Nicotine: Eviction of the Addiction

              Danyan Mao, Keith Gallagher, and Daniel S. McGehee studied nicotine and its role in the brain and published an article titled “Nicotine Potentiation of Excitatory Inputs to Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons” and McGehee gave a lecture on the topic to a Neuroscience Seminar course at Loyola University, Chicago.  Nicotine activates nicotinic receptors that create changes in the ventral tegmental area of the brain.  So what does this mean?

            Nicotine is the addictive substance found in cigarettes and cigarettes lead to roughly $440,000 deaths just in Americans each year.  In an article written by Gregory Lande for Medscape it is stated that nicotine addiction is the second leading cause of death in the world.   Nicotine affects the body by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and weight loss.   Along with these physical effects nicotine also has behavioral effects such as more alertness, accelerated speech, and a feeling of being frantic and irritable. 

Lande describes nicotine as, “It meets the criteria of a highly addictive drug, in that it is a potent psychoactive substance that induces euphoria, reinforces its own use, and leads to nicotine withdrawal syndrome when it is absent.”

Your body becomes dependent on this substance and when it is without it you experience withdrawal symptoms which are removed once your body receives that nicotine again.

              While tobacco and nicotine use is the second leading cause of death in the world, it is also the greatest preventable cause of death in the United States.   There are various methods for breaking the nicotine addiction, one is called nicotine replacement therapy or NRT.   This is exactly what it sounds like, nicotine from tobacco is being replaced with various products/methods such as nicotine inhalers, transdermal nicotine patch, nicotine nasal spray, nicotine gum, and more.  There are also methods which are non-nicotine pharmacotherapy.  There are medications such as bupropion and varenicline which research has shown are very effective and efficient in stopping smoking.

              Bupropion works by removing the symptoms which are associated with nicotine withdrawal.  Varenicline also works in this way however it is a more risky choice of medication because it has been linked to cardiovascular problems.  The two medications are often used together and have proven to be most effective.

              Overall it is a fairly common fact that smoking is bad for you.  So why do people continue to do it and struggle so much with quitting?  The nicotine found in cigarettes leaves your body addicted and craving the substance which is a vicious and dangerous cycle.  There are various developments in science and medication which helps to cure the addiction of nicotine and ways of receiving nicotine without the horrendous side-affects that come with smoking.

Links

Article: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/287555-overview

Pictures: http://www.trc-canada.com/prod-img/N412420.png

https://committedquitters.nicodermcq.com/PageFiles/990/truth_about_nicotine_02.jpg

Citation

Lande, Gregory R., DO, FACN. "Nicotine Addiction." : Practice Essentials, Background, Pathophysiology. Ed. Eduardo Dunayevich. Medscape, 2013. Web.