Nicotine is really a toxin within the tobacco plant, and its own main function is to serve as deterrent with regards to insects wanting to eat the plant. Nicotine is reported to be more lethal than arsenic, venoms of different snakes, strychnine, etc. Interestingly though, once nicotine reaches the reward pathways in the human brain, a surge of dopamine is released, leading to the much spoken about ‘aah’ factor.
The most common method of nicotine finding its way into our system is through cigarette smoke. It is due to the nicotine present in the cigarette that the act of smoking seems pleasurable. And nicotine is undoubtedly the prevailing concern that that the cigarette industry continues to grow at a reliable pace. However, smoking counts as a significant preventable reason behind death/disease, and in addition causes a significant number of premature deaths each year.
Tobacco smoke contains a plethora of chemicals, and nicotine is one of the primary ones. Can say for certain that smokeless tobacco contains nicotine aswell. Nicotine dependency is considered to be amongst the hardest to break, and even whenever a smoker witnesses the damage that nicotine can cause first-hand, smoking can be quite difficult to give up. While it is the nicotine that keeps a smoker coming back for more, the other constituents present in cigarettes result in a considerably higher rate of cancer, strokes, and heart & lung diseases in smokers. Nicotine dependency can also lead to infertility, complications during pregnancy and also complications in a new baby baby’s health.
THE CONSEQUENCES of Nicotine:
Not merely does nicotine work in the body releasing dopamine, it also activates the pathways that release adrenaline and serotonin, thereby impacting impulsivity and mood. Over a period the physical changes build a new ‘neuro chemical’ system which revolves entirely round the presence of nicotine within the machine. At this stage, the individual is truly addicted. Attempts to stop using nicotine at this stage or later would almost definitely bring about withdrawal symptoms. The protective adjustments made by the brain would ensure that any attempt made to stop smoking would bring about discomfort because the brain’s circuitry senses the absence of nicotine as an underlying cause for concern.
Statistics:
More than fifteen thousand Australians die because of smoking every year, and may be the largest ‘preventable’ reason behind early death and disease. The percentage of individuals aged over 14 who smoke everyday in Australia went down considerably, from 30.5% in 1988 right down to 16.6% in 2007. Across the world, ten percent of the adult population smokes; and in america this figure stands at 20%. In america alone around 440,000 people die each year due to tobacco related illnesses. Now, you can find around 1.3-1.4 billion smokers on earth, with a large chunk living in developing countries. And given the ongoing trends, by 2020 tobacco would take into account approximately 10 million deaths each year.
Facts about Nicotine Dependency:
Nicotine is poisonous, and the reason why that reason that a smoker does not immediately die is because of the minuscule levels of nicotine present in each cigarette.
Nicotine is highly addictive, and nicotine dependency is often weighed against heroin and cocaine dependency with regard to difficulty to quit.
Relapses are quite common in efforts to give up smoking.
Apart from nicotine, cigarettes have over 4,000 different chemicals; a lot of which are carcinogenic (cancer causing substances).
Smoking for around 15 years, at about 20 cigarettes per day, should result in about one kg of tar in a smoker’s lungs.
nikotiini pussit A regular smoker’s life expectancy would go down by around 7 to 8 years (at about 7 to 8 minutes per cigarette).
Each month, tobacco companies in Australia lose around 12,000 customers. While around 10,000 manage to quit, most of the others are ones who have passed away because of smoking related illnesses.
Data collected from the ‘Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’ shows that almost 80% of the smokers have tried quitting at least one time, and in the last year a lot more than 30% have tried stopping.
The Alternatives – Quitting Help:
Nicotine Free Cigarettes:
Nicotine free cigarettes are ones that not contain any tobacco or nicotine. One can find numerous brands when it comes to these nicotine free cigarettes, and these cigarettes use various herbs/plants as a base. These cigarettes tend to be used as substitutes to smoking conventional cigarettes, and a number of people utilize them as nicotine cessation aids. However, due to the various compounds within these cigarettes, smoking them isn’t entirely safe, with research showing that they too can be carcinogenic.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy:
Nicotine replacement therapy refers to a smoker quitting smoking but using a different medium to obtain his/her quota of nicotine supply. Different NRT aids include nicotine gums, patches, lozenges, inhalers, and nasal sprays. Using NRT aids is thought to increase the likelihood of quitting by around 50%, however in order to achieve success, additional support that is provided to the individual by means of counselling, etc. also play a significant role. When a person stops smoking, these aids continue to supply him/her with the nicotine that’s needed is to keep the withdrawal symptoms at bay, and the intake of nicotine through this route is regulated and gradually reduced. The utilization of nicotine replacement therapy to quit smoking is normally is 8 to 12 week long exercise.
Even though an increasing number of smokers continue steadily to battle their nicotine dependency, more and more people continue steadily to smoke their first cigarette. The sensation of euphoria that’s often linked to smoking is because the nicotine present therein, and this is what keeps the smoker coming back for more. The good thing is that awareness in everyone is on the rise, and help battle nicotine dependency is available in various forms. So if you wish to fight nicotine dependency and believe that it is an uphill battle, at the very least take heart in understanding that there’s plenty of help that you may avail of.