Nicotine is a toxin within the tobacco plant, and its own main function would be to serve as deterrent with regards to insects attempting 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, resulting in the much spoken about ‘aah’ factor.
The most common method of nicotine finding its way into our bodies is through tobacco smoke. It is owing to the nicotine present in the cigarette that the act of smoking seems pleasurable. And nicotine is without a doubt the prevailing concern that that the cigarette industry continues to grow at a steady pace. However, smoking counts as a significant preventable reason behind death/disease, and in addition causes a significant amount of premature deaths each year.
Tobacco smoke includes a plethora of chemicals, and nicotine is amongst the primary ones. Can say for certain that smokeless tobacco contains nicotine as well. Nicotine dependency is known as to be amongst the hardest to break, and also whenever a smoker witnesses the damage that nicotine could cause first-hand, smoking can still be quite difficult to give up. While it may be the nicotine that keeps a smoker coming back for more, another constituents within cigarettes result in a considerably higher level of cancer, strokes, and heart & lung diseases in smokers. Nicotine dependency can also lead to infertility, complications during pregnancy in addition to complications in a newborn baby’s health.
nikotiinipussit netistä The Effects of Nicotine:
Not only 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 system. At this stage, the individual is truly addicted. Attempts to avoid using nicotine at this stage or later would almost definitely bring about withdrawal symptoms. The protective adjustments made by the brain would make sure that any attempt designed to stop smoking would result in discomfort because the brain’s circuitry senses the absence of nicotine as a cause for concern.
Statistics:
More than fifteen thousand Australians die because of smoking each year, and may be the largest ‘preventable’ cause of early death and disease. The percentage of individuals aged over 14 who smoke everyday in Australia went down considerably, from 30.5% in 1988 down to 16.6% in 2007. Across the world, 10 % of the adult population smokes; and in america this figure stands at 20%. In america alone around 440,000 people die every year because of tobacco related illnesses. Now, there are around 1.3-1.4 billion smokers in the world, with a large chunk surviving in developing countries. And given the ongoing trends, by 2020 tobacco would take into account approximately 10 million deaths every year.
Facts about Nicotine Dependency:
Nicotine is poisonous, and the reason that reason that a smoker does not immediately die is due to the minuscule quantities 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 very common in efforts to give up smoking.
Apart from nicotine, cigarettes have over 4,000 different chemicals; many of which are carcinogenic (cancer causing substances).
Smoking for about 15 years, at about 20 cigarettes each day, should bring about about one kg of tar in a smoker’s lungs.
A regular smoker’s life span would decrease by around 7 to 8 years (at about 7 to 8 minutes per cigarette).
Every month, tobacco companies in Australia lose around 12,000 customers. While around 10,000 manage to quit, the majority of the others are ones who have passed away due to smoking related illnesses.
Data collected from the ‘Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’ implies that almost 80% of the smokers have tried quitting at least once, and within 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 will discover a number of brands with regards to these nicotine free cigarettes, and these cigarettes use various herbs/plants as a base. These cigarettes are often used as substitutes to smoking conventional cigarettes, and numerous people use them as nicotine cessation aids. However, owing to the various compounds within these cigarettes, smoking them isn’t entirely safe, with research showing that they too could 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. The utilization of NRT aids is said to increase the chances of quitting by around 50%, however in order to achieve success, additional support that’s provided to the average person in the form of counselling, etc. also play an important role. When a person stops smoking, these aids continue steadily to supply him/her with the nicotine that is required to help keep the withdrawal symptoms away, and the intake of nicotine through this route is regulated and gradually reduced. Using nicotine replacement therapy to give up 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 feeling of euphoria that’s often linked to smoking is a result of the nicotine present therein, and this is what keeps the smoker returning for more. The good thing is that awareness in everyone is increasing, and help to battle nicotine dependency is available in various forms. So if you wish to fight nicotine dependency and believe that it really is an uphill battle, at least take heart in understanding that there’s plenty of help that you may avail of.