What causes nicotine addiction?
Nicotine is an addictive drug. It causes changes in the brain that make people want to use it more and more. In addition, addictive drugs cause unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. The good feelings that result when an addictive drug is present — and the bad feelings when it's absent — make breaking any addiction very difficult. Nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break.
The 1988 Surgeon General's Report, "Nicotine Addiction," concluded that
When a person smokes a cigarette, the body responds immediately to the chemical nicotine in the smoke. Nicotine causes a short-term increase in blood pressure, heart rate and the flow of blood from the heart. It also causes the arteries to narrow. The smoke includes carbon monoxide, which reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. This, combined with the nicotine effects, creates an imbalance between the demand for oxygen by the cells and the amount of oxygen the blood can supply.
How does nicotine in cigarettes increase the risk of heart attack?
Cigarette smoking may increase the risk of developing hardening of the arteries and heart attacks in several ways. First, carbon monoxide may damage the inner walls of the arteries, encouraging fatty buildups in them. Over time, this causes the vessels to narrow and harden. Nicotine may also contribute to this process. Smoking also causes several changes in the blood that make clots — and heart attack — more likely.Easy to Start, Hard to Quit
Did you know that nicotine is as addictive as heroin or cocaine? If someone uses nicotine again and again, such as by smoking cigarettes or cigars or chewing tobacco, his or her body develops a tolerance for it. When someone develops tolerance, he or she needs more drug to get the same effect. Eventually, a person can become addicted. Once a person becomes addicted, it is extremely difficult to quit. People who start smoking before the age of 21 have the hardest time quitting, and fewer than 1 in 10 people who try to quit smoking succeed.
When nicotine addicts stop smoking they may suffer from restlessness, hunger, depression, headaches, and other uncomfortable feelings. These are called "withdrawal symptoms" because they happen when nicotine is withdrawn from the body.What are the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal?
How long does nicotine stay in the body?
From 85–90 percent of nicotine in the blood is metabolized by the liver and excreted from the kidney rapidly. The estimated half-life for nicotine in the blood is two hours. However, smoking represents a multiple dosing situation with considerable accumulation during smoking. Therefore, it can be expected that blood nicotine would persist at significant levels for six to eight hours after smoking stopped.
SMOKING NOT ONLY AFFECTS YOU BUT THE PEOPLE SURROUNDED YOU......IT CAN BE YOUR LOVED ONES TOO WHO ARE AFFECTED BY HARMFUL CARBON MONOXIDE...Those who are tempted to take drugs and smoke avoid it...and those who are in addict try to put and end to it...
Nicotine affects the entire body. Nicotine acts directly on the heart to change heart rate and blood pressure. It also acts on the nerves that control respiration to change breathing patterns. In high concentrations, nicotine is deadly, in fact one drop of purified nicotine on the tongue will kill a person. It's so lethal that it has been used as a pesticide for centuries.So why do people smoke? Because nicotine acts in the brain where it can stimulate feelings of pleasure.
The nicotine molecule is shaped like a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine and its receptors are involved in many functions, including muscle movement, breathing, heart rate, learning, and memory. They also cause the release of other neurotransmitters and hormones that affect your mood, appetite, memory, and more. When nicotine gets into the brain, it attaches to acetylcholine receptors and mimics the actions of acetylcholine.
Nicotine also activates areas of the brain that are involved in producing feelings of pleasure and reward. Recently, scientists discovered that nicotine raises the levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the parts of the brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward. Dopamine, which is sometimes called the pleasure molecule, is the same neurotransmitter that is involved in addictions to other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Researchers now believe that this change in dopamine may play a key role in all addictions. This may help explain why it is so hard for people to stop smoking.
Withdrawal may be bad, but long-term smoking can be much worse. It raises your blood pressure, dulls your senses of smell and taste, reduces your stamina, and wrinkles your skin. More dangerously, long-term smoking can lead to fatal heart attacks, strokes, emphysema, and cancer.
You may be surprised to learn that tobacco use causes far more illnesses and death than all other addicting drugs combined. One out every six deaths in the United States is a result of smoking.
