What is Nicotine addiction?

ByDrew Fickett

Nicotine is a chemical found in the tobacco plant, which is highly addictive. Nicotine easily gets into the bloodstream when you puff tobacco products because it’s absorbed through the lining of your mouth as well as through the lungs.

Nicotine is a stimulant that helps tobacco users feel relaxed and focused. It also suppresses hunger and improves moods.

Addiction is a tricky thing. The instant euphoria you feel when using cigarettes or taking opiates makes the substances addictive. However, the same can be said for food, video games, and social media.

These triggers are what make drugs addictive for some people but not others. We don’t know how these triggers work exactly but we know they exist. When it comes to addiction, psychology and biology are intimately intertwined, you can’t just reduce it to one or the other.

Effects oF Nicotine

The effects of nicotine can be felt in a short time after you inhale it, which is why it’s so addictive. A small amount of nicotine can lead to addiction. That person which starts smoking at an early age has a high probability to be addicted and became almost impossible to get rid of this addiction for them. Nicotine and tobacco have the same level in terms of addiction as opiates, alcohol, and cocaine. 

Cigarettes smoke contains more than 7000 chemicals, which are extremely harmful mostly cause Cancer. Scientists also found that the tobaccos compound provokes the white blood cells to damage the healthy cells.
There are a lot of negative effects of smoking and consuming tobacco such as


1.Central nervous system
Upon consumption of tobacco, the nicotine reaches and affects the Central nervous system in about 3-5 minutes. Nicotine impact is neuroregulatory on the central nervous system. The addicted person will be vulnerable to the effects such as
Eyesight problems and Macular degeneration. Some chemicals of smoke decrease the flow of blood to the eye. It causes Weakness in sense of smell as it affects the taste buds.

2.Respiratory system:
Due to inhaling tobacco smoke, the lungs became weaker though lungs try to clean the toxins when one cough but lungs can’t completely vanish this toxin. this toxin creates several problems like cancer.

Some of them are as follows

  • ‌Most tobacco users face periodontitis, gum infection, inflammation, and gingivitis. With time these problems may cause tooth decay and tooth loss.
  • ‌Also, this can cause cancer in the throat, mouth, and larynx, the most probable one is mouth cancer even for light smokers too.
  • ‌ Usually, inhalers have lack of required vitamins and nutrients.

3.Cardiovascular system:
This is one of the major problems faced by inhalers even by passive smokers too, those exposed to secondhand smoke.
Due to tobacco consumption, one can face different cardiovascular issues such as

  • ‌Heart attack
  • Coronary heart disease
  • Stroke

Besides nicotine boosts the blood sugar levels and narrow down the blood vessels, which can produce the blood clot.
There is a high risk this problem in blood vessels can lead to stroke, may face leukemia or blood cancer.

4.sexuality and reproductive system:

Women who smoke are more likely to experience pregnancy and delivery problems. Cervical cancer, which is a type of cancer that is most often caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), is much more common in women who have smoked (especially when they started smoking before the age of 18) than in those who have never smoked.

– Women who smoke are at a high risk of cervical cancer and experience pregnancy and delivery problems.

– Cervical cancer, which is a type of cancer that is most often caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), is much more common in women who have smoked (especially when they started smoking before the age of 18) than in those who have never smoked.

5.Integumentary system:

A study has found that smoking causes skin discoloration, premature aging, and early development of wrinkles. The study found that the nicotine in cigarettes binds to proteins in the skin cells which reduces collagen production causing the skin to age prematurely and developing wrinkles at an earlier stage.

The harmful effects of smoking are not limited to just the lungs but also extend to other parts of the body like skin.

How to get rid of this Addiction

Nicotine replacement therapy

Nicotine replacement therapy utilizes products that contain less amount of nicotine without toxicity. Nicotine is a substance naturally found in tobacco leaves and it is considered more addictive than any other drug. The FDA has approved nicotine replacement therapy, which uses products like gums, patches, or lozenges to help smokers quit smoking or cut down on the amount they smoke.

Nicotine replacement therapy is used to help people quit smoking by replacing the nicotine in tobacco with different substances. The first form of NRT was chewing gum, which was introduced in 1984. Today there are many different types of NRT available including patches and lozenges or inhalers which release a vaporized form of nicotine into the lungs when a smoker inhales through them.

It can be helpful for some people trying to quit.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy can give the patient a sense of control over their addiction. It teaches people how to manage their cravings and gives them coping skills for when they encounter triggers.

Counseling

The group therapy sessions are designed to be interactive so that participants feel more comfortable opening up and sharing while the facilitators act as guides.

The idea of quitting addiction through counseling is to be able to talk to someone who can help you. It helps in many ways, one way it helps is by giving you a sense of community. They will help you with your problems and they will give you the tools to fix them.

Counseling provides the individual with an environment where he/she can discuss his/her feelings openly and without fear of judgment or rejection. Counselors provide a non-threatening safe place for the individual to explore personal issues, which might not easily be discussed elsewhere. The counselor offers guidance about how best to manage these issues and also provides a caring, supportive, non-judgmental relationship that can help alleviate the sense of isolation experienced by many people at some point in their lives.

Exercise

The difficulty in quitting smoking or other addiction is not just physical. It’s mental as well. You may think that you can’t quit because you don’t have the willpower or because your body craves it, but what if we told you that exercise can help with this?

If the idea of quitting smoking, drinking alcohol, or taking drugs feels overwhelming, try exercising instead. Exercise has been proven to reduce stress levels and can also help when your body craves a smoke or a drink or an illegal substance. Here are 3 simple exercises that will work best for you:

1) Find an outdoor space where you won’t be disturbed and walk for at least 30 minutes. This will provide time to clear your head and get some fresh air!

2) Do pushups for five