The relationship between tobacco use and mental disorders

Nicotine affects virtually all of the major neurotransmitter systems by its actions at nicotine cholinergic receptors which are widely distributed in the brain. Patients suffering from disorders such as schizophrenia, depress ion and eating disorders are particularly prone to smoking, and there is no w good evidence that tobacco use and abstinence can have a clinically signi ficant impact on such patients. Curr Opin Psychiatry 12:303-306. (C) 1999 L ippincott Williams & Wilkins.