Smoking and anxiety disorders (review)

Abstract

The review provides data on studies of anxiety disorders in smokers and their effect on the effectiveness of smoking cessation and the nicotine dependence treatment. It is shown that a significantly higher prevalence and intensity of smoking is observed in people with anxiety disorders. The mechanisms of tobacco smoking influence on the development and manifestation of anxiety disorders include the effect of nicotine on nAChR. Various subtypes of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, role of ?4?2* nAChRs, ?7?4 nAChRs and ?2-containing nAChRs in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders and nicotinic dependence are described. The close pathogenetic connections of anxiety disorders and nicotine dependence with the widespread prevalence of comorbid pathology of their combined development show the importance of timely diagnosis of anxiety disorders and nicotine dependence in smoking patients and the organization of their treatment.