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NICOTINE Cigarette Smoking Although many people
smoke because they believe cigarettes calm their nerves, smoking releases
epinephrine, a hormone which creates physiological stress in the smoker, rather
than relaxation. The use of tobacco is addictive. Most users develop
tolerance for nicotine and need greater amounts to produce a desired effect.
Smokers become physically and psychologically dependent and will suffer
withdrawal symptoms including: changes in body temperature, heart rate,
digestion, muscle tone, and appetite. Psychological symptoms include:
irritability, anxiety, sleep disturbances, nervousness, headaches, fatigue,
nausea, and cravings for tobacco that can last days, weeks, months, years, or
an entire lifetime. Risks associated with
smoking cigarettes:
********************* diminished or extinguished sense of
smell and taste Cigarette smoking is
perhaps the most devastating preventable cause of disease and premature
death. Smoking is particularly
dangerous for teens because their bodies are still developing and changing
and the 4,000 chemicals (including 200 known poisons) in cigarette smoke can
adversely affect this process. Cigarettes are highly
addictive. One-third of young people who are just "experimenting"
end up being addicted by the time they are 20. The mode of action of the
narcotic analgesics is still not fully understood. Recent research has
determined that specific regions of the brain and spinal cord have an
affinity for binding opiates, and the binding sites in the brain are in the
same general areas where pain centers are believed to be. This research has
also succeeded in isolating compounds, called enkephalins, that are produced
in the body to reduce pain; the compounds consist of five amino acids.
Apparently they can depress neurons throughout the central nervous system.
They belong to a group of larger compounds called endorphins, consisting of
many amino acids, that have also been isolated in the body and that are
produced by the pituitary gland. Administration of endorphins, including the
enkephalins, results in effects similar to those produced by opiates. The discovery of a class
of compounds that are specific antagonists to the action of the opiates has
made it possible to treat opiate overdosage quickly and efficiently. The
standard drug for this use is naloxone. Some of the antagonists also have
opiatelike properties, and this has led to the introduction of a new class of
analgesics, the mixed agonists-antagonists. It is hoped that these drugs will
produce analgesia without euphoria, reducing their potential for abuse. The
three drugs of this class approved so far in the U.S.—pentazocine,
butorphanol, and nalbuphine—are as analgesic as morphine for many uses and
induce little or no euphoria. All appear to have a lower abuse potential than
morphine or propoxyphene. For a great recovery rescource, visit: Nicotine Anonymous |
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