Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on earth. It is even more addictive than heroin and can cause this effect from the first puff. Even a person who has never smoked before can become a victim of nicotine.
People, that smoke, tends to do it frequently because they are addicted to the substance as they like the habit of smoking. Many of them try to quit this ill-natured habit but fail, often in less than a week, because of the complicated nature in which nicotine addiction develops into the body of the smoker. The health problems at stake are not caused mainly by the substance itself, but for dangerous side-effects, smoking has on the health, looks, and scent of the people.
In the next few paragraphs, we explain the various mechanisms that cause nicotine addiction. It is important to understand that sometimes willpower is not enough and, for some people, some strategies are better than others. Understanding how it works can help that affected choose which option will work better for them in the long run. Now let’s go straight to the facts:
1. Nicotine is absorbed very fast by the body
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), each cigarette has 10 mg of nicotine, and even 2 mg (the amount contained in one puff) can make someone an addict. That small amount causes this because of the way it quickly enters the bloodstream. Nicotine in tobacco enters the bloodstream through two processes: Mucosa absorption, that occurs through the mouth and inner parts of the nose, and through the alveoli of the lungs, that rapidly shoots it to the brain and affects it in different ways, some of them are accumulative.
2. Nicotine makes you feel pleasure because it makes your brain feel it
According to NIDA, when nicotine gets into the brain, it causes your brain cells to create dopamine, a powerful neurotransmitter that emits a pleasurable feeling. Dopamine occurs in a natural way when people engage in pleasurable experiences of any kind, and it is the focal point of some very complex addictions. It is well documented that smokers even feel some of the effects of this substance without even lighting their cigarettes. The sole ritual of getting a cigarette, manipulating smoking paraphernalia and doing activities that they can relate to their particular smoking experience, makes them feel some dopamine effects and can then make them crave nicotine afterward. You can use some form of tobacco vape juice and reduce the nicotine intake.
3. Nicotine builds up tolerance in about hours; it’s so quick that is hard to notice
Tolerance to nicotine is hard to notice because it starts with the second cigarette you smoke in a day. You will need more nicotine to feel the same effect you felt with your first cigarette. It is usual to develop a more frequent smoking habit to get that same sensation. When you smoke during an entire day, you will end up building up considerable nicotine tolerance. This can diminish during abstinence, or even during sleeping, but is one of the most powerful short-term addiction factors caused by smoking
4 Nicotine may not be the only thing in tobacco that makes you want to smoke.
Science has confirmed that nicotine may not be the only ingredient in tobacco that affects the addictive potential. Using advanced neurological imaging technologies, scientists can see the dramatic effect of smoking on the brain, and they have found a marked decrease in the levels of monoamine oxidase (MAO), an important enzyme that is responsible for the breakdown of dopamine.
The change in MAO is probably caused by some ingredient in tobacco smoke other than nicotine since we know that nicotine itself does not dramatically alter MAO levels. This decreases of two forms of MAO (A and B) results in higher levels of dopamine, suggesting that another reason why smokers continue with the habit may be to sustain the high levels of dopamine that cause the desire for using the drug repeatedly.
So, what do you think? Is nicotine something you feel you can deal with? What method would you choose to stop smoking?
