Nicotine Smoking addiction
Nicotine smoking addiction is an addiction to tobacco products caused by the drug nicotine. It is found naturally in the tobacco leaf and is present in tobacco products such as cigarettes. Nicotine may cause you to temporarily feel good or energized. It also causes the release of natural chemicals in your brain that may make you feel more alert and calm.
Over time, your body builds a tolerance to some of the effects of nicotine and you must therefore continue to smoke to make the effects last.
Nicotine use can have many different effects on the body:
- Decreases the appetite
- Boosts mood and may even relieve minor depression.
- Increases activity of your intestines
- Creates more saliva and phlegm.
- Increases heart rate by around 10 to 20 beats per minute.
- Increases blood pressure by 5 to 10 mmHg.
- May cause sweating, nausea, and diarrhea.
- Stimulates memory and alertness. People who use tobacco often depend on it to help them accomplish certain tasks and perform well.
Smoking harms almost every organ of your body, and more than 60 percent of people who keep smoking will die because of it. Tobacco smoke contains more than 60 known cancer-causing chemicals and thousands of other harmful substances. When you inhale tobacco smoke, you take in these chemicals, which reach most of your body’s vital organs.
The best way to prevent tobacco dependence is to not smoke in the first place. The best way to prevent your children from smoking is to not smoke yourself. If you’re a parent who smokes, the younger your children are when you quit, the less likely they are to become smokers themselves.
Your health will benefit almost immediately if you stop smoking. Younger smokers who stop can have a normal life expectancy, and even older smokers who stop add years and quality to their life expectancy.
