number or receptors to increase and the compostition of the receptors to changes, and those changes persits. But a person would be in deep trouble if the nicotine receptors went away.

 

[Vocalek]

As far as reduced risk replacements for smoking, I think that e-cigarettes are a very, very promising therapy for female smokers, because many, if not most, women find the idea of smokeless tobacco products distasteful.

And if the process of smoking--hand to mouth activity, deep breathing, etc.--are more important to females than males due to fewer nicotinic receptors (which remains to be proven IMHO), someday we might see a higher percentage of female smokers have switched to e-cigs than to any other smoking replacement product.

The way the percentages are going (with up to 80% of folks who try to quit smoking by switching to e-cigs being successful, compared to 2% to 7% of those who quit all nicotine), I predict that some day there will be more former smokers using e-cigs than there are former smokers who became abstinent from nicotine.

 

[Petrodus]

Why Women Find it Harder to Quit Smoking than Men
Women are from Venus ... Men are from Mars

 

[Malduk]

I have had harder times convincing females than males to try out ecig. Its not a big or representative group, but main complaint was the funny looks of the device. Females care more about the looks.

If someone firmly decided he or she wants to quit tobacco, then looks may not be that important, but otherwise, its a deal breaker for some.

 

[Petrodus]

I have had harder times convincing females than males to try out ecig. Its not a big or representative group, but main complaint was the funny looks of the device. Females care more about the looks.

If someone firmly decided he or she wants to quit tobacco, then looks may not be that important, but otherwise, its a deal breaker for some.

I totally agree
I've been doing the "show-n-tell" thing in public for the last 4 years
and found with most women ... "appearance" is a MAJOR factor.

There are several reasons why I don't like PVs that looks like an analog.
However, I found women are more likely to try vaping IF the e-cig looks
more like an analog.

Heck ... Personal appearance is more of an issue with women than men

EDIT:
What is interesting is if you do a Google image search for Electronic cigarettes
you will see many more images of women than men AND they are vaping with
e-cigs that look like analogs. The marketers of e-cigs understand "human nature"
and what sells LINK

Women are born "net-workers"
If I were in the business...I would target sales to female smokers

Much of the success of our movement "today" can be attributed to women !!

 

[NC_Fog]

I find this thread very interesting. I personally know 11 women and only 2 men(not including myself)that use the e-cig. All of the women use the analog like models and are not at all interested in anything larger. I've shown some of them my Go-Go and Silver Bullet and their response was "too big". The men like myself want something less "fumble factor" that works.

Marty

 

[Caridwen]

Read more: Why women find it harder to quit smoking | Fox News

One question we failed to ask in our CASAA survey of e-cigarette users was gender. Any guesses whether there are more male than female users or vice versa?
​

Interesting. I know this is true with drugs and alcohol, but didn't know it was also true regarding cigarettes.

Addiction in women - MSN Health - Health Topics

 

[tinajfreeman]

Most women are very busy people. They want something that looks good, works great, is EASY, and doesn't require an electrical engineering degree to figure out! They don't want to have to rebuild their equipment or even to think about that.

(There are of course female exceptions to this, but I'm speculating about women in general).

Give more options for sleek appearance in a longer lasting battery. More color options. Drop so much jargon....why not call Low Resistance "Easy Drag" for example? Also, when I am looking for clearomizers, why should I have to figure out which Ohms to buy? Yeah, I'm smart and I'll do the research and figure it out...but should I have to? Why not tell me on the vendor site which is the best for my ego battery? Why would I choose this one over that one?

As a woman I also like something with a small flat tip...hard to find!

I think a product line geared to women that is ABOVE the Cig look-a-like category would be really smart marketing, IMO. Bigger better batts, super easy, great vapor and "fashionable" looking for those women that are more fashion conscious. I'm not big into fashion, but I like getting my batteries in nice colors besides silver and black.

 

[Petrodus]

Most women are very busy people. They want something that looks good, works great, is EASY, and doesn't require an electrical engineering degree to figure out! They don't want to have to rebuild their equipment or even to think about that.

(There are of course female exceptions to this, but I'm speculating about women in general).

Give more options for sleek appearance in a longer lasting battery. More color options. Drop so much jargon....why not call Low Resistance "Easy Drag" for example? Also, when I am looking for clearomizers, why should I have to figure out which Ohms to buy? Yeah, I'm smart and I'll do the research and figure it out...but should I have to? Why not tell me on the vendor site which is the best for my ego battery? Why would I choose this one over that one?

As a woman I also like something with a small flat tip...hard to find!

I think a product line geared to women that is ABOVE the Cig look-a-like category would be really smart marketing, IMO. Bigger better batts, super easy, great vapor and "fashionable" looking for those women that are more fashion conscious. I'm not big into fashion, but I like getting my batteries in nice colors besides silver and black.

BIG "LIKE" for your comments and suggestions

There are many facets to the e-cig movement and gender related subjects
are important. I don't think they have been openly discussed before.

Personal preferences as well as opinions vary and often influenced
based on gender. Maybe I didn't say that correctly...but ya'all understand.

 

[Vocalek]

When I first started using an e-cigarette, I still thought of myself as a smoker. I used to go outside with the smokers, and I wanted something that would blend in to look as if I was doing what the smokers were doing.

After a while I figured out that I wasn't polluting the air with my vapor and as the weather worsened, I didn't want so much to go outside....

Then I got to thinking it might be better if I had something that was unmistakably NOT a real cigarette. That's when I went from the NJOY NPRO to the 510, which comes in a variety of colors. I went with black. Tres chic, no?

The battery life was already an improvement, but then I got to wanting something that might last all day and not require me to tote along a spare charged battery. Shifted to the eGo. In a pretty metallic blue. Went to the Tank (Type A) design...big improvement. No more wasted juice stuck in the fiber filler material. Then someone gave me a Type B atomizer and cartridge. More juice, less refilling. (ooo...that sounds like a slogan!)

Then somebody else gave me a Type C. Less juice, but a killer in terms of battery life. Like a couple of days between recharges.

So that's been my progression across three years of use.

 

[kristin]

If you want to get women to use the e-cig you need it to be sleek, available in pretty colors and/or have bling and have something pretty, compact and convenient to carry supplies in a purse. One thing women love is fashion accessories!

I totally agree we need a glossary for all of these different devices and supplies. I was looking for something on vendor sites the other day and I had to do numerous google searches on every product to figure out why I would want it, because the vendor sites gave no comparisons or information beyond what someone who already knew what they were looking for would want to know! I cannot believe how many different versions of the ego there are now and the different names they are called for the the same device. Why would I want to change from a basic eGo to an eGo-T, ego-C, eGo-XL or an eGo Vari-volt? One site was selling eGo-T Type 'A' cartridges and the description simply said "Suitable for eGo-T type "A" atomizers only." Gee - that was helpful. LOL!

 

[Petrodus]

Kristin ... Excellent information and a Big "Like"
I will be sending the link to this thread to an e-cig marketer
when this thread winds down...Hopefully, more women will
contribute.

 

[tamarahvt]

I'll contribute. I have 510-Ts and an eGo-C that I felt the need to "prettify" and I'm not even a girly girl. I got my step sister and her friend interested and they both ordered pink eGo type PVs.

I fully understand the rationale behind getting away from the cig-looking PVs but I can't help but find so many of the mods visually unappealing.

 

[kristin]

I think many mod designers are just from the Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor school of thought. Bigger and more power! Grunt! Grunt! LOL!

I was watching a video of VapeBash and one mod looked waaaay too much like a big, silver sex toy. I thought - there's no WAY I'd be caught out in public with THAT!

 

[rothenbj]

"Why Women Find it Harder to Quit Smoking than Men "

I always thought it was because women will nag their man to get them to do what they want where a man doesn't want to risk happy endings, but I could be wrong.

 

[mg7454]

When I first started using an e-cigarette, I still thought of myself as a smoker. I used to go outside with the smokers, and I wanted something that would blend in to look as if I was doing what the smokers were doing.

After a while I figured out that I wasn't polluting the air with my vapor and as the weather worsened, I didn't want so much to go outside....

Then I got to thinking it might be better if I had something that was unmistakably NOT a real cigarette. That's when I went from the NJOY NPRO to the 510, which comes in a variety of colors. I went with black. Tres chic, no?

The battery life was already an improvement, but then I got to wanting something that might last all day and not require me to tote along a spare charged battery. Shifted to the eGo. In a pretty metallic blue. Went to the Tank (Type A) design...big improvement. No more wasted juice stuck in the fiber filler material. Then someone gave me a Type B atomizer and cartridge. More juice, less refilling. (ooo...that sounds like a slogan!)

Then somebody else gave me a Type C. Less juice, but a killer in terms of battery life. Like a couple of days between recharges.

So that's been my progression across three years of use.

If you want to get women to use the e-cig you need it to be sleek, available in pretty colors and/or have bling and have something pretty, compact and convenient to carry supplies in a purse. One thing women love is fashion accessories!

I totally agree we need a glossary for all of these different devices and supplies. I was looking for something on vendor sites the other day and I had to do numerous google searches on every product to figure out why I would want it, because the vendor sites gave no comparisons or information beyond what someone who already knew what they were looking for would want to know! I cannot believe how many different versions of the ego there are now and the different names they are called for the the same device. Why would I want to change from a basic eGo to an eGo-T, ego-C, eGo-XL or an eGo Vari-volt? One site was selling eGo-T Type 'A' cartridges and the description simply said "Suitable for eGo-T type "A" atomizers only." Gee - that was helpful. LOL!

I started with an e-cig that looked like a cigarette, I liked it at first, it was like I was still smoking.

Soon, I was tired of carrying, changing, and charging batteries, and re-filling cartos!

I got a blue eGo-T Passthrough battery.
I can vape while it charges
(at home or in my truck)
and, when it is charged,
I can put the end cap on and go "wireless".
That was great!
No cumbersome battery chargers!
Never having to wait for my battery to charge before I can vape!

I got three more.

I still had not figured out what to do about the constant filling of cartos.

I found the beautiful Phiniac Tanks.
WOW!
I got the sand-blasted name tank with a couple of butterflies.

I liked it so much that I got an XL Final Frontier Tank
Saturn, Moon and Stars!
(holds about 5 mLs).
It can use Ikenvape Mega XL 808D-1 cartos
(I like the flavor from an 808 more than from a 510).
Add a 510 to 808 adapter...
...I am in Vape Heaven!​

 

[tamarahvt]

I found the beautiful Phiniac Tanks.
​

I love those! They're just a bit pricey for me right now.
Hmmm...my birthday isn't too far away...