Smoking: women failing to quit smoking because of progesterone?

Progesterone is a steroid hormone, or chemical messenger, found in the body of both men and women. It is more present, and at higher levels, in women during the second half of the menstrual cycle, the period of the month when it is released.

According to two American researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina, Nathaniel Baker and Michael Saladin, this hormone would play a role in these smoking cessation failures in women and to a lesser extent, in men too.

Progesterone impacts smoking cessation

In 2015, the two researchers proved through a first study that high levels of progesterone hinder the success of smoking cessation. According to Nathaniel Baker, “What we found in this study is that there was not only elevated progesterone, but it was elevated and increasing, which affected smoking cessation“. This therefore explains why women are more affected by weaning failures, compared to men.

The presence and increase in progesterone levels affect smoking cessation, both in men and women, but more so in the latter, because of the higher levels of this hormone in their body, more particularly during second part of his cycle.

“If we can time a quit attempt around a time when women are less likely to suffer withdrawal and therefore more likely to achieve abstinence from smoking, then I think the medical utility is extremely important“Explains Nathaniel Baker again.

Switching from a serum assay to a saliva assay

Linking smoking cessation to the phases of the menstrual cycle could therefore increase the chances of success. While taking into account, however, the potential impact of oral contraception and the modification of the hormonal cycle that it induces. It is still necessary to have a minimally invasive progesterone assay… This is what the researchers tested this year.

To reach their conclusions in 2015, the researchers carried out weekly serum assays. This time they wanted to study the possibility of carrying out simpler saliva assays to see if they obtained the same results.

And according to their findings, both assays give identical results. “We found that the saliva data followed a very similar pattern to the serum data“confirm the researchers.

Use a less invasive method

The researchers are also studying the hypothesis of a treatment based on exogenous progesterone, to be taken at the time of weaning. They believe it will improve the chances of successful quitting smoking for both men and women. They also hope that this same strategy could work for other substances, such as cocaine or marijuana.

Finally, for Michaël Baker, this field of research has made great progress over the last decade: “The effect of progesterone on successful cessation, as well as cravings and even reduction in cigarettes smoked per day, is valuable for patients trying to quit smoking.“.