General Health

Nicotine, (C10H14N2) is a naturally occurring liquid alkaloid, an organic compound made out of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sometimes oxygen. Nicotine normally makes up about 5 percent of a tobacco plant, by weight. Cigarettes contain 8 to 20 milligrams (mg) of nicotine (depending on the brand), but only approximately 1 mg is actually absorbed by your body when you smoke a cigarette.

Nicotine initially causes a rapid release of adrenaline, the “fight-or-flight” hormone. Adrenaline also tells your body to dump some of its glucose stores into your blood. Nicotine itself may also block the release of the hormone insulin, who tells your cells to take up excess glucose from your blood. This means that nicotine makes people somewhat hyperglycemic, having more sugar than usual in their blood. Some people think that nicotine also curbs their appetite so that they eat less.

Next, nicotine may also increase your basal metabolic rate slightly. This means that you burn more calories than you usually would when you are just sitting around. Over the long haul, nicotine can increase the level of the “bad” cholesterol, LDL, that damages your arteries. This makes it more likely that you could have a heart attack or a stroke.

For the average person, the health problems associated with using nicotine-containing products are far worse than any benefits. These include:

• Cancer
• Emphysema
• Heart disease
• Stroke

Many of these are actually caused by other chemicals in cigarette smoke or in smokeless tobacco products. The biggest problem with nicotine is how easily you become dependent on smoking or chewing tobacco.

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