Want to stop smoking, try sipping cold water

NAIROBI: Drinking cold water through a straw can help replace the act of sucking on a cigarette. According to medical website WebMD, taking cold water also releases dopamine, a feel-good brain chemical that can help ease bad moods.

This research comes after scientists in the Lancet Psychiatry September edition linked smoking to developing schizophrenia, a mental illness. In the paper, Susan Gage and Marcus R Munafò both from the University of Bristol affirmed that cigarettes are causal factor in the development of a mental illness known as schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder, characterised by profound disruptions in thinking, affecting language, perception, and the sense of self and often includes psychotic experiences, such as hearing voices or delusions.

According to a study carried out in June, the possible explanation is that heavy cigarette smoking increases ability to make the chemical dopamine in part of the brain.