Study: Smoking increases depression risk

PAMPLONA, Spain, April 25 (UPI) -- The risk of suffering depression increases by 41 percent in smokers, in comparison with non-smokers, Spanish and U.S. researchers said.

Scientists of the University of Navarra, in collaboration with the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston said they found a direct relationship between tobacco use and depression.

First author Almudena Sanchez-Villegas said the study is based on research undertaken over the course of six years on 8,556 university graduates with an average age of 42.

The article indicates that those who had given up tobacco more than a decade previously have a lesser probability of developing depression than those who have never smoked.

In addition, the researchers noted that an increase in tobacco use was correlated with a lessening of physical activity in the smoker's free time.