Nicotine is a toxin found in the tobacco plant, and its main function is to serve as deterrent in terms of insects attempting to eat the plant. Nicotine is said to be more lethal than arsenic, venoms of different snakes, strychnine, etc. Interestingly though, once nicotine reaches the reward pathways in the human brain, a surge of dopamine is released, resulting in the much spoken about ‘aah’ factor.

The most common means of nicotine finding its way into our system is through cigarette smoke. It is owing to the nicotine within the cigarette that the act of smoking seems pleasurable. And nicotine is undoubtedly the biggest reason that the cigarette industry is growing at a reliable pace. However, smoking counts as a major preventable reason behind death/disease, and in addition causes a significant number of premature deaths each year.

Tobacco smoke contains a plethora of chemicals, and nicotine is one of the primary ones. Do know that smokeless tobacco contains nicotine aswell. Nicotine dependency is considered to be amongst the hardest to break, and also whenever a smoker witnesses the damage that nicotine can cause first-hand, smoking can still be quite difficult to quit. While it may be the nicotine that keeps a smoker coming back for more, the other constituents within cigarettes lead to a considerably higher level of cancer, strokes, and heart & lung diseases in smokers. Nicotine dependency can also result in infertility, complications during pregnancy together with complications in a newborn baby’s health.

The Effects of Nicotine:

Not merely does nicotine work in the body releasing dopamine, in addition, it activates the pathways that release adrenaline and serotonin, thereby impacting impulsivity and mood. Over a period of time the physical changes build a new ‘neuro chemical’ system which revolves entirely round the presence of nicotine within the machine. At this stage, the individual is actually addicted. Attempts to stop using nicotine at this stage or later would almost definitely bring about withdrawal symptoms. The protective adjustments made by the brain would make sure that any attempt made to stop smoking would bring about discomfort because the brain’s circuitry senses the absence of nicotine as an underlying cause for concern.

Statistics:

A lot more than fifteen thousand Australians die because of smoking every year, and may be the largest ‘preventable’ cause of early death and disease. The percentage of people aged over 14 who smoke everyday in Australia went down considerably, from 30.5% in 1988 down to 16.6% in 2007. Across the world, 10 % of the adult population smokes; and in america this figure stands at 20%. In the US alone around 440,000 people die each year due to tobacco related illnesses. Now, there are around 1.3-1.4 billion smokers on the planet, with a large chunk living in developing countries. And given the ongoing trends, by 2020 tobacco would account for approximately 10 million deaths every year.

Facts about Nicotine Dependency:

Nicotine is poisonous, and the reason why that reason that a smoker will not immediately die is due to the minuscule quantities of nicotine within each cigarette.
Nicotine is highly addictive, and nicotine dependency is often compared with heroin and cocaine dependency when it comes to difficulty to quit.
Relapses are very common in efforts to quit smoking.
Apart from nicotine, cigarettes have over 4,000 different chemicals; a lot of which are carcinogenic (cancer causing substances).
Smoking for about 15 years, at about 20 cigarettes per day, should result in about one kg of tar in a smoker’s lungs.
A regular smoker’s life expectancy would go down by around 7 to 8 years (at about 7 to 8 minutes per cigarette).
Each month, tobacco companies in Australia lose around 12,000 customers. While around 10,000 have the ability to quit, a lot of the others are ones who’ve passed away because of smoking related illnesses.
Data collected from the ‘Australian Institute of Health insurance and Welfare’ demonstrates almost 80% of the smokers have tried quitting at least one time, and within the last year a lot more than 30% have tried stopping.
The Alternatives – Quitting Help:

Nicotine Free Cigarettes:

Nicotine free cigarettes are ones that do not contain any tobacco or nicotine. One can find numerous brands in terms of these nicotine free cigarettes, and these cigarettes use various herbs/plants as a base. These cigarettes tend to be used as substitutes to smoking conventional cigarettes, and numerous people use them as nicotine cessation aids. However, due to the various compounds within these cigarettes, smoking them isn’t entirely safe, with research showing they too could be carcinogenic.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy:

Nicotine replacement therapy refers to a smoker quitting smoking but utilizing a different medium to obtain his/her quota of nicotine supply. Different NRT aids include nicotine gums, patches, lozenges, inhalers, and nasal sprays. The usage of NRT aids is thought to increase the likelihood of quitting by around 50%, however in order to succeed, additional support that’s provided to the average person in the form of counselling, etc. also play a significant role. When a person stops smoking, these aids continue steadily to supply him/her with the nicotine that is required to help keep the withdrawal symptoms at bay, and the intake of nicotine through this route is regulated and gradually reduced. Using nicotine replacement therapy to give up smoking is normally is 8 to 12 week long exercise.

nikotiini pussit Even though a growing number of smokers continue to battle their nicotine dependency, increasing numbers of people continue steadily to smoke their first cigarette. The feeling of euphoria that is often linked to smoking is a result of the nicotine present therein, and this is what keeps the smoker returning for more. The good thing is that awareness in everyone is increasing, and help battle nicotine dependency is available in various forms. So if you wish to fight nicotine dependency and feel that it is an uphill battle, at least take heart in realizing that there’s plenty of help you could avail of.