Nicotine, also known as nicotine, is known as a folk drug and is commonly consumed in the form of cigarettes. The drug acts in many areas of the nervous system, which means that different effects are possible. Depending on the amount consumed, nicotine can have a stimulating or calming effect on the human body. In addition, consumption has a high potential for addiction and many other health risks, which is why nicotine should not be underestimated.
Definition of nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid that occurs naturally in the tobacco plant and in low concentrations in other nightshade plants. The alkaloid is considered a drug because it is a psychoactive substance that docks onto certain nerve cell receptors and has either a stimulating or relaxing effect. Nicotine can be smoked in tobacco or inhaled in vapor.
Drugs generally include psychoactive substances that can produce an altering effect on physical states, consciousness, and cognition. If you want to know more about drugs, check out the related article on .
Properties and origin of nicotine
In high doses, nicotine is a neurotoxin found in the leaves of plants of the genus Nicotiana used to ward off insect damage. More precisely, these are alkaloids that belong to the Nicotinoids counting. They are the end product of plant metabolism. At room temperature, nicotine is a colorless to brownish, oily liquid with a pungent taste and has the molecular formula C10H14N2. The structural formula is structured as follows:
Figure 1: Structural formula of nicotine Source: wikipedia.org
The link between nicotine and tobacco
The leaves of the tobacco plant contain up to 7% of the substance. The scientific name of the tobacco plant is Nicotiana tabacum, which is also just known as «Tabak» in German-speaking countries. The plants synthesize the nicotine in their roots and then transport it to the leaves.
In order to obtain the tobacco for smoking, the leaves are first hung individually or in bundles in an airy, dark place to dry. The dried leaves are then pressed into bales, followed by fermentation for several weeks. The bales ferment while heat is generated and the desired colors and flavors are formed as a result of the partial breakdown of proteins. This is followed by storage for maturation until the tobacco is ready for consumption.
Forms of consumption of nicotine
In principle, nicotine can be consumed in many different ways. Starting with cigarettes and cigars, through snuff and chewing tobacco to water pipes («shishas») and e-cigarettes, nicotine can be absorbed into the body in very different ways.
Effect of nicotine in the human body
As soon as nicotine is absorbed through tobacco smoke, the substance quickly crosses the blood-brain barrier. It takes less than 20 seconds for nicotine to take effect in the brain. When it reaches the nervous system, it binds to the acetylcholine receptors, which are actually activated by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. When nicotine binds to the receptors instead, it causes the release of various neurotransmitters such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine and hormones such as cortisol.
the blood-brain barrier forms a barrier between the bloodstream and the brain. It ensures that only certain substances can reach the brain. One of the purposes of the blood-brain barrier is to protect the brain from harmful substances and pathogens.
Nicotine activates – by binding to them – the so-called nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Among other things, these receptors are part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls the unconscious processes of the body. To be more precise, they can be found on the motor endplates: synapses between a muscle cell and a nerve cell that transmit signals to the muscles.
The activities that are controlled by the autonomic nervous system include, for example, intestinal activity and the heartbeat. Nicotine has a similar effect to the actual messenger substance and therefore disrupts important functions of the receptors.
Effects of Nicotine
If nicotine has a stimulating effect on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in small amounts, this has various effects on the body. Nicotine can affect the human organism in the following ways:
- accelerates the heartbeat
- increases blood pressure
- Body temperature drops
- increases intestinal activity
- Vessels are narrowed
- Skin resistance decreases
- Sugar concentration is increased in the blood
- this reduces the feeling of hunger
- causes an increase
- of psychomotor performance
- as well as attention and memory performance
However, these factors can only be observed at a relatively low dose. At higher doses, however, the neurotoxin has a calming to paralyzing effect, as certain nervous processes are blocked. The acetylcholine (ACh) receptors are important for transmitting nerve impulses to muscle cells. If they are blocked by the nicotine, this has a paralyzing effect on the muscles.
