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Effects of Nicotine

Nicotine is one of the strongest addictions. It has a heavy psychological effect on the brain and smokers often crave cigarettes. According to a 2008 MyAddction article, there are 440,000 tobacco-related deaths in the United States each year. There are many diseases also related to tobacco use such as cardiovascular disease; strokes; lung cancer; kidney cancer; larynx, head, neck and breast cancer. Tobacco use has effects on several crucial organs in the body, as well as the tongue and mouth.

  1. Cardiovascular Effects

    • The cardiac effects of smoking include increased heart rate and blood pressure, atherosclerosis (a buildup of fatty tissue in the arteries), high cholesterol, peripheral arterial disease, aortic aneurysm and damage to the cerebrovascular system. Smoking also is a major leader in coronary disease, which leads to heart attack.

    Respiratory

    • Smokers with pre-existing asthma will have bronchospasms, or asthma attacks with wheezing. ETS, which is a human lung carcinogen, is responsible for thousands of cancer deaths per year. ETS is also present in secondhand smoke and can put children at risk for cancer as well. Smoking kills aveoli, which are tiny air sacs in the lung that transfer air into blood. Aveoli do not grow back, causing the smoker to lose more lung capacity with each cigarette. Smoking also paralyzes the cilia in the lungs. Cilia are tiny hair-like structures that move in a sweeping motion to sweep particles out of the lungs. When paralyzed, the particles build up in the lungs, creating tar.

    Nervous System

    • Nervous system effects include light-headedness, migraine, trouble sleeping, vivid and strange dreams, irritability, vertigo, tremor and even the possibility of a stroke. Nicontine also inhibits conditioned reactions to stimuli, such as salivating when one sees food. It also induces tremor and possibly convulsions in high doses.

    Gastrointestinal

    • Reported gastrointestinal effects include nausea, dry mouth, dyspepsia and diarrhea in association with the use of the nicotine patch, while nicotine gum may cause hiccups, flatulence, increased salivation, stomatitis (inflammation of the mucus membrane in the mouth), tooth disorder, glossitis (inflammation of the tongue) and unpleasant taste in mouth.

    Conclusion

    • Millions of Americans smoke and in recent years television commercials and campaigns have worked hard to display the dangers of smoking. Hopefully, with time, the population will come to fully understand the dangers of smoking and decide to make lifestyle changes and give up smoking or, better yet, to never begin in the first place.

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