Selya AS, et al. - Given nicotine dependence has been recently shown to convey additional health risks above and beyond smoking behavior, researchers investigated if smoking within 5 min of waking, an indicator of nicotine dependence, is independently related to asthma outcomes. They extracted data for current adult smokers from five pooled cross-sectional waves (2005–14) of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Demographics, smoking behavior, family history of asthma, depression, obesity, and secondhand smoking exposure were included as control variables. They found a significantly increased risk of lifetime asthma in smokers related to smoking within 5 min of waking, an indicator of nicotine dependence.