WHAT IS THE CLINICAL IMPORTANCE OF CIGARETTE-SMOKING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Cigarette smoking is frequently observed in schizophrenic patients. Al though studies have started to emerge to suggest the importance of nic otine use by these patients, the reasons why this population smokes at such high rates remains elusive. The authors review the answers to se veral key questions that help to highlight the clinical significance o f cigarette use in schizophrenia. These include prevalence rates of ci garette use, unique reasons for use among schizophrenic patients, medi cal implications, the impact of cigarette smoking on antipsychotic pha rmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, the role of cigarette smoking in t he development of extrapyramidal symptoms and tardive dyskinesia, and a rational approach toward smoking cessation in this patient populatio n. Areas of future research are also raised. These data suggest that c igarette smoking, like other aspects of schizophrenia, represents a he terogeneous phenomenon that may have critical importance in the unders tanding of this illness.