Nicotine is a poisonous, oily liquid that comes from Nicatina Tabacum - the tobacco plant. It has an unpleasant tobacco order, a burning taste, and strong alkaline reaction.  Nicotine is primarily a stimulant. It has a counter effect -- a persistent depression of all the central nervous system (CNS).  Nicotine stimulates the paralysis of skeletal muscles which is the major reason for the toxic effect on respiration.  Nicotine comes in various forms: cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, smokeless tobacco and chewing tobacco.  It can cause: lung damage, heart irregularity, and cancer of the lungs, throat, larynx and stomach.
Tobacco is considered the most addicting chemical in terms of tolerance. Just a few hours of smoking (less than a pack of cigarettes) is sufficient for nicotine tolerance to occur. Effects of chewing tobacco are lung cancer and high risk of oral or mouth cancer. Learn to de-tox your body.

 
BRIEF HISTORY OF NICOTINE
 
Tobacco was introduced to Europe and the East after Columbus's voyage to the Americas.  Europeans either loved tobacco and prescribed it for all ailments or hated it and considered it responsible for many ills.  Tobacco use went from pipes to snuff to chewing to cigars to cigarettes.

The typical modern cigarette is about half as "strong" in tar and nicotine content as a cigarette of 40 years ago.  Cigarette smoking declined during the 1960s and 1980s. About 20% of young people still become regular smokers.  The use of smokeless tobacco increased during the 1980s causing concerns about increases in oral cancer.

Smoking cessation leads to immediate improvement in mortality statistics.
Smokeless Tobacco: term used for chewing tobacco during the 1980s.
Moist Snuff: finely chopped tobacco, held in the mouth rather than "snuffed" into the nose.

Smokeless Tobacco

Smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco) does have hazards. Chewing tobacco increases the risk of cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus. Snuff and chewing tobacco are not burned. They contain carcinogens, including high levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines. Chewing tobacco may cause changes in the mouth, with leukoplakia a relatively frequent finding. Leukoplakisa is considered to be pre-cancerous lesion - a tissues change that may develop into cancer. The irritation of the gums can cause them to become inflamed or to recede. The enamel of the teeth may also be worn down by the abrasive action of the tobacco.

Passive Smoking

• Involuntary smoking is a cause of disease, including lung cancer, in healthy non-smokers.
• The children of parents who smoke compared with children of non-smoking parents have an increased frequency of respiratory infections, increased respiratory symptoms, and slightly smaller rates of increase in lung function as the lung matures.
• The simple separation of smokers and non-smokers within the same air space may reduce, but doesn't eliminate, the exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

SMOKING AND PREGNANCY

The nicotine, hydrogen cyanide, and carbon monoxide in a smoking mother's blood reaches the developing fetus and has significant negative consequences. On the average, babies born to smokers weigh about half a pound less than babies born to nonsmokers. The more the mother smokes during pregnancy - the greater the reduction in birth weight. Smoking shortens the gestation period by an average of only 2 day. Smokers have smaller babies. Ultrasonic measurements taken at various intervals during pregnancy show smaller fetuses in smoking women for at least the last 2 months of pregnancy. Babies of smokers are normally proportioned. However, they are shorter and smaller than the babies of nonsmokers, and have smaller head circumferences. The reduced birth weight in babies of smokers is not related to how much weight the mother gains during pregnancy. It is believed that smoking reduces availability of oxygen resulting in diminished growth rate. Women who give up smoking early in pregnancy (by the fourth month) have babies of similar weight to those of nonsmokers.

PHARMACOLOGY OF NICOTINE

Nicotine is a naturally occurring liquid alkaloid that is colorless and volatile. On oxidation it turns brown and smells much like burning tobacco. Tolerance to its effects develops with dependency.  Nicotine was isolated in 1828. It has no therapeutic actions. It has proven to be a valuable pharmacological tool for studying synaptic functions, as well as being the active ingredient in tobacco.
 

Absorption and Metabolism

Inhalation is a very effective drug-delivery system. 90% of inhaled nicotine is absorbed. The physiological effects of smoking one cigarette have been mimicked by injecting about 1 mg of nicotine intravenously.

Acting with almost as much speed as cyanide, nicotine is one of the most toxic drugs known. In humans, 60mg is a lethal dose. Death follows intake within a few minutes. A cigar contains enough nicotine for two lethal doses. Not all of the nicotine is delivered to the smoker or absorbed in a short enough period of time to kill a person.

Nicotine is primarily deactivated in the liver. 80% to 90% is modified before excretion through the kidneys. Tolerance to nicotine may result because neither nicotine or the tars increase the activity of the liver nicrosomal enzymes that are responsible for the deactivation of drugs. These enzymes increase the rate of deactivation and thus decrease the clinical effects of the benzodiazepines and some antidepressants and analgesics. The final step in eliminating deactivated nicotine from the body may be somewhat slowed by nicotine itself. Nicotine acts on the hypothalamus to cause a release of the hormone that acts to reduce the loss of body fluids.

Physiological Effects

The effect of nicotine on areas outside the CNS. Nicotine mimics acetycholine by acting at the nicotinic type of cholinergic receptor site and stimulating the dendrite. It is not rapidly deactivated, and continued occupation of the receptor prevents incoming impulses from having an effect, thus blocking transmission of information at the synapse. Nicotine first stimulates and then blocks the synapse. This blockage of cholinergic synapses is responsible for some of its effects, but others seem to be the result of a second action.

Nicotine causes a release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands as well as from other sympathetic sites. It has in part a sympathomimetic action. Nicotine first stimulates then blocks some sensory receptors, including the chemical receptors found in some large arteries and the thermal pain receptors found in the skin and tongue.

I offer private sessions in smoking cessation.  If you are interested in a session contact me at maryann@new-mind.com.  Sessions are $50 and approximately 1 hour in length.

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