Toxic effects of nicotine
Pure nicotine is not immediately toxic because it spreads and breaks down quickly in the body. It’s going to cotinine and other substances and cannot accumulate in the body, which is why chronic nicotine poisoning cannot occur. However, an overdose can be fatal. Getting an overdose from smoking a cigarette is very unlikely, however, as it only contains around 12 milligrams of nicotine. For an adult, the lethal dose is about one milligram per kilogram of body weight.
But this only applies to adults! Nicotine ingestion from a cigarette is highly toxic for young children. For young children, swallowing a cigarette is enough to kill it. Therefore, special attention should be paid to ensure that something like this cannot happen.
Nicotine is very toxic to higher mammals because it blocks the ganglia of the autonomic nervous system. For this reason, pure nicotine was previously used as a pesticide to protect plants against sucking and biting insects such as aphids. Due to its high toxicity, its use has been banned since the 1970s. The substance was only well tolerated by plants.
Other health risks of nicotine
Most of the health risks associated with smoking are not due to the nicotine at all, but to many other ingredients in a cigarette. There are over 7,000 chemical substances in tobacco smoke. Of these, at least 250 are harmful to health and around 70 are carcinogenic. The toxins enter the lungs through inhalation and can then be distributed throughout the body via the bloodstream.
When tobacco is burned, carbon monoxide (CO) gas is formed. Smoking gets it into the bloodstream. There it binds to the red blood cells in the blood. The main task of the red blood cells is to transport the oxygen taken in via the lungs to the organs and tissues of the body. You are now handicapped by the gas and the body is less well supplied with oxygen. The body counteracts this with increased blood pressure and pulse rate, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas that is also found in car exhaust!
Overall, however, there are many other health risks that can be triggered by cigarette smoke. Here are a few more examples:
- Lung diseases such as COPD and lung cancer
- organ damage triggered by a heart attack, stroke or smoker’s leg
- «Smoker’s lung», which is accompanied by coughing and shortness of breath
- Cancer in different areas of the body
Addictive potential of nicotine
In principle, a distinction can be made between physical and psychological dependence on nicotine. In physical addiction, the body gets used to the nicotine, while in psychological addiction, the reward system in the brain plays a central role. Certain additives in tobacco, such as sugar and ammonia, increase the potential for addiction.
physical dependency
Often just a few cigarettes are enough for the body to get used to the nicotine. This is because nicotine binds to the receptors for a long time and inhibits the cell. The cells adapt to this by incorporating additional receptors into the cell membrane. If the nicotine is no longer absorbed in the same dose, too many free receptors are suddenly available and the nerve cells can no longer be stimulated to the extent that they actually should.
As a result, the body releases stress hormones and withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, depressive moods or aggressiveness appear. Only renewed intake of nicotine can stop the withdrawal symptoms.
psychological dependence
Among other things, nicotine triggers a release of dopamine. The release of dopamine causes people to feel happy. So a kind of reward system is created by nicotine. Consumers want to experience the rewarding feeling of consuming nicotine over and over again, which is why a psychological addiction develops in addition to the physical one.
But comfort and habit are also major contributors to addiction. By associating smoking with positive events and integrating it into everyday life, for example, it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to even have the will to stop smoking. This is particularly pronounced when smoking takes place without reflection and they do not think about the harmful effects of cigarette consumption.
Use of nicotine in medicine
In smoking cessation therapy, nicotine is administered via nicotine patches, sprays or chewing gum. The purpose of such therapy methods is to reduce withdrawal symptoms while the patients stop smoking. Therefore, it makes sense to start smoking cessation with nicotine replacement. In addition, the harmful additives contained in the cigarettes are not included.
nicotine patch
The nicotine patch works transdermally. This means that with this method, the nicotine is absorbed through the skin and from there gets into the bloodstream. Once the patch is stuck to the skin, it continuously releases nicotine. This avoids the nicotine rush that comes from smoking a cigarette. This significantly reduces the potential for addiction.
Smoking should be stopped or at least significantly reduced during treatment with nicotine replacement, otherwise nicotine overload and consequent nicotine poisoning can occur.
nicotine spray
The nicotine spray is used when the urge to smoke a cigarette sets in. A small, controlled amount is sprayed into the mouth. The nicotine spray…