Nicotine’s Side Effects: The Agony and the Ecstasy

The Many Faces of Nicotine

Nicotine is both the main addictive ingredient in a cigarette and the drug that helps people quit smoking through NRT (nicotine replacement therapy). It is what addicts you to smoking and then it is what eventually frees you from tobacco. The contrasts do not stop there.

Nicotine is a stimulant so when it is ingested it raises your heart rate and blood pressure which makes you feel alert and invigorated. With an increase in the dosage, however, nicotine then becomes a sedative, which is the complete opposite of a stimulant, so it makes you feel peaceful and lethargic. There is even a name for this – Nesbitt’s paradox.

So it is not without reason that nicotine is one of the most studied chemicals in the world. It is of course, mostly associated with tobacco and cigarettes but there are many different sides to nicotine that you may not know about. The reason nicotine is still studied today is because there are a still a lot of questions that remain as to the positive and negative effects nicotine has on the human body.

These effects, both known and unknown are what we will explore further in this article. We will first ask some basic questions about the nature and history of nicotine and then move on to the many different ways that we interact with nicotine every day.

What is Nicotine?

Nicotine is a powerful stimulant that occurs naturally in the nightshade family of plants (vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes are also part of this family). Nicotine is also present in the leaves of various plants including:

• Nicotiana rustica (wild tobacco)
• Duboisia hopwoodii (pitchuri thornapple)
• Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
• Nicotiana tabacum (cultivated tobacco)

Nicotine was considered a poison when it was first extracted from tobacco and in its pure liquid form it is highly toxic and lethal. Given its toxicity, nicotine was regularly used as an insecticide before it was eventually replaced by cheaper, synthetic insecticides and banned from being used as such.

Major Effects of Nicotine

The most common way that nicotine is ingested by humans is through tobacco smoke (snuff and chewing tobacco have higher concentrations of nicotine, but take longer to absorb in the body). When inhaled, nicotine takes only a few seconds to reach the brain, wherein it causes the following effects:

• Heart rate immediately goes up
• Heart and muscles begin to consume more oxygen
• Stimulation of adrenal glands, releasing of adrenaline
• Dopamine (pleasure causing chemical) released into the body
• Pancreas produces less insulin
• A surge in glucose levels

Some of these effects are known collectively as the nicotine “buzz”, which is what happens when chemicals like adrenaline and dopamine are simultaneously released into your body. Those effects are not long-lasting and the desire of your body to experience those sensations again is what eventually addicts you to cigarettes and tobacco.

The other effects, such as the increase in heart rate and your pancreas producing less insulin are longer lasting and can have more adverse effects down the road, as you take more and more nicotine into your body.

Minor Side Effects of Nicotine

The side effects of nicotine are numerous and affect almost every part of the body. The side effects are broken down below:

• Heart – Increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, constricting of the aorta, coronary artery disease.
• Gastrointestinal – Nausea, dry mouth, heartburn, diarrhea.
• Respiratory/lungs – Bronchitis, irritation of asthma symptoms, bronchial spasms.
• Brain/central nervous system – Constricts blood vessels, dulls the senses, hormonal changes.

Nicotine and Addiction

The one effect of nicotine that deserves a category of its own is its addictive effect. These are just some of the interesting facts about nicotine and addiction:

• The levels of dopamine and adrenaline released by inhaling nicotine are similar to those caused by heroin and cocaine consumption.
• Nicotine leaves the body fairly quickly, leading to the onset of withdrawal symptoms (depression and tiredness) and the desire to take nicotine again.
• Nicotine is addictive in and of itself, but societal factors such as marketing by tobacco companies and its legal availability lead people to start smoking and eventually, to addiction.
• According to the American Cancer Society, nicotine is at least as hard to quit as heroin.
• 35 million people try to quit smoking every year.
• Less than 7% of them get to at least year of abstinence when they try to quit cold turkey.

All addictions are characterized by abusers compulsively seeking out their drug of choice, despite the harmful effects said drug has on their health – nicotine and cigarettes are a perfect example of that. No one knows better about the dangers of smoking than smokers and yet almost 3,200 young people start smoking every day.

Nicotine and Cancer

As of yet, no definitive link has been made between nicotine and cancer. Normally it is the tar and carbon monoxide released by the burning of tobacco that causes most major cancers in smokers and second-hand smokers. However, some studies have shown that nicotine “may contribute in cancer development by stimulating a number of important processes”.

Nicotine: Agony and Ecstasy

In this article we have gone through the many ways that nicotine affects the body. From its initial absorption into the body and the subsequent “kick” brought on by the release of adrenaline and dopamine to its more long-lasting effects on the major internal organs of the body, nicotine leaves no part of the body untouched.

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