News tagged with nicotine
Plant researchers locate transporter used for nicotine metabolism
The next time you take aspirin for a headache, thank a willow tree. Salicylic acid, a compound chemically similar to aspirin, is found in willow tree bark and is made by the plant as a chemical defense against pathogens. ...
Nov 01, 2011 |
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Are the cigarette-loving Balkans lighting up less?
If the question was misunderstood by the waiter in a Bucharest restaurant, the irony wasn't lost on the customer who cringed after asking, "Do you have a smoke-free area?"
Jun 23, 2011 |
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Argentina bans electronic cigarettes
Argentina on Monday banned the import, sale and promotion of electronic cigarettes, saying there is no proof they help smokers kick the tobacco habit.
May 09, 2011 |
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Nicotine does not promote lung cancer growth in mouse models
Nicotine at doses similar to those found in most nicotine replacements therapies did not increase lung cancer tumor incidence, frequency or size, according to results of a mouse study presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting ...
Apr 04, 2011 |
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Different genes influence smoking risk during adolescence and adulthood
There is growing evidence that the risk factors for addiction change throughout the lifespan.
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Mar 31, 2011 |
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Research explores link between asthma and smoking
New research out of the University of Cincinnati suggests that being diagnosed with asthma is significantly associated with a greater risk for a lifetime history of daily smoking and nicotine dependence. The findings are ...
Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Mar 30, 2011 |
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Babies who sleep with smoker parents exhibit high nicotine levels
"Third-hand smoke" stuck to skin or clothing is responsible for the high nicotine levels seen in babies who share a bedroom with their smoker parents. This is the conclusion of a study carried out in Catalonia, ...
Mar 29, 2011 |
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First identification of nicotine as main culprit in diabetes complications among smokers
Scientists today reported the first strong evidence implicating nicotine as the main culprit responsible for persistently elevated blood sugar levels — and the resulting increased risk of serious health complications ...
Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Mar 27, 2011 |
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Children of women who smoked during pregnancy at increased risk of becoming smokers: study
New research has revealed that prenatal exposure to nicotine increases the vulnerability to nicotine self-administration in adolescent mice. The results support the hypothesis that adolescents with prenatal nicotine exposure ...
Mar 21, 2011 |
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New targeted drug helps smokers stub it out
Researchers working in a research project within the Academy of Finland's Research Programme on Substance Use and Addictions have been developing a targeted drug that could aid in smoking reduction therapy. The new drug slows ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Mar 17, 2011 |
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New 'dissolvable tobacco' products may increase risk of mouth disease
The first study to analyze the complex ingredients in the new genre of dissolvable tobacco products has concluded that these pop-into-the-mouth replacements for cigarettes in places where smoking is banned have the potential ...
Mar 16, 2011 |
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Smoking abstinence found more effective with residential treatment
In the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers report that residential treatment for tobacco dependence among heavy smokers greatly improves the odds of abstinence at six months compared with standard outpatient treatm ...
Mar 08, 2011 |
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Nicotine harms the pubescent brain
Smoking at an early age can cause attention deficits in later life. Researchers at the Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam (part of VU University and its medical centre) have discovered a new mechanism that explains how exposure ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Mar 01, 2011 |
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Electronic cigarettes hