Table of contents:
Addiction or addiction is characterized by repetition, compulsiveness, seeking, or using a substance even though its effects and consequences are undesirable. Addiction is a mental or emotional dependence on a substance. Nicotine is known as an addictive substance in tobacco, and experts are researching other substances that contribute to tobacco dependence.
The regular use of tobacco products is addictive to many users. Nicotine is a substance found in tobacco, and has the same addictive effects as heroin and cocaine.
- When used in small amounts, nicotine provides a pleasant feeling that makes smokers want to continue smoking. Nicotine acts on brain chemicals and the central nervous system, affecting the mood of smokers. Nicotine works like any other addictive drug, by flooding it reward circuit brain with dopamine. Nicotine also triggers adrenaline, speeds up your heart rate and raises blood pressure.
- Nicotine reaches the brain within seconds of inhaling, and its effects begin to wear off within minutes. This is the reason why smokers light up their cigarettes again. If smokers stop smoking immediately, "withdrawal" symptoms will appear and get worse over time.
- Smokers generally smoke 10 times that of 1 cigarette. A smoker who consumes 1 pack per day experiences 200 nicotine "hits" per day.
- Smokers usually become dependent on nicotine and suffer "withdrawal" symptoms (physical and emotional) when quitting smoking. Symptoms include irritability, anxiety, headaches, and difficulty sleeping. A sign of addiction is where a person continues to smoke even though he knows that smoking is bad for health, affecting his life, health and family. In fact, most smokers actually want to quit. If you want to quit but don't do it, it probably means that you are addicted.
Experts are also researching the chemicals in tobacco that make smoking difficult to quit. In animal brains, tobacco smoke causes chemical changes that cannot be explained by the effects of nicotine.
In 1 cigarette, the average level of nicotine inhaled by a smoker is around 1-2 mg. However, cigarettes themselves contain more nicotine. The amount of nicotine inhaled depends on how you smoke, how much you inhale, how much you inhale and other factors.
All forms of tobacco contain nicotine and other chemicals that are easily absorbed by the lungs by smoking and by mouth with chewing tobacco. Nicotine will quickly spread throughout the body.
How strong is nicotine addiction?
Approximately 70% of smokers want to quit and about half try to quit each year, but only 4-7% are successful in quitting completely without help. This is because smokers are not only physically dependent on nicotine, but also emotional dependence which causes relapse after quitting.
Smokers may associate smoking with social and other activities. Smokers may also use tobacco to deal with unpleasant feelings, which can make it harder for some smokers to quit. These factors make smoking even more difficult to quit.
In fact, it may be more difficult to quit smoking than to quit using cocaine or opiates such as heroin. Experts have looked at 28 different studies of people who tried to stop using addictive substances. (Many people have other support such as behavioral therapy, so the success rate is higher than no help at all.) About 18% were successful at quitting alcohol, and over 40% were successful at quitting opiates or cocaine, but only 8% had success. successfully quit smoking.
How does nicotine affect the body?
Nicotine is poisonous, and high doses of nicotine can kill by stopping the muscles that humans use to breathe. However, smokers usually take in a small amount of nicotine so the body can process it quickly. The first dose of nicotine can leave a person feeling refreshed, and the next dose makes a person feel calm and relaxed.
Nicotine can cause new smokers and regular smokers who smoke too much, feeling dizzy and nauseous. The normal heart rate for a young smoker increases by 2 to 3 beats per minute. Nicotine also lowers skin temperature and decreases blood flow to the feet. Nicotine plays a role in increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke, but other substances in cigarette smoke have a bigger role.
Many people misunderstand that nicotine is the substance in tobacco that causes cancer. This has led some people to avoid using nicotine replacement therapy to quit smoking. In fact, nicotine is a substance that makes tobacco addictive, but it does not cause cancer.
Research shows that nicotine affects the activity of some normal cells and cancer cells. Several animal studies have shown that nicotine supports tumor growth and spread, but whether this occurs in humans is not certain, and more research is needed.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
