Nicotine Addiction - The Deadliest and Most Addictive Drug

Nicotine addiction can be defined as a compulsive dependency on the drug nicotine which is mostly found in cigarettes and cigars. When you take a puff of a cigarette, nicotine and other harmful substances enter your lungs, these deadly chemicals get absorbed into the blood. It takes a couple of seconds for nicotine to get attached to the brain receptors and give fleeting pleasure to the smoker. The feeling of pleasure decreases as there is a drop in nicotine levels, making the smoker anxious and restless. In order to get rid of the agitation, the smoker lights up again and builds up a tolerance. The sequence continues until the person gets completely addicted to nicotine.

The Disease of Addiction

In relatively recent years, we’ve also learned that addiction is a disease; it’s a medical condition and a mental illness. There are physical differences in the brain of someone with the disease of addiction as compared to one without, and so far it cannot be cured. Every year, more than 480,000 people die in the United States due to tobacco-related diseases. That is around 1 in 5 of all deaths in the U.S. annually. It is estimated that 1 in 2 smokers will die from a smoking-related disease. Nicotine addiction should be discussed in the framework of addiction as a disease. Nicotine causes your body and brain to release adrenaline and dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that gives us feeling of pleasure and reward. Nicotine actually changes your brain chemistry in such a significant way that it won’t take long before a casual smoker is experiencing cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

History of Nicotine Addiction and Use

Cigarette's date back to as early as 4000 BC in South America. Shaman's used smoking or chewing tobacco in shamanistic rituals. Only hundreds of years later, tobacco was introduced to Europe. Christopher Columbus has been noted as the first European to discover tobacco plants when Native American's presented him with dry tobacco leaves. However, Columbus didn't take part in smoking the tobacco. Most of it was thrown overboard until some of the sailors learned from the Aborigines what they did with the leaves and followed by example. In 1830, cigarettes had crossed into France, where it then received it's name (cigarette). In 1845 the French state tobacco monopoly began manufacturing them. Juan Nepomuceno Adorno of Mexico first patented a cigarette machine in 1847 although in the 1880's an additional machine was developed by James Albert Bonsack which increased the productivity of cigarette companies. Manufacturers quickly went from making about 40,000 hand-rolled cigarettes daily to around 4 million. The use of cigarettes became increasingly widespread after the Crimean War, when British soldiers began emulating Turkish comrades and Russian enemies.

Nicotine Addiction And Substance Abuse

Nicotine addiction causes more deaths among clients in substance abuse treatment than the alcohol or drug use that brings them to treatment. A 11-year retrospective study of 845 people who had been in addiction treatment found that 51 percent of deaths were the result of tobacco-related causes. This rate is twice that found in the general population and nearly 1.5 times the rate of death by other addiction-related causes. Despite the statistics, most substance abuse treatment programs do not address smoking cessation.

Why Is Smoking Bad For You?

Just because smoking is legal doesn't mean it is good for you. Smoking is the only legal consumer product that kills you when you use it exactly how it's meant to be used. The tobacco plant consists of nicotine. Nicotine is a poison that can kill a human if even a small amount is injected into the blood-stream. Tobacco smoke contains small amounts of nicotine that aren't deadly but are still detrimental to our health. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals. When we ingest these chemicals, they stick together in our lungs and create a sticky, dark-colored tar. Additionally, this tar can stick to our clothing and skin. Some of the chemicals that we ingest when we smoke a cigarette are cancer-causing. Some of them include:

• Carbon monoxide
• Ammonia
• Hydrogen Cyanide
• Formaldehyde
• Nitries
• Sulfur compounds
• Urethane
• Hydrazine
• Hydrocarbons
• Volatile Alcohols

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Effects of Nicotine Addiction On The Body

Long-Term Effects of Nicotine Addiction

Even though nicotine can be as addictive as drugs like heroin, or methamphetamine, hardly anyone would argue that cigarette smoking has more negative consequences than shooting up. However, the danger is still severe. In the long-term, smoking cigarettes can lead to many forms of cancer, emphysema, heart and lung diseases, deterioration of eyesight, sexual dysfunction, weakened bones, and more. Cigarette smoking causes more preventable deaths than anything else can can have lasting effects on different parts of an individuals body including:

• Lungs - The lungs are the most obvious part of the body that smoking effects. Smoking alters the airways and air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs. This can lead to a number of lung issues including "Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease" (COPD), chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Often times, lung disease caused by smoking can take months or years to become noticeable. This means that it is not often diagnosed until it is progressively advanced.
• Brain - Smoking can increase the likelihood of having a stroke by 2 to 4 times.
• Bones - Smoking cause cause bones to become weak and brittle resulting in osteoporosis and broken bones.
• Heart - When someone smokes, plaque builds up in the blood. This plaque sticks the the walls of the arteries resulting in them narrowing. This reduces blood flow and increases the risk of clotting. Additionally, increasing blood pressure and heart rate. Chemicals in tobacco also increase the chance of heart problems and cardiovascular diseases. Some of these diseases include:
  • Coronary heart disease
  • Heart attack
• Immune system - Smoking compromises the immune system and can lead to diseases such as Crohn's disease or rheumatoid arthritis. Additionally, smoking has been linked to type 2 Diabetes.
• Mouth - Smoking can cause bad breath and stained teeth. Additionally, it damages the sense of taste and presents the risk of gum disease, and tooth loss.
• Skin - Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen that can reach the skin, resulting in a speeding of the aging process. By using tobacco it prematurely ages the skin by 10-20 years resulting in facial wrinkling around the eyes and mouth.
• Reproduction - In men smoking can cause impotence due to damaging blood vessels. Women who smoke can find it more difficult to become pregnant. Women who smoke when pregnant can pose a number of health risks to their unborn baby, resulting in:
  • Premature birth
  • miscarriage
  • stillbirth
  • low birth weight
  • sudden infant death syndrome
  • infant illness
• Vision - Nicotine addiction is as bad for your eyes as it is for the rest of your body. Research has linked smoking to an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, cataract, and optic nerve damage, all of which can lead to blindness.
• Cancer - Nicotine addiction causes around 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States. Lung cancer is the number one cigarette causing cancer and 80 percent of all lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking. As well as the lungs, smoking is also a risk factor for these types of cancer, among others:
  • mouth
  • pharynx (throat)
  • esophagus
  • kidney
  • cervix
  • liver
  • bladder
  • pancreas
  • stomach

