Ovarian Hormones And Smoking Behavior In Woman

A study was conducted to determine a woman’s hormone levels in association with smoking behaviors.  Females who were between the ages of 18 and 45 and smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day were eligible for the study. Females were able to enter the study during their menstrual cycle phase. During the first part of the study the participants were asked to complete questionnaires and a test for nicotine dependence along with a blood sample to evaluate estradiol and progesterone levels. One to two weeks later the participants were asked to abstain from smoking for 12 hours before the second session.  Blood was drawn to test hormone levels and a smoking topography session was conducted on each participant.  This study found that participants with lower levels of progesterone in relation to estradiol took more puffs during the smoking topography session.  Findings also showed that between session one and session two there was a larger decrease in estradiol and progesterone in association with greater puff intensity during the topography test. As a result, the estradiol and progesterone changes were the best predictors of puff intensity. This study met its aims, which suggested that change in hormone levels influence smoking behavior. High levels of progesterone were associated with a lower number of puffs and low levels resulted in a higher number of puffs. Progesterone appears to reduce smoking behavior when it is not opposed by estradiol. The results of this study imply that the best predictors of smoking behavior are the ratio of progesterone to estradiol and the change in ovarian hormones over time. Some weaknesses of this study was that it was done in a laboratory and the hormone levels were measured infrequently. Hormones can change between session one and session two. Future studies should consider manually increasing the hormone levels to the participants to acquire more accurate results. Ovarian hormones are a strong predictor of smoking behavior in females. 

Schiller, Crystal Edler; Saladin, Michael E.; Gray, Kevin M.; Hartwell, Karen J.; Carpenter, Matthew J. Association between ovarian hormones and smoking behavior in women. Psychological Science, Vol 1(S), Aug 2014, 47-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/2332-2136.1.S.47

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