But even when faced with risk of death, many people keep using tobacco because they are so addicted to nicotine. Believe it or not, half of the smokers who have heart attacks keep smoking, even though their doctor warns them to stop. That's a strong addiction!
Smokeless tobacco also has harmful effects. Chewing tobacco can cause damage to gum tissue and even loss of teeth. It also reduces a person's ability to taste and smell. Most importantly, smokeless tobacco contains cancer causing-chemicals that can cause cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. This can even happen in very young users of chewing tobacco. In fact, most people who develop these cancers were users of chewing tobacco
The 1988 Surgeon General's Report, "Nicotine Addiction," concluded that
- Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addicting.
- Nicotine is the drug that causes addiction.
- Pharmacologic and behavioral characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
When a person smokes a cigarette, the body responds immediately to the chemical nicotine in the smoke. Nicotine causes a short-term increase in blood pressure, heart rate and the flow of blood from the heart. It also causes the arteries to narrow. The smoke includes carbon monoxide, which reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. This, combined with the nicotine effects, creates an imbalance between the demand for oxygen by the cells and the amount of oxygen the blood can supply.
How does nicotine in cigarettes increase the risk of heart attack?
Did you know that nicotine is as addictive as heroin or cocaine? If someone uses nicotine again and again, such as by smoking cigarettes or cigars or chewing tobacco, his or her body develops a tolerance for it. When someone develops tolerance, he or she needs more drug to get the same effect. Eventually, a person can become addicted. Once a person becomes addicted, it is extremely difficult to quit. People who start smoking before the age of 21 have the hardest time quitting, and fewer than 1 in 10 people who try to quit smoking succeed.
When nicotine addicts stop smoking they may suffer from restlessness, hunger, depression, headaches, and other uncomfortable feelings. These are called "withdrawal symptoms" because they happen when nicotine is withdrawn from the body.What are the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal?
- irritability
- impatience
- hostility
- anxiety
- depressed mood
- difficulty concentrating
- restlessness
- decreased heart rate
- increased appetite or weight gain
How long does nicotine stay in the body?
From 85–90 percent of nicotine in the blood is metabolized by the liver and excreted from the kidney rapidly. The estimated half-life for nicotine in the blood is two hours. However, smoking represents a multiple dosing situation with considerable accumulation during smoking. Therefore, it can be expected that blood nicotine would persist at significant levels for six to eight hours after smoking stopped.
SMOKING NOT ONLY AFFECTS YOU BUT THE PEOPLE SURROUNDED YOU......IT CAN BE YOUR LOVED ONES TOO WHO ARE AFFECTED BY HARMFUL CARBON MONOXIDE...Those who are tempted to take drugs and smoke avoid it...and those who are in addict try to put and end to it...
Nicotine affects the entire body. Nicotine acts directly on the heart to change heart rate and blood pressure. It also acts on the nerves that control respiration to change breathing patterns. In high concentrations, nicotine is deadly, in fact one drop of purified nicotine on the tongue will kill a person. It's so lethal that it has been used as a pesticide for centuries.So why do people smoke? Because nicotine acts in the brain where it can stimulate feelings of pleasure.
The nicotine molecule is shaped like a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine and its receptors are involved in many functions, including muscle movement, breathing, heart rate, learning, and memory. They also cause the release of other neurotransmitters and hormones that affect your mood, appetite, memory, and more. When nicotine gets into the brain, it attaches to acetylcholine receptors and mimics the actions of acetylcholine.
Nicotine also activates areas of the brain that are involved in producing feelings of pleasure and reward. Recently, scientists discovered that nicotine raises the levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the parts of the brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward. Dopamine, which is sometimes called the pleasure molecule, is the same neurotransmitter that is involved in addictions to other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Researchers now believe that this change in dopamine may play a key role in all addictions. This may help explain why it is so hard for people to stop smoking.
Withdrawal may be bad, but long-term smoking can be much worse. It raises your blood pressure, dulls your senses of smell and taste, reduces your stamina, and wrinkles your skin. More dangerously, long-term smoking can lead to fatal heart attacks, strokes, emphysema, and cancer.
You may be surprised to learn that tobacco use causes far more illnesses and death than all other addicting drugs combined. One out every six deaths in the United States is a result of smoking.
But even when faced with risk of death, many people keep using tobacco because they are so addicted to nicotine. Believe it or not, half of the smokers who have heart attacks keep smoking, even though their doctor warns them to stop. That's a strong addiction!
Smokeless tobacco also has harmful effects. Chewing tobacco can cause damage to gum tissue and even loss of teeth. It also reduces a person's ability to taste and smell. Most importantly, smokeless tobacco contains cancer causing-chemicals that can cause cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. This can even happen in very young users of chewing tobacco. In fact, most people who develop these cancers were users of chewing tobacco
Normal city dwellers lung
Note carbon deposits from pollution
Picture 2
Smokers Lung with Cancer
HOW TO QUIT SMOKING?
When people actually realise that the physical withdrawals are next to non existent and that the real difficulty lies in the fact that people think that tobacco dies something for them when it actually doesn't. giving up smoking implies that you are losing something. you are losing nothing at all, you are regaining your freedom.:)
One effective approach for addressing your smoking habit is called "relapse prevention." This involves identifying your personal "triggers," "cues," or "high-risk situations" for smoking, and then developing "tools" or "coping skills" for dealing with them. Triggers can be a wide variety of things -- people, places, events, emotions. Do you smoke after meals, at parties, when you're angry or anxious or bored, or in your car?
Once you've identified the situations that are likely to put you at risk for relapsing after you've quit, you can develop ways to cope with them. If you smoke when you're anxious, learn a deep breathing skill or work on some calming thoughts you can say to yourself when you're nervous (e.g., "Calm," "Relax").
If you smoke, when you're bored, make a list of 10 things you can do instead of smoke and keep it handy for after you've quit. If you smoke after dinner, plan to go for a walk each night after dinner instead. In other words, plan ahead and develop ways to avoid, escape from, or cope with the things that might trigger you to return to smoking after you've quit.
Continue to identify difficult situations after you quit and continue to work on improving your coping skills so that you can stay smoke free. If you slip, don't give up! -- examine the situation to identify hidden or new triggers, develop some new coping skills or strengthen your existing ones, then set another quit date, and try again.
Another effective approach for addressing your smoking habit is to develop a quit smoking contract with yourself -- plan to give yourself small rewards for each day, and progressively larger rewards for increasingly longer periods of time, that you stay smoke free.
Yet another effective approach is to develop a support system for quitting -- ask a non-smoking friend or family member to be your "buddy," someone you can call to help you through tough times and someone who can help reward you for time smoke free (by doing one of your household chores for you for a full day smoke free, by taking you to lunch for being smoke free for a whole week).
Remember, combining approaches that address both your physical addiction and your smoking habit is most likely to be effective...and, as the old adage says, "If at first you don't succeed -- Try, Try again!"
TRY AND TRY UNTIL YOU SUCCEED....
Physical exercise is also one of the effective mediums to keep away from smoking. If the body is strong enough, it can resist the temptation of smoking and the brain may emit feel good hormones. If smokers take anti smoking drugs along with regular exercise, the results may be quick and far better. The anti smoking drug, which is quite popular among smokers who wish to quit smoking, is Champix varenicline. This drug has become a huge success with smokers and people find it easy to give up habit of smoking after taking Champix varenicline. The main ingredient in this drug is varenicline, which works in a two way process. Varenicline reduces the withdrawal cravings in smokers after they quit smoking. In addition, Varenicline also lowers the satisfaction level, which a smoker usually gets after having a cigarette, and eventually smoker gives up smoking.
Smokers who take Champix varenicline medication should follow directions exactly as prescribed by doctor. If you use varenicline in larger amounts or for longer than recommended period, many side effects may occur. Always follow the directions on your prescription label of Champix varenicline. However, if you miss a dose of Champix varenicline, use the medication as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for the next dose of Varenicline, skip the missed dose and wait until next regular scheduled dose of Varenicline. Do not use extra Varenicline to make up the missed dose of Varenicline.
If you want to improve your chances for successful smoking cessation with Champix Varenicline, always set a date to quit smoking. In addition, start taking Varenicline one week before your planned quit date. Smokers should not take other drugs along with Varenicline medication. Always tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This may include vitamins, minerals, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Smokers should never start using a new medication without consulting a doctor. Taking Varenicline is one of the effective ways towards smoking cessation. If smokers take it together with behavior changes and counseling support, it may definitely become possible for everyone to quit smoking.
One effective approach for addressing your smoking habit is called "relapse prevention." This involves identifying your personal "triggers," "cues," or "high-risk situations" for smoking, and then developing "tools" or "coping skills" for dealing with them. Triggers can be a wide variety of things -- people, places, events, emotions. Do you smoke after meals, at parties, when you're angry or anxious or bored, or in your car?
Once you've identified the situations that are likely to put you at risk for relapsing after you've quit, you can develop ways to cope with them. If you smoke when you're anxious, learn a deep breathing skill or work on some calming thoughts you can say to yourself when you're nervous (e.g., "Calm," "Relax").
If you smoke, when you're bored, make a list of 10 things you can do instead of smoke and keep it handy for after you've quit. If you smoke after dinner, plan to go for a walk each night after dinner instead. In other words, plan ahead and develop ways to avoid, escape from, or cope with the things that might trigger you to return to smoking after you've quit.
Continue to identify difficult situations after you quit and continue to work on improving your coping skills so that you can stay smoke free. If you slip, don't give up! -- examine the situation to identify hidden or new triggers, develop some new coping skills or strengthen your existing ones, then set another quit date, and try again.
Another effective approach for addressing your smoking habit is to develop a quit smoking contract with yourself -- plan to give yourself small rewards for each day, and progressively larger rewards for increasingly longer periods of time, that you stay smoke free.
Yet another effective approach is to develop a support system for quitting -- ask a non-smoking friend or family member to be your "buddy," someone you can call to help you through tough times and someone who can help reward you for time smoke free (by doing one of your household chores for you for a full day smoke free, by taking you to lunch for being smoke free for a whole week).
Remember, combining approaches that address both your physical addiction and your smoking habit is most likely to be effective...and, as the old adage says, "If at first you don't succeed -- Try, Try again!"
TRY AND TRY UNTIL YOU SUCCEED....
Physical exercise is also one of the effective mediums to keep away from smoking. If the body is strong enough, it can resist the temptation of smoking and the brain may emit feel good hormones. If smokers take anti smoking drugs along with regular exercise, the results may be quick and far better. The anti smoking drug, which is quite popular among smokers who wish to quit smoking, is Champix varenicline. This drug has become a huge success with smokers and people find it easy to give up habit of smoking after taking Champix varenicline. The main ingredient in this drug is varenicline, which works in a two way process. Varenicline reduces the withdrawal cravings in smokers after they quit smoking. In addition, Varenicline also lowers the satisfaction level, which a smoker usually gets after having a cigarette, and eventually smoker gives up smoking.
Smokers who take Champix varenicline medication should follow directions exactly as prescribed by doctor. If you use varenicline in larger amounts or for longer than recommended period, many side effects may occur. Always follow the directions on your prescription label of Champix varenicline. However, if you miss a dose of Champix varenicline, use the medication as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for the next dose of Varenicline, skip the missed dose and wait until next regular scheduled dose of Varenicline. Do not use extra Varenicline to make up the missed dose of Varenicline.
If you want to improve your chances for successful smoking cessation with Champix Varenicline, always set a date to quit smoking. In addition, start taking Varenicline one week before your planned quit date. Smokers should not take other drugs along with Varenicline medication. Always tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This may include vitamins, minerals, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Smokers should never start using a new medication without consulting a doctor. Taking Varenicline is one of the effective ways towards smoking cessation. If smokers take it together with behavior changes and counseling support, it may definitely become possible for everyone to quit smoking.
Nice Keep it up......
ReplyDeleteI wish to continue this kind of valuable topics.
ReplyDeletePost some more useful notes about heath care and Cause of drinking alcohols.
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
ReplyDeleteNicotine Addiction
thanks felcy for reading this...and really happy to see that your cousin too read this and recommended it.
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