E-Cigarettes and Vaporizers

Electronic cigarettes, e-cigs and vaporizers have been on the market in the United States for nearly a decade and have gained wider use in recent years. E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid — usually containing nicotine mixed with the chemicals polypropylene glycerol and glycerin, and often flavorings ranging from bubble gum to watermelon — into a vapor that users can inhale. They deliver nicotine to the body without producing any smoke. There’s some encouraging research out there that shows vaping is less harmful than smoking regular cigarettes and contains fewer dangerous toxins than regular cigarettes, and so we’re optimistic. Other early research found some have possible carcinogens and toxic chemicals in the vapor. Many e-cigarette companies market their product as a tool to help smokers quit. However, the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research has not approved any e-cigarette as a safe or effective method to help smokers quit. Regardless of how nicotine is delivered it still has effects on the body. Nicotine is a cardiovascular stimulant, and can potentially worsen heart disease in people who already have severe conditions. Because, E-Cigs and vaporizers are relatively new products, there are many unanswered questions about their safety and health impacts, including questions about their long-term use and effectiveness in helping traditional smokers quit.

Withdrawal Symptoms

The symptoms of nicotine addiction withdrawal can begin 30 minutes after your last use of tobacco. Symptoms will depend on your level of addiction. Factors such as how long you used tobacco and how much tobacco you use on a daily basis will impact the severity of your symptoms. Some symptoms of nicotine withdrawal can include:

• intense cravings for nicotine
• weight gain
• depression
• coughing, sore throat
• headaches
• sweating
• tingling of hands and feet
• anxiety
• irritability

Giving up Nicotine

Fortunately, it is now possible to get rid of nicotine addiction with the help of medical guidance and support from family. Some of the common methods available are:

• Counselling: You can opt for behavioral counselling which is specifically intended to help you quit smoking and overcome the withdrawal symptoms.
• Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT): NRT works by providing your body with doses of nicotine (for example using nicotine patches) after you quit smoking. This helps in minimising the occurrence of withdrawal symptoms and the urge to smoke again.
• Medication: These days you can also use the help of prescription medications. You can quit smoking with Chantix tablets, which is one of the effective treatments to stop smoking. Chantix is a 12 week treatment, but you may start witnessing positive results within the first two weeks.

Minutes after a person quits smoking, your body will begin to repair itself of damages caused by smoking. Here is a timeline of how the body begins to reconstruct itself.

Timeline: 

• 20 Minutes After Quitting - Heart rate is back to normal
• 12 Hours After Quitting - Carbon monoxide levels in blood drop back to normal
• 2 Weeks to 3 Months After Quitting - Heart attack risk drops, and lung function improves
• 1 to 9 Months After Quitting - Coughing and shortness of breathe have decreased
• 1 Year After Quitting - Risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's
• 5 to 15 Years After Quitting - Risk of stroke is half of a smoker's, risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, and esophagus is half that of a smoker's.
• 10 Years After Quitting - Risk of lung, bladder, and cervical cancer is half that of a smoker's.
• 15 Years After Quitting - Your risk of coronary heart disease is the same as that of a non-smoker.

Beating Nicotine Addiction

Each year, only 5 percent of smokers successfully quit smoking. The vast majority of people who try to quit smoking will start again in 6-12 months. For most people who quit, it takes two, three, or more attempts. Among people with the disease of addiction, there are few detox, rehab, or treatment centers that require them to quit smoking cigarettes, too. There isn’t a significant push for addicts and alcoholics to quit smoking. Drug or alcohol addiction resources rarely address the seriousness of cigarette addiction, even though most of the tactics that apply to quitting drugs or alcohol and sustaining recovery can apply to cigarette smoking, too. What are your thoughts on cigarette smoking in recovery?

If you are struggling with a nicotine addiction, the experienced staff at Sober Nation are ready to talk you through what is happening in your body and explain the symptoms and sensations that you are experiencing. Medical personnel can also keep your loved ones informed of your status as you go through this process while treating you or your loved one with the compassion and respect they deserve. Some of the expert staff of Sober Nation are recovering from addictions themselves and are an active part of the recovery community around you, so they understand the pain and frustration that you experience. Turn your goal of recovery into reality and call Sober Nation today. If you feel you or a loved one need help with an addiction, SoberNation provides tools and resources as well as a 24/7 hotline. (866) 207-7436