Nicotine & Its Effects: Is It Bad For You?

Nicotine & Its Effects: Is It Bad For You?

The saying “there is no rose without thorns” can be used to describe the effects of smoking. Being a prevalent recreational activity, smoking is usually associated with such positive feelings or sensations as pleasure, happiness, and relaxation. At the same time, however, it also poses various dangers, such as leading to addiction and causing serious health consequences.

Nicotine, as the most powerful compound in cigarettes, has always been the focus of controversy, sparking discussions on its effects on the human body. So, what effect does nicotine have on your body? Is nicotine bad for you?

This article discusses nicotine, how it adversely affects the human body, and the chief culprit of the harmful effects of smoking. It also discusses the potential health benefits of nicotine.

Nicotine: the most typical compound in cigarettes and tobacco products

Nicotine is a highly addictive stimulant naturally found in tobacco plants. It is also present in potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants and green pepper plants, but the amount is much lower than that of  tobacco plants. Nicotine can also be synthesized in a lab. Predominantly, it is used to produce cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and other tobacco products.

As we all know, consuming any kind of tobacco products, especially smoking, causes serious health problems. Smoking is known to be associated with lung cancer, COPD, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and many other health conditions.

Smoking is also the leading cause of preventable deaths. According to WHO statistics, smoking kills more than 8 million people every year, among which an estimated 1.3 million deaths are due to second-hand smoke exposure.

Nicotine, as the most typical component in cigarettes and other tobacco products, is usually condemned the most when it comes to the health risks of tobacco use.

So, is nicotine the main cause of smoking-related diseases and deaths? Before we look at this,  let’s take a look at what negative effects nicotine will bring to the human body.

What negative effects does nicotine have on the human body?

Nicotine is known to cause various negative effects on the human body. Some of them are as follows.

Addiction

It is not a secret that nicotine is the main reason why people smoke or consume any form of tobacco products due to its addictive nature.

Then, how does nicotine get people addicted? Let’s take smoking, the most common form of nicotine use, for example. When smoking, you inhale nicotine into your lungs, which is absorbed into your bloodstream and travels to your brain within seconds.

Nicotine will then bind to the nicotinic-cholinergic receptors in the brain and cause a biological response, driving the release of dopamine, also known as the “feel-good” hormone,  a neurotransmitter that is part of the brain’s reward system and regulates the feeling of pleasure and well-being.

The pleasurable sensation is usually referred to as a nicotine hit. But the problem is that nicotine wears off quickly. Just as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) puts it, nicotine brings about a “temporary feeling of well-being and relaxation”.

As a result, the release of dopamine reinforces a person’s act on smoking, because as the previous good feeling fades, the brain will urge another pleasure, essentially another hit of nicotine, thus leading to a cycle of continuous smoking. As this cycle goes on, you will become dependent on nicotine, which is also called nicotine addiction.

Moreover, long-term use of nicotine will lead to tolerance, which means that you need to take a higher dose of nicotine to enjoy the same pleasurable effect. It is how you gradually change from a light smoker to a heavy smoker.

Suddenly quitting smoking will disturb the chemical balance in your brain, and cause you to suffer from physical and psychological side effects. The most challenging thing is nicotine craving, which can be overwhelming and is the main obstacle to quitting smoking.

Also, other serious withdrawal symptoms add on the difficulty of quitting, including anxiety, irritability, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, trouble sleeping, headache, constipation, etc.

In a word, all these side effects (among other factors) make smoking one of the hardest habits to kick.

Apart from high addiction, nicotine has more negative effects on the human body.

The harm to developing brains

Nicotine is known to be harmful to a developing brain. One reason is that exposure to nicotine among the youth will impact the formation of brain circuits which play a role in learning, attention and susceptibility to addiction, making them more vulnerable to nicotine addiction. Studies have shown that smoking in early age can lead to daily use and lifelong nicotine dependence.

The harm to pregnant women

Exposure to nicotine during pregnancy can lead to some negative effects on a pregnant woman and her fetus. These effects include increased risk of pregnancy loss, premature birth and stillbirth, low birth weight and ectopic pregnancy, etc. Besides, nicotine exposure during pregnancy may also cause long-term health problems for the child, such as respiratory infections and asthma.

Other side effects of nicotine

Other side effects of nicotine include racing heartbeats, high blood pressure, dizziness, diarrhea, stomach pain, nausea, dry mouth, tremor, and heartburn, to just name a few.

While nicotine is highly addictive and harmful to the human body, most of the health risks of smoking are caused by other compounds. Nicotine is not regarded as the chief culprit of smoking-related diseases and deaths. So, what is the killer behind smoking?

 

The root causes of smoking-related health risks

It is well established that the health risks of smoking mainly come from the combustion of cigarettes. When a cigarette is ignited, it will release various toxic chemicals, which are inhaled by smokers and people around them.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 7,000 chemical components have been found in cigarette smoke, hundreds of which are harmful to human health.

About 70 of these toxic chemicals are identified as carcinogens, which include: benzene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, arsenic, acrolein, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAS), and so on.

These toxins and carcinogens are the root causes of a whole host of smoking-related diseases and deaths. In other words, it is toxic cigarette smoke, rather than nicotine, that should be directly responsible for the extremely harmful effects of smoking.

It is not the end. Wildly unexpectedly, it turns out that nicotine even may offer some health benefits.

What are the potential benefits of nicotine to human health?

Nicotine has been reported to have some health benefits, such as increased alertness and anxiety reduction. For example, an early study by Neal. L Benowitz in 1988 demonstrated that nicotine may “enhance the sense of well-being, produce arousal or relaxation, help maintain vigilance and reduce anxiety.”

The medical science behind these effects can be a little complex. Let’s take a simple example. When nicotine enters the body, it will trigger the adrenal gland to release adrenaline, a neurotransmitter that prepares your body for the “flight or fight” response, also known as the acute stress response. It is in this way nicotine can temporarily improve alertness, concentration, and memory. Here, nicotine acts as an “agonist”.

Interestingly,  besides being a stimulant, nicotine can also act as a sedative, depending on the dose you ingest. When nicotine reaches the brain, it can also boost the release of beta-endorphin, a chemical involved in pain management, stress relief, and mood improvement. So, nicotine is also used as an anxiolytic drug, which helps to reduce anxiety and ease mood.

The combined effect of nicotine may be part of the reasons why smoking is not only a way for many smokers to gain vitality when they feel tired or exhausted, but a source of comfort in times of stress.

It doesn’t end there. There are more intriguing studies on the potential health benefits of nicotine. For example, researchers have suggested that nicotine can improve cognitive function, and protect against diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

So, how does nicotine help Parkinson’s?  One piece of scientific evidence shows that nicotine can suppress the over-expression of SIRT6. SIRT6 is a chromatin regulatory protein known for its ability to inhibit the aging of cells, tissues, organs, and the body. However, research shows that SIRT6 ambulances are a contributing risk factor for Parkinson’s. Nicotine comes into play to offer neuroprotection by speeding up SIRT6’s degradation, thereby helping slow down the progression of  Parkinson’s disease.

Research also found some links between nicotine and Alzheimer’s disease. To understand the mechanism, we should first understand the chemical ‘acetylcholine’, which is a neurotransmitter that governs learning, memory retention, and attention. Research showed that a decrease in acetylcholine production is partly to blame for Alzheimer’s disease.

When nicotine binds to acetylcholine receptors, it will slow down or block the enzyme that degrades acetylcholine, so that it can maintain or increase its levels. This is part of the science behind nicotine’s health benefits in Alzheimer’s disease.

Additionally, research shows that nicotine can potentially prevent the formation of “beta-amyloid protein clumps”.  Abnormal levels of these protein clumps are linked to the formulation of plaques that directly disrupt cell function in Alzheimer’s patients.

While more and more studies show that nicotine has positive health benefits, there is no conclusive research yet, and more scientific evidence and facts are needed to further determine its benefits.

Final say

So, is nicotine bad for you? The answer shall be “yes”. The most serious problem with nicotine is its addictive nature,  which may extend your exposure to the health risks of smoking. In addition, nicotine can also have various side effects on the human body.

However, despite all its negative effects, nicotine is not regarded as the direct cause of smoking-related diseases and deaths. The harmful effects of smoking, instead, mainly come from toxic cigarette smoke.

More interestingly, studies have consistently shown its prospects in enhancing cognition, slowing down Alzheimer’s, and delaying the progress of Parkinson’s disease. While conclusive research is not ready yet, the findings are encouraging.

It is important to remember, however, that it does not mean you are encouraged to smoke to gain these potential health benefits, as here we are talking about nicotine on its own, not smoking.

Smoking, quite the opposite, is reported to increase the risks of developing these diseases, as smoking harms every part of the human body, including the brain. For example, a study conducted by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that smoking shrinks the brain and causes the brain to age prematurely.

All in all, the best option you can make is to stay away from smoking and its harmful effects.