"Women who want to quit smoking may find it easier if they time their efforts just right. A new study finds hormone fluctuations that occur over the course of a womans menstrual cycle may impact her ability to kick the cigarette habit. According to small study http conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal women are more likely to crave cigarettes and have trouble quitting when in the follicular phase of their monthly cycle. This is the time right after her period and before ovulation. While overall more men than women smoke cigarettes https women and girls take less time to become dependent after initial use and have more difficulties quitting the habit the researchers write in their study. One of the factors contributing to these differences may be that women crave cigarettes more than men and that their desire to smoke is influenced by hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle. The study which was published in Psychiatry Journal involved  women and  men who were all chronic smokers but otherwise healthy. None of the study participants were enrolled in a smoking cessation program or were trying to quit.  Researchers asked each participant to smoke one cigarette  to  minutes before undergoing an fMRI or brain scan. They were asked to view photos both related and unrelated to smoking. After undergoing the brain scans they viewed the photos a second time and reported on a scale from zero to  if the pictures triggered cigarette cravings.  The researchers tested  of the female participants twice to assess how their response changed at a different point in their menstrual cycle.  The brain scans showed that during the follicular stage cigarette imagery activated five areas of the brain which the researchers say are linked to higherlevel cravings. However during the luteal phase  after a woman ovulates and before her period  only one area of the brain was activated by images of cigarettes and smoking https  During the luteal phase estrogen and progesterone levels are at their highest which may help a woman keep addictive cravings at bay and reduce feelings of cigarette withdrawal.  Previous studies have found womens monthly hormone fluctuations can affect everything from food cravings and digestive problems to joint pain and a whole host of other health issues. This result emphasizes the need for genderspecific programs to quit smoking https as well as taking into consideration a menstrual cycle phase during addiction treatment in women the researchers conclude. They called for more studies to help understand all the factors that contribute to sex and gender differences in smoking."