Are there "good times" to quit smoking? Yes, says a small study from the University of Montreal...and this period, for women, is the one just before (and during) menstruation.
When we say "small study", it means that the researchers have so far only screened a small panel of 34 smokers (19 women and 15 men). To start, they asked these smokers (who were not planning to quit) to consume a cigarette every 30 to 40 minutes, so that they start on the same basic consumption.
Next, the researchers scanned their brains while asking them questions and showing them pictures related to cigarettes. After this session, the subjects looked at the photos again and rated their desire to smoke on a scale of zero to 100.
Conclusion:women in the middle of the follicular period (period between menstruation and ovulation) display more intense activity than the others, which reflects their greater desire, unlike women in the luteal phase (period from ovulation to last day of the ovarian cycle). Brain activity later confirmed by the subjects' "craving scales".
This observation confirms the scientists in their deductions. Yes, during the luteal phase, we produce more estrogen and progesterone, two hormones that play a role in our mood and our desires.
For the researchers, it is a certainty:"looking at our cycle would help us to quit smoking". They now intend to prove it definitively by carrying out tests on a larger scale.
We note (and we recall in passing that tobacco remains the leading cause of avoidable death in France, killing 200 people a day)!
