The Shocking Effects of Smoking
The Shocking Effects of Smoking
The Shocking Effects of Smoking
Smoking is the leading cause of mortality with bronchogenic carcinoma of the lung and a factor in death due to diseases of the larynx, oral cavity, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, stomach and cervix, and coronary heart disease.
Nicotine is the major substance present in smoking that causes physical dependence. Additives harm the body. For example, ammonia can result in a 100-fold increase in the smoking potency of nicotine.
Levulinic acid, which is added to cigarettes to mask the harsh taste of nicotine, can increase nicotine’s binding to brain receptors, increasing nicotine’s ‘kick’.
The smoke from the burning end of a cigarette contains over 4,000 chemicals and 40 carcinogens. It has long been known that tobacco smoke is carcinogenic or cancer-causing.
Smokers’ lungs annually accumulate pounds of sticky black stuff. The invisible gas phase of cigarette smoke consists of nitrogen, oxygen, and toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, acrolein, hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxide. These gases are toxic and in many cases hinder the body’s ability to transport oxygen.
Like many carcinogenic compounds, they can act as tumor promoters or tumor initiators by acting directly on the genetic makeup of body cells leading to the development of cancer.
When smoking, within the first 8-10 seconds, nicotine is absorbed through the lungs and quickly ‘transferred’ into the bloodstream and spread throughout the brain. Nicotine can also enter the bloodstream through mucous membranes such as the mouth (if tobacco is chewed) or the nose (if snuff is used) and even through the skin. Our brain is made up of billions of nerve cells and they communicate with each other through chemical messengers called neurotransmitters.
Nicotine is one of the most potent nerve poisons and binds stereo-selectively to nicotinic receptors located in the brainstem, autonomic ganglia, medulla, neuromuscular junctions. It is located throughout the brain and plays an important role in cognitive processes and memory.
The nicotine molecule is shaped by a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is involved in many functions including muscle movement, breathing, heart rate, learning and memory. Nicotine, due to its similar structure with acetylcholine, when it enters the brain, binds to acetylcholine sites and produces toxic effects.
In higher concentrations, nicotine is more lethal. In fact, even a drop of pure nicotine falling on the tongue can kill a person. It has been used as an insecticide for centuries.
Recent research studies suggest that acute nicotine administration will result in an increase in dopamine release from the brain, a perception of pleasure and enjoyment, an increase in energy and motivation, an increase in alertness, and a feeling of power in the early stages of smoking increase.
However, despite these superficial effects, research shows that the association between smoking and memory loss is strongest among people who smoke more than 29 cigarettes per day and is independent of socioeconomic status, gender, and associated medical conditions is related. Smoking may accelerate age-related memory loss and the details are not yet clear. Some studies suggest that repeated exposure to high nicotinic smoke related to ‘brain-wiring’ is nothing but neuro-biochemistry related to complex interactions between genetic experience and the biochemistry of brain cells.
‘NO’ is a unique molecule that plays important roles in many beneficial and some detrimental brain and body mechanisms, for example, synapse formation, drug tolerance and local regulation of cerebral blood flow, Parkinson’s disease, etc. It has also been found that people who smoke more cigarettes a day have weaker memory than non-smokers in middle age.
Some experts say that smoking is linked to memory problems because it contributes to the narrowing of the arteries that restrict blood flow to the brain. One of the causes of memory decline in relation to brain function may be loss of dendrites due to nerve cell death or reduced density of interconnected neuronal networks, the tiny fibers that connect one nerve cell to another. Abstaining from smoking is essential not only to avoid these systemic effects but also to reduce adverse effects on the environment. 0 0 0.
The Shocking Effects of Smoking
N. B. This article ‘The Shocking Effects of Smoking’ originally belongs to the book entitled ‘Gleaned Essays‘ by Menonimus.Â
The Shocking Effects of Smoking
Books of Composition by M. Menonimus:
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