“Cigarettes and nicotine are definitely not addictive in the traditional sense, they are not toxic,” a man in a suit swore at the solemn meeting, and he is one of the top seven tobacco companies in the United States President of one of the giants.

In 1994, 46 states in the United States required tobacco companies to bear the cost of medical insurance. For this reason, the CEOs of 7 tobacco giant companies in the United States swore in the United States Congress that nicotine is not addictive Sex is also not toxic.

It wasn’t until 4 years later that many tobacco companies admitted that nicotine was addictive and that the cigarettes they sold could cause cancer and other diseases.

1. Nicotine, from the lungs to the brain, only takes 10 seconds

< span>Nicotine, also known as nicotine, exists in tobacco plants. In 1998, WHO listed tobacco dependence as one of the chronic addictive diseases, and pointed out that the main reason for smoking addiction and difficulty in quitting is nicotine.

When a person smokes, the nicotine in the cigarette is also inhaled into the body at the same time. It only takes 10 seconds to reach the brain, and the brain produces dopamine and other neurotransmitters that are pleasant and exciting, making the body gradually addicted to this feeling.

The effect of nicotine in the human body can only last for 40~120 minutes.When the nicotine in the body is completely metabolized, the original The receptors in the brain that are occupied by nicotine are emptied out. This in turn causes smokers to experience withdrawal reactions such as anger, upset, anxiety, and palpitation. These symptoms can be relieved after re-smoking. Many smokers be forced to smoke. This also explains why smoking cravings always come about every two hours, because after this time the nicotine in the body is almost depleted and there is no “stock” “.

nicotine is highly addictive, does this mean that nicotine is also highly addictive Toxicity, is the carcinogenic effect of cigarettes also caused by nicotine?

Second, how toxic is nicotine? Carcinogenicity is not nicotine’s pot

The US Surgeon General’s Report released in 2014 found thatthere is currently no evidence that nicotine is carcinogenic . The FDA also announced in 2017 that there is no direct causal relationship between nicotine and cancer.

It’s not nicotine that actually causes cancer in tobacco, but 69 other chemical carcinogens< /strong>, for example, benzopyrene will bring serious harm to health after entering the body, and it is easy to induce cancer in the long run.

The real harm of nicotine is not carcinogenic, but these five kinds:

1. It can cause poisoning

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Nicotine itself is a highly toxic substance, the nicotine contained in one cigarette can poison a mouse, and the nicotine in 20 cigarettes can poison to death a cow. If a person ingests a large amount of nicotine in a short time (50~70mg, about 40~60 cigarettes), it will lead to death.

2. Stimulate the adrenal glands and affect blood pressure

The nicotine inhaled during smoking is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream and reaches the brain quickly. Eventually, epinephrine is released, affecting heart rate, blood pressure, and restricting blood flow to the heart muscle. Patients experience shallow breathing and rapid heartbeat feeling.

3. Affect blood sugar and suppress appetite

nicotine also makes insulin secreted in the body Restricted to keep smokers in a state of high blood sugar for a long time. High blood sugar can cause appetite suppression in patients, and the frequency of daily hunger in smokers will decrease.

4. Affect fetal development

If a woman smokes during pregnancy, nicotine will pass through the placenta The entry of the barrier into the fetal blood will cause a series of abnormal changes in the fetal nervous system, which may cause fetal premature birth, stillbirth, congenital malformations, and developmental abnormalities etc.

5. Affects adolescent development

Long-term exposure to nicotine in adolescents can lead to Long-term deficits in learning and cognition process, causing memory loss, difficulty concentrating, anxietyand other adverse symptoms. And nicotine exposure during adolescence increases the chance of drug abuse, as well as the risk of alcohol and cocaine addiction.

For nicotine, some people have put forward a bold hypothesis, nicotine has such strong toxicity, so is it possible to kill cancer cells in the body through nicotine? Is this idea feasible?

Third, since nicotine is poisonous, can it kill cancer cells in the human body?

There used to be rumors that “Unsaturated nicotine in the process of tobacco combustion has anticancer activity.” However, it is actually quite absurd. For cancer cells cultured in vitro, a small amount of nicotine can indeed kill them, but smoking and ingesting nicotine in cancer patients who already have cancer is likely to promote the spread and metastasis of cancer cells.

Wake Forest University School of Medicineresearchers analyzed three retrospective studies evaluating smoking and breast cancer Association between lung metastases in cancer patients. Smokers or ex-smokers had a higher risk of developing lung metastases than non-smokers.

The researchers also conducted experiments on mice, found that the lungs of mice continuously exposed to nicotine Inflammatory reaction occurs in the external part, and then an environment favorable for cancer cell metastasis is formed. Even 30 days after quitting smoking, the risk of cancer metastasis did not decrease. This shows that smoking brings long-term risks to the body. Not only does nicotine fail to kill cancer cells, it also promotes cancer cell metastasis.

There is no doubt that smoking is harmful to health. For people who are smoking, quitting smoking in time is the only way to reduce the harm to the body. Don’t listen to rumors that smoking does not bring health risks. This is a gimmick that some businesses come up with to sell goods.

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