The Effects of Nicotine and Tobacco Use

Description of the effects of nicotine and tobacco.

Nicotine is a dangerous substances and it is highly addictive. Many people abuse nicotine for a variety of different reasons and most have a difficult time breaking their addiction. The abuse of nicotine can lead to a host of medical ailments and can possibly kill you.

Effects of Nicotine

Many people enjoy smoking tobacco because of the effect nicotine on their mind and body. Habitual smokers feel relaxed by smoking and often claim it helps reduce anxiety and stress. Subsequently overuse of nicotine can invigorate its users, because it is a stimulant.  Often smokers feel that smoking helps to curb their appetite, thus keeping their weight under control.

Factually, it is known that nicotine causes the release of the powerful hormone adrenaline. This causes rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure and shallow breathing. Additionally, when adrenaline is released your body releases glucose into your blood. All of this is part of our bodies way of defending itself naturally. However, when this reaction occurs unnecessarily we are often left with an abundance of pent up energy.

Nicotine can also effect the amount of insulin released. Insulin removes excess glucose in the blood and when nicotine reduces your insulin level it can cause some smokers to become hyperglycemic. Certain individuals also experience a reduction in appetite when smoking which may be caused by this insulin imbalance.

An individual metabolic rate may also be altered by nicotine. Although nicotine does have some ability to increase the amount of calories that you burn when you are doing absolutely nothing, this is obviously not a a healthy way to lose weight. Smoking increases your bad cholesterol and that can damage your heart and contribute to your risk off having a stroke. Heart disease is also more prevalent amongst smokers as well.

The use of nicotine also increases your risks of developing lung diseases like emphysema or COPD. Damage  To the lungs caused by smoking can end up being irreversible. Often people who suffer from lung disease or COPD are unable to be cured. Additionally, tobacco smokers increase the likelihood that they will develop lung and a variety of other cancers. Lung cancer caused by smoking is only cured in about 15% of patients that are diagnosed.

The Benefits of Quitting Smoking

Smoking most obviously increases your risks of developing  a variety of different dangerous diseases. However, what many people don't know is that quitting smoking can reduce those risks. If a smoker quits smoking by age 30, it decreases their chances of getting cancer by more then 90%. Each year that passes after the smoker has quit smoking that persons lungs restore themselves and replenish abnormal cells with normal cells. Often, with enough time a smokers lungs can be healed and all damage caused by smoking ceases to exist. Many products are available to help people quit smoking for good. The same thing won't work for everybody, but with motivation and perseverance anyone can quit smoking.