Community, Support
and Information
For Those Thinking
of Quitting Smoking

Nicotine

Nicotine comes from the tobacco plant. Nicotiana tabacum. Nicotine is absorbed easiest through the lungs, skin and the mucous membranes in the lining of the nose.

Nicotine, when not smoked, was used as a powerful insecticide to kill insects. Currently, derivatives like imidacloprid are still used widely.

So why do we smoke an insecticide?

The nicotine gives a slight rush to the user, that they get addicted to. Those that have been smokers for some time only slightly experience this buzz any longer due to desensitization to the nicotine. Some smokers don't experience it at all but are still addicted to the chemical of nicotine.

Other common results of nicotine injestion are:

• Emphysema
• Decreased Lung Capacity
• Cancer
• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• Poor circulation
• Birth defects including:

      SIDS
      Down Syndrome
      Stillbirths
      Mental Retardation

• Decreased Ability To Fight Infection
• Leathery, Wrinkled Skin
• Schizophrenia
• Death

Of special note is how nicotine causes cancer. First we may have to explain a natural process of the body called apoptosis which is a type of PCD or programmed cell death. PCD is constantly flushing old or defective cells for new cells basically. It is a required process of the body. In fact, adults dispose of an average of 60 billion cells every day. If the process did not occur, or was debilitated in some form, it could lead to ischemic damage or uncontrolled cell proliferation, which is cancer.

Nicotine, whether it is smoked, snuffed, chewed, patched, lozenged, inhaled, etc... impedes the function of apoptosis and the disposal of the billions of unwanted/mutated cells per day required to stay healthy. Which is why it makes a great insecticide and not a great stimulant to be injested.

From time to time you will see places state some things to the effect that, "Nicotine doesn't cause cancer". And sometimes these sources are state and government sources! Right under that statement, you will then see links to nicotine replacement therapies that they endorse by big pharmaceutical companies. Connection or coincidence?

Part of the problem in this topic is a matter of context. Does nicotine injestion directly make cells grow out of control, therefore causing what we know to be cancer? No. Does nicotine inhibit natural and essential functions of the body that protect it from cells mutating and multiplying out of control? Yes. And any quick search on Google can easily corroborate this fact.

So in all reality, nicotine didn't push Johnny over the cliff. Nicotine dug underneath the cliff where Johnny was standing until the shelf collapsed and he plunged to the valley floor.

What is our point in all this? Our point is that ANY nicotine injestion is doing you harm. Of course a nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is better for your lungs, but it's not better for your body.

And perhaps some other reasons why agencies may have misleading data is because:

• Just hasn't been updated in years
• Whoever wrote it didn't read all the data, only the data that supported what they wanted to say.
• Figure if they at least convince people to try NRT, they'll quit smoking altogether.
• Laziness

But at what expense is this misleading and incomplete information distributed?

Don't people want to quit for the rest of their lives and not have a relapse? Unfortunately, studies show that people that do use a NRT therapy do not create the new behaviorial modifications of mind and body to deal with daily situations to ultimately stay quit for good.

If a NRT therapy is helping you, great! But at the same time, really identify what changes you need to be making to make sure that you stay off the drug for the rest of your life.