Nicotine: the truth and myth that should be known about its consumption

Nicotine has been identified for years as one of the causes of diseases caused by tobacco use. However, this statement requires a deeper analysis.

The World Health Organization (WHO), along with other global and local health institutions, have urged smokers to give up cigarettes by scientifically demonstrating the harm they cause. While the best thing an adult smoker can do is quit, it is true that nicotine is not the leading cause of smoking-related illnesses. Therefore, it is important to analyze the most widespread myth and reality regarding smoking, because only in this way will adult consumers be helped to make the best decisions and find alternatives to achieve a better quality of life.

Nicotine is the leading cause of smoking-related illnesses. False

Nicotine creates addiction. When nicotine is inhaled, it is absorbed by the body through the lungs and bloodstream, reaching the organs and brain where it triggers the release of dopamine and other neurotransmitters that are stimulants.

Although it is naturally contained in tobacco, and is addictive, it is not the main cause of smoking-related illnesses. The real culprit is combustion, which releases harmful substances contained in the cigarette and are inhaled by the smoker.

A report by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) concludes that “it is primarily toxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke, not nicotine, that cause disease.”

Nicotine is one of the reasons why people smoke, along with taste and ritual. Therefore, for adult smokers to switch from cigarettes to smoke-free alternatives, these products must contain nicotine.

It is important that the adult population of smokers who seek to reduce the harmful effects on their health and who at the same time want to care for those close to them, have sufficient information about the effects of substances and know about the existence of reduced-risk alternatives.

According to a medical article published in the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine, “because nicotine is the basis of addiction and sustains smoking, it is logical to consider nicotine maintenance as a possible alternative to consumption of tobacco for smokers who cannot quit smoking”.

In this regard, the article indicates that the administration of nicotine replacement therapy in smokers has been shown to reduce smoking rates, and among those who reduce their smoking habit, it promotes cessation. Thus, he says, an inhaled nicotine delivery system with a dynamics similar to that of smoking a cigarette could be an advance in the search for harm reduction.

For example, tobacco heaters do not generate combustion, they only heat tobacco sheets. In this way, the release of harmful substances associated with smoking diseases is drastically reduced and the smoker continues to obtain nicotine, which is naturally contained in the product.

In this way, nicotine-containing and combustion-suppressing products can help support public health goals by encouraging smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke, to abandon cigarettes and switch completely to smokeless products, they argue since Phillip Morris International. , a tobacco company that has declared its goal of creating a smokeless future.

It should be emphasized that, while health experts say that quitting cigarettes and nicotine altogether is the best option, efforts towards a smoke-free world are essential to provide alternatives to adult smokers who will continue to smoke. For them, understanding the difference between heated tobacco, burning tobacco and nicotine, will be key to making an informed decision about their next step.

To learn more about the smokeless future see: https://www.facebook.com/SinHumoXFavor

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