Nicotine stimulates neurons? There is a bright side to this drug
Smoking cigarettes is as addictive as hard drugs. However, the responsible nicotine also has its brighter side - it improves the functioning of gray cells and can help in the treatment of diseases.
Ewa Nieckula
August 24, 2020 · Read in 7 minutes
Nicotine is a natural insecticide. Plants such as tobacco produce it to repel pests. Effective: nicotine disrupts the neurotransmitters in insects and kills them. The human nervous system works very much like an insect's. A substance that is deadly poison to insects gives people pleasure if it is taken in small doses. Like those in cigarettes. And even these small doses can cause extremely strong addiction. The results of scientific studies show that we underestimated the power of nicotine.
Nicotine affects the nervous system, causing pleasant sensations. How pleasant? In the experiments conducted by Dr. Jack Henningfield from Johns Hopkins University administered intravenously in ever-increasing doses caused euphoria comparable to the effects of taking hard drugs: cocaine, amphetamine or morphine.
The smoke works instantly
The smoker does not experience such strong experiences because cigarette smoke contains small amounts of nicotine. But they are enough to start trouble. All addictive substances - heroin, cocaine, alcohol, amphetamine or nicotine - have much in common. Because although they affect the nervous system in different ways, the end result of their use is similar: they cause addiction. Prof. Sharon Hall, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, says it's easier to get off heroin than to quit smoking. Most addictive substances cause either tolerance (the need to increase the dose to get the same effect) or withdrawal syndrome (unpleasant symptoms that occur when the drug runs out). Nicotine can do both. Increasing tolerance means that addiction begins innocently, from a few cigarettes a week, and after a few years, a whole pack a day is not enough. Doctors see a similar phenomenon with alcohol, sedatives, stimulants, and hard drugs.
People who try to quit smoking are irritable, anxious, have trouble concentrating, problems with the digestive system, headaches, chills, complain of drowsiness, slow heart rate, start to put on weight. However, nicotine differs from other addictive substances - it works instantly! A quarter of the dose contained in a portion of smoke reaches the brain after eight seconds. The concentration of nicotine in the blood reaches its peak value when the smoker puts out the cigarette butt in the ashtray. After that, the level of the narcotic substance drops just as quickly. It is removed from the blood by the liver and kidneys and then excreted from the body in the urine.Two decades ago, it was claimed that one can only talk about addiction when a smoker ends the day with more than five cigarettes. Because only then nicotine begins to be constantly present in the blood. Whereas those who smoke less are free from addiction. Nothing could be more wrong, say scientists.
There is no safe smoking
Studies conducted with teenagers in the US and New Zealand have shown that even the first few cigarettes are enough to get addicted. A 14-year-old who has been smoking no more than a few cigarettes a week for only two months may have withdrawal symptoms as severe as a long-time smoker who cannot go a day without two packs. From the research of prof.Joseph DiFranza of the University of Massachuses Medical School in Worcester found that most teens become addicted to smoking as little as two cigarettes a week. Already then the first symptoms of addiction appear. Similar alarming results were obtained by research conducted by prof. Robert Scragg from the New Zealand University of Auckland. Of teenagers addicted to nicotine, 10% had the first symptoms of nicotinism two days after smoking their first cigarette. 25-35 percent – within the first month. Nearly a quarter of young people become addicted smoking no more than four cigarettes a day.
It is therefore not possible to set a "safe" limit for smoking. “The teenager's brain reacts to the first dose of nicotine, and the changes in its functioning last for a very long time. Experiments conducted on young rats have shown that the effects of taking one portion of this substance are still visible in adult rodents. Changes occur in the brain of a person who smokes cigarettes, which adapts it to a certain level of nicotine. And these changes mean that a smoker deprived of it cannot function normally" - explains Prof.DiFranza. Until recently, it was believed that the smoker's body has an internal "nicotinostat". Its operation was compared to a home thermostat that turns on a central heating furnace when the temperature in the room drops below a predetermined value. Nicotinostat was supposed to force the smoker to light another cigarette, when the nicotine level in his blood drops. According to this theory, most smokers smoke about 10 cigarettes a day to maintain their well-being. However, research on teenagers contradicts this hypothesis. "Now we know that the feeling of 'nicotine craving' depends not on the level of nicotine, but on the time that has elapsed since the last dose," says Prof. DiFranza. In the case of novice smokers, this time can be very long, even weeks.
A drug that helps
Nicotine is unusual for another reason. It can be both a stimulant and a sedative. A shallow puff on a cigarette increases nervous system arousal. Small doses of nicotine release a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine from neurons. Smoke inhalation is deeply relaxing, because a large dose of the narcotic substance reduces the level of acetylcholine. No wonder doctors talk about the so-called. therapeutic effects of cigarette smoking. These include stress relief, appetite reduction, improved learning ability, arousal, and increased physical activity. Nicotine for a smoker is a tool thanks to which he tries to function better in the world around him.
Were it not for the fact that its delivery in the form of smoke involves the inhalation of hundreds of harmful substances, it could really help in some cases. Research shows that nicotine helps smokers have better short-term memory, are more focused, and perform better on tasks that require intellectual agility. This substance may also have a therapeutic effect in patients with neurodegenerative diseases of the brain. This is because nicotine affects not only acetylcholine, but also dopamine, which is missing in Parkinson's disease. In patients suffering from it, nicotine reduces the occurrence of involuntary body movements - a typical symptom of this condition - by up to a third.
Research also suggests that smoking cigarettes may protect against the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Under the influence of nicotine, patients become agitated, have better memory and greater mobility. Scientists suppose that this substance increases the vitality of neurons. Nicotine can act as an antioxidant, protecting brain cells from damaging free radicals. It can also be used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Already after 45 minutes after sticking a patch containing 7 mg of nicotine, the patients studied by the researchers controlled their impulsive behavior more efficiently and remembered the images shown to them better.Psychiatrists have long been puzzled by the fact that almost 90 percentpatients with schizophrenia and depression smoke heavily. Perhaps it's a form of self-healing. Patients struggle with constant anxiety and an inability to focus on one thing, and nicotine can relieve these symptoms. But maybe it's the other way around - they get sick because they smoke?“ We don't know that yet. There is no reliable evidence that there is such a thing as self-medication of mental disorders with cigarettes. Smoking actually increases the risk of depression, suicide and panic attacks. DiFranza. Therefore, it is better not to try such therapies on your own. Research on the healing effects of nicotine is still a young field of knowledge, because until recently scientists focused only on its negative effects. Perhaps in some time they will know how to use it to help the body without harming it.
