How Does Nicotine Affect Living Organisms

Nicotine is the major constituent in most smoking products, and is considered a strong alkaloid that can be absorbed by various routes; oral mucosa, lungs, skin or gut [PMID: 4761980]. After absorption, nicotine is metabolized by the liver through Phase I reactions (oxidation by multiple pathways) producing cotinine as one of the metabolites; followed by Phase II glucoronidation [PMID: 23821941]. Most but not all e-liquids contain nicotine, and its concentration varies between 0-34 mg/ml among the different products [PMCID: PMC3995273]. Interestingly, it has been reported that several e-cigarette brands inaccurately labeled nicotine concentrations [PMID: 22529223], including some of the “nicotine free” brands which apparently contain

Nicotine, one of the most unusual psychoactive drugs known, and the primary pharmacological agent of addiction in cigarettes, triggers powerful physical and psychological reactions in species as diverse as cockroaches and humans.

It is the most common addiction throughout the world with 1.1 trillion people smoking currently, consisting about a third of the population over 15 years old. While nicotine is the addictive substance in the tobacco that causes addiction, tobacco will increase health risks of heart attack and vascular diseases. Nicotine dependency is a complex brain disease, and we need to start thinking of it as such. New ways of ingesting this substance have been created, that try to lure and appeal to demographic, particularly younger, to consume nicotine. Regardless of how many years someone has smoked, stopping at any point will valuable and improve your quality of life. Changing the public’s view on addiction is a subject of importance, so many of others can view this as a brain disease more than a personal decision. To fight this addiction, you have to rewire your behaviors in your brain and have a drive to overcome this horrific addiction. The brain can luckily keep changing and be trained to stop cravings with a multitude of different strategies. Anyone can be affected by addiction, we need start treating addicts with evidence-based practices rather than jailing them. Through more education and laws enforced, we can only hope that the number of tobacco users can decrease more and everyone can learn to live a healthier, full life without addiction and the painful diseases that derive from

Burton, B.R. (1998). Detection of Nicotine in Foods and Plant Materials. Journal of food science. 53 , 1572-1573.

The history of nicotine dates back to 1560 when Jean Nicot, from whose name the word nicotine derives, introduced tobacco to France for medical use (Lah, 2011). With the arrival of Europeans to America in the 16th century, the consumption, cultivation, and trading of tobacco quickly spread. Cigarettes were later invented by beggars in Spain in 1614, who collected scraps of cigars and rolled the tobacco into small pieces of paper (Lah, 2011). Due to the high expense of cigarette production, consumption was not widespread until 1880, when a machine to roll cigarettes was invented by James Bonsack (Lah, 2011). Modernization of cigarette consumption during the 1920s made adverse health effects from smoking more evident. In 1929, Fritz Lickint published evidence linking tobacco with lung cancer, which led to a strong anti-smoking movement in Nazi Germany (Proctor, 2000). A breakthrough came in 1948, when Richard Doll published the first major study validating that smoking could cause serious health damage, such as lung cancer and heart disease (Proctor, 2000). The 1954 British Doctors Study and the 1964 United States Surgeon General 's report increased the popularity and legitimacy of the anti-smoking movement, leading to the Tobacco Master Settlement (MSA) against the tobacco industry allowing states to recover the

Nicotine, an alkaloid containing the elements carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, is one of the most dangerous substances used daily. This substance can be fatal at only 60g when tobacco is used. Nicotine is found in a family of plants called Solanaceae, commonly known as the nightshade family, and largely found in tobacco. Nicotine or C10H14N2 has a molar mass of 162.231g/mol. This molecule was introduced to Paris, France by Jean Nicot de Villemain as tobacco and seeds from Brazil in 1560, since he claimed that it had medicinal properties. It was then isolated by Wilhelm Heinrich Posselt, and Karl Ludwig Reinmann who both announced it to be poisonous; and synthesized by A. Pictet and P. Crepieux. Its natural purpose is of an insecticide, by focusing

For over a long period of time nicotine contained in tobacco has been documented as substances that develops health problems in the body if used, continuous research on this alkaloid have shown that the substance have certain beneficial effects of the body. What made it a potential drug target is following the identification of a family of genes coding for neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors also known as (nAChRs) and more knowledge of their expression and function in the brain central nervous system (Suto & Zacharias, 2005). nAChRs are receptor proteins that can respond to neurotransmitter acetylcholine and drugs in the body. In human beings they are located in the brain central nervous system and they play a significant role in peripheral

Nicotine is a dangerous biological substance found in tobacco that influences addiction and tobacco’s prolonged use (Stolerman and Shoaib 1991; Belfour and Fagerstrom 1996; Benowita 1996; Rose and Corrigall 1997). Markou (2008) reported that destructive smoking habits are derived from nicotine, one of the major psychoactive elements in tobacco (Stolerman & Jarvis 1995; Royal College of Physicians of London 2000) that results in an elevated occurrence of disease and death all over the world Murray & Lopez 1997).

     In the world today, Nicotine is one of the most frequently used addictive drugs. The impact it has on society is like no other. It is one of more than 4,000 chemicals found in the smoke of tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. This addictive drug is the primary component in tobacco that acts on the brain.

The most potent ingredient in tobacco products is Nicotine (NIH, 2015). Nicotine is highly addictive and commonly found in potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tobacco. Although nicotine is found in other plants; much higher level are found in tobacco. Nicotine can be used as a stimulant or a relaxant (NIH, 2015). The effects vary based upon the choice of intake. Once nicotine enters the bloodstream it causes the body to release a hormone; adrenalin. Adrenalin then causes an accelerated heart rate, increase

Smoking is a major problem concerning public health. It comes with many side effects that affect not only the smoker, but also victims of secondhand smoke and even thirdhand smoke. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide that affects at least 6 million people a year. Previous research has shown that smokers die an average of 15 years earlier than non-smokers. Eric C. Donny, Ph.D, along with several other researchers, proposed that in order to decrease smoking’s impact on public health, the nicotine content of cigarettes should be limited to a non addictive level. This idea was first introduced by Benowitz and Henningfield, who published a commentary on the reduction of nicotine content in tobacco products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the authority to reduce, but not completely eliminate, nicotine from tobacco products if such action is likely to benefit public health (Donny 1341). Results from previous small studies suggest that reduced-nicotine cigarettes have several benefits including reduced smoking, reduced nicotine exposure, reduced dependence, increased abstinence, and decreased withdrawal-related discomfort (Donny 1341). This study investigates the effects of lowered nicotine content versus normal nicotine content in cigarettes. Significant results from this study can change current guidelines on the contents and

Nicotine can be found in tobacco products an example is in cigarettes. It serves as a minor stimulant as well as a sedative to the central nervous system. The effect nicotine gives off is known as a “kick” which is caused by a “discharge of epinephrine from the adrenal cortex,” that stimulates the central nervous system and endocrine glands to establish an immediate release

Tobacco is a plant that contains the drug nicotine. Even though tobacco causes many health problems, people all over the world have been using it for hundreds of years.

Smoking is not just a bad habit, but also a complex addiction. Experts believe that nicotine exerts its powerful addictive effects by

Nicotine is a chemical that is produced inside of a tobacco leaf, it is also known as Nicotiana Tabacum, which was native to South America but now widely cultivated. Nicotiana Rustica, a small leaf species from the West Indies and eastern North America is a second common sort of nicotine grown today; there are a total of sixty ways to cultivate this product. Nicotine is named after Jean Nicot a french physician, and early advocate of the substance. While the word tobacco was adopted from the spanish but cultivated by the Native Americans long before. There are four main types of tobacco snuff, chewing, cigars and cigarettes.