Nicotine is a toxin found in the tobacco plant, and its own main function would be to serve as deterrent with regards to insects wanting to eat the plant. Nicotine is said 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 cigarette smoke. It is due to the nicotine within the cigarette that the act of smoking seems pleasurable. And nicotine is without a doubt the biggest reason that the cigarette industry continues to grow at a reliable pace. However, smoking counts as a major preventable reason behind death/disease, and also causes a significant amount of premature deaths each year.
Tobacco smoke includes a plethora of chemicals, and nicotine is amongst the primary ones. Do know that smokeless tobacco contains nicotine as well. Nicotine dependency is known as to be amongst the hardest to break, and even when a smoker witnesses the damage that nicotine could cause first-hand, smoking can be quite difficult to give up. While it is the nicotine that keeps a smoker returning for more, another constituents present in cigarettes lead to a considerably higher level of cancer, strokes, and heart & lung diseases in smokers. Nicotine dependency may also lead to infertility, complications during pregnancy as well as complications in a new baby baby’s health.
THE CONSEQUENCES of Nicotine:
Not merely does nicotine work in the torso releasing dopamine, in addition, it 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 around the presence of nicotine within the machine. At this stage, the individual is actually addicted. Attempts to avoid using nicotine at this time or later would almost definitely bring about withdrawal symptoms. The protective adjustments made by the brain would ensure that any attempt made to stop smoking would result in discomfort because the brain’s circuitry senses the absence of nicotine as an underlying cause for concern.
Statistics:
More than fifteen thousand Australians die because of smoking every year, and is the largest ‘preventable’ reason behind early death and disease. The percentage of individuals aged over 14 who smoke everyday in Australia has gone down considerably, from 30.5% in 1988 down to 16.6% in 2007. Across the world, 10 % of the adult population smokes; and in the US this figure stands at 20%. In america alone around 440,000 people die every year due to tobacco related illnesses. Now, you can find around 1.3-1.4 billion smokers on the globe, with a large chunk living in developing countries. And given the ongoing trends, by 2020 tobacco would account for approximately 10 million deaths each year.
Facts about Nicotine Dependency:
Nicotine is poisonous, and the reason that reason a smoker will not immediately die is because of the minuscule quantities of nicotine present in each cigarette.
Nicotine is highly addictive, and nicotine dependency is frequently weighed against heroin and cocaine dependency with regards to difficulty to quit.
Relapses are quite common in efforts to give up smoking.
Aside from nicotine, cigarettes have over 4,000 different chemicals; many of which are carcinogenic (cancer causing substances).
Smoking for around 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 expectancy would go down by around 7 to 8 years (at about 7 to 8 minutes per cigarette).
Each month, tobacco companies in Australia lose around 12,000 customers. While around 10,000 manage to quit, almost all of the others are ones who’ve passed away because of smoking related illnesses.
Data collected from the ‘Australian Institute of Health insurance and Welfare’ shows that almost 80% of the smokers have tried quitting at least once, and in the last year a lot more than 30% have tried stopping.
The Alternatives – Quitting Help:
Nicotine Free Cigarettes:
Nicotine free cigarettes are ones that do not contain any tobacco or nicotine. One will discover several brands with regards to these nicotine free cigarettes, and these cigarettes use various herbs/plants as a base. These cigarettes tend to be used as substitutes to smoking conventional cigarettes, and a number of people utilize them as nicotine cessation aids. However, due to the various compounds present in these cigarettes, smoking them isn’t entirely safe, with research showing they too could be carcinogenic.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy:
Nicotine replacement therapy identifies a smoker quitting smoking but using a different medium to get his/her quota of nicotine supply. Different NRT aids include nicotine gums, patches, lozenges, inhalers, and nasal sprays. The usage of NRT aids is said to increase the likelihood of quitting by around 50%, however in order to achieve success, additional support that’s provided to the individual by means of counselling, etc. also play an important role. Whenever a person stops smoking, these aids continue steadily to supply him/her with the nicotine that’s needed is to keep the withdrawal symptoms at bay, and the intake of nicotine through this route is regulated and gradually reduced. The usage of 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 sensation of euphoria that is often associated with smoking is because the nicotine present therein, which is what keeps the smoker coming back for more. parhaat nikotiinipussit The good thing is that awareness in everyone is on the rise, and help battle nicotine dependency is available in various forms. If you wish to fight nicotine dependency and believe that it is an uphill battle, at least take heart in understanding that there’s a lot of help that you could avail of.
