Why can smoking curb your appetite?

THAT'S THE WHY: Smoking tobacco does many things to the human body – it can stain teeth and fingers, damage lung tissues and promote the type of inflammation associated with chronic disease. But it can have another effect too: smoking can blunt the appetite.

Why does this happen? New research – in mice it has to be said – suggests a particular role for nicotine at a site deep inside the brain, which curbs that drive to eat.

The study of a mouse model identified that nicotine appears to activate a group of “pro-opiomelanocortin” (POMC) cells in a region of the brain called the hypothalamus, which is involved in appetite control.

The thinking is that nicotine can block the usual signals from POMC cells, and the person’s appetite can go down.

The study, published online in the journal Scienceearlier this month, teased out various aspects of this proposed pathway and could point the way to approaches that would help people who are quitting smoking to avoid increases in appetite and attendant weight gain, the researchers suggest.

“Many people say they won’t quit smoking because they’ll gain weight,” said study co-author Prof Marina Picciotto from Yale University, in an article on the university’s website.

“Ultimately, we would like to help people maintain their body weight when they kick the habit and perhaps help non-smokers who are struggling with obesity.