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What is Nicotine
Nicotine is a chemical found in tobacco leaves that keeps you coming back for
more. But if you really want to answer the question, “what is nicotine”, you need to
dig a little deeper. Did you know that nicotine is a natural ingredient? In fact, it acts
as a natural plant insecticide inside the tobacco leaves. Many people who utilize
organic gardening will use nicotine products to keep the bugs away.
Nicotine is also the primary alkaloid in tobacco and accounts for roughly 95% of all
the alkaloid in the leaf. This alkaloid characteristic of nicotine is what makes for
rapid absorption through the cell membranes. This is one reason why we need to
ask what is nicotine all about.
Nicotine is extracted when the tobacco leaves are burned in cigarettes, pipes or
cigars. It is then carried on the particulate matter in the smoke emission into the
lungs. Once it is inhaled into the lungs, the nicotine is rapidly absorbed into the
bloodstream.
Why is Nicotine Addictive
It can be said that nicotine and the brain don’t mix. But the sad truth is, they mix all
too well. Nicotine increases the release of certain chemicals in the brain. These are
called neuro-transmitters.
One neurotransmitter is dopamine, which affects your behavior and mood. As
nicotine helps the release of dopamine, the smoker’s mood elevates, thus
delivering that sense of satisfaction or high. You could say it is a mood-altering drug,
which explains why nicotine is addictive.
add more binding sites is higher in smokers than nonsmokers. There are simply
more nicotine receptors in the smoker’s brain.
The total nicotine content of tobacco is about 10.2 mg. Only about 1-1.5 mg of
nicotine is absorbed during smoking. But the alkaloid nature of the drug and the
large surface area found in the lungs, make for rapid absorption. In fact, high levels
of nicotine are sent to the brain within 10-20 seconds of the first puff. This delivery is
faster than intravenous (IV) administration and produces a rapid behavioral
conditioning or reinforcement. In essence, the smoker is able to manipulate or
control the level of nicotine in their brain. It acts a lot like opium or cocaine, where
the user adjusts the dosage to meet the craving. What is nicotine, it’s a lot like a
controlled substance.
Smokers are also able to control the related side effects of nicotine - again, like a
controlled substance. The rapid delivery of nicotine to the nervous system prevents
the smoker from developing any sort of tolerance mechanism. This further,
reinforces the behavior and simply answers our question, why is nicotine addictive.
Nicotine levels depend largely on the smoker. They control the dosage on a puff-by-
puff basis. Quantity of nicotine depends on puff volume, depth of inspiration, puffing
rate and mix of room air. All these are variables the smoker can change, depending
on their need to satisfy the addiction. This is why switching to light cigarettes or
lower-yield cigarettes doesn’t work. The user simply changes the variables to ramp
up the nicotine dosage.
Physiologically, nicotine is a tough nut to crack. Why is nicotine addictive? Why is it
hard to beat? There simply isn’t anything else like it. Nicotine replacement therapies
(NRTs) often fail because of the slow and gradual dosing of nicotine. The smoker
starts the therapy expecting satisfaction, but has to wait up to 30 minutes to feed the
need with NRTs. Subsequently, they give up on the approach and return to smoking.
Effects of Nicotine
Because nicotine has the ability to release neurotransmitters, it should not be taken
lightly. The effects of nicotine are very well documented and are influenced by
several factors. Genetics plays a certain role in how nicotine affects the body.
Nicotine metabolism (length of time it stays in your body) is very important when
understanding how nicotine will affect you. Diet, age, sex, race/ethnicity, presence of
liver or kidney disease, pregnancy, use of medications and smoking will all
influence the time nicotine stays in your body.
It’s important to note here that nicotine accumulates elsewhere in the body. High
concentrations are found in stomach acid and saliva. Perhaps more importantly,
breast milk, fetal serum and amniotic fluid are places where nicotine collects. So
you have to be aware the effects of nicotine go beyond your own body.
In short-term, low concentrations, as seen with smoking, nicotine just kind of
speeds everything up. The effects of nicotine include tremor, increased heart rate,
blood pressure, respiratory rate, and level of alertness. The effects of nicotine
themselves can be seemingly harmless or disastrous, depending upon your
current health situation (read about nicotine overdose)
It's a good thing that only a small fraction of the available nicotine in the tobacco is
absorbed during smoking. Imagine what would happen if just another ten or fifteen
percent were absorbed. On a side note, chain smokers suffer more of these side
effects of nicotine because they are delivering more nicotine to their bloodstream.
Millions of people suffer from the ill effects of nicotine addiction and think nothing
about it. That is, not until they get a dreadful medical diagnosis like heart , cardio-
vascular or pulmonary disease. But it should now be clear why we are glad you
asked these two very important questions: what is nicotine and why is nicotine
addictive.
Nicotine is a chemical found in tobacco leaves that keeps you coming back for
more. But if you really want to answer the question, “what is nicotine”, you need to
dig a little deeper. Did you know that nicotine is a natural ingredient? In fact, it acts
as a natural plant insecticide inside the tobacco leaves. Many people who utilize
organic gardening will use nicotine products to keep the bugs away.
Nicotine is also the primary alkaloid in tobacco and accounts for roughly 95% of all
the alkaloid in the leaf. This alkaloid characteristic of nicotine is what makes for
rapid absorption through the cell membranes. This is one reason why we need to
ask what is nicotine all about.
Nicotine is extracted when the tobacco leaves are burned in cigarettes, pipes or
cigars. It is then carried on the particulate matter in the smoke emission into the
lungs. Once it is inhaled into the lungs, the nicotine is rapidly absorbed into the
bloodstream.
Why is Nicotine Addictive
It can be said that nicotine and the brain don’t mix. But the sad truth is, they mix all
too well. Nicotine increases the release of certain chemicals in the brain. These are
called neuro-transmitters.
One neurotransmitter is dopamine, which affects your behavior and mood. As
nicotine helps the release of dopamine, the smoker’s mood elevates, thus
delivering that sense of satisfaction or high. You could say it is a mood-altering drug,
which explains why nicotine is addictive.
add more binding sites is higher in smokers than nonsmokers. There are simply
more nicotine receptors in the smoker’s brain.
The total nicotine content of tobacco is about 10.2 mg. Only about 1-1.5 mg of
nicotine is absorbed during smoking. But the alkaloid nature of the drug and the
large surface area found in the lungs, make for rapid absorption. In fact, high levels
of nicotine are sent to the brain within 10-20 seconds of the first puff. This delivery is
faster than intravenous (IV) administration and produces a rapid behavioral
conditioning or reinforcement. In essence, the smoker is able to manipulate or
control the level of nicotine in their brain. It acts a lot like opium or cocaine, where
the user adjusts the dosage to meet the craving. What is nicotine, it’s a lot like a
controlled substance.
Smokers are also able to control the related side effects of nicotine - again, like a
controlled substance. The rapid delivery of nicotine to the nervous system prevents
the smoker from developing any sort of tolerance mechanism. This further,
reinforces the behavior and simply answers our question, why is nicotine addictive.
Nicotine levels depend largely on the smoker. They control the dosage on a puff-by-
puff basis. Quantity of nicotine depends on puff volume, depth of inspiration, puffing
rate and mix of room air. All these are variables the smoker can change, depending
on their need to satisfy the addiction. This is why switching to light cigarettes or
lower-yield cigarettes doesn’t work. The user simply changes the variables to ramp
up the nicotine dosage.
Physiologically, nicotine is a tough nut to crack. Why is nicotine addictive? Why is it
hard to beat? There simply isn’t anything else like it. Nicotine replacement therapies
(NRTs) often fail because of the slow and gradual dosing of nicotine. The smoker
starts the therapy expecting satisfaction, but has to wait up to 30 minutes to feed the
need with NRTs. Subsequently, they give up on the approach and return to smoking.
Effects of Nicotine
Because nicotine has the ability to release neurotransmitters, it should not be taken
lightly. The effects of nicotine are very well documented and are influenced by
several factors. Genetics plays a certain role in how nicotine affects the body.
Nicotine metabolism (length of time it stays in your body) is very important when
understanding how nicotine will affect you. Diet, age, sex, race/ethnicity, presence of
liver or kidney disease, pregnancy, use of medications and smoking will all
influence the time nicotine stays in your body.
It’s important to note here that nicotine accumulates elsewhere in the body. High
concentrations are found in stomach acid and saliva. Perhaps more importantly,
breast milk, fetal serum and amniotic fluid are places where nicotine collects. So
you have to be aware the effects of nicotine go beyond your own body.
In short-term, low concentrations, as seen with smoking, nicotine just kind of
speeds everything up. The effects of nicotine include tremor, increased heart rate,
blood pressure, respiratory rate, and level of alertness. The effects of nicotine
themselves can be seemingly harmless or disastrous, depending upon your
current health situation (read about nicotine overdose)
It's a good thing that only a small fraction of the available nicotine in the tobacco is
absorbed during smoking. Imagine what would happen if just another ten or fifteen
percent were absorbed. On a side note, chain smokers suffer more of these side
effects of nicotine because they are delivering more nicotine to their bloodstream.
Millions of people suffer from the ill effects of nicotine addiction and think nothing
about it. That is, not until they get a dreadful medical diagnosis like heart , cardio-
vascular or pulmonary disease. But it should now be clear why we are glad you
asked these two very important questions: what is nicotine and why is nicotine
addictive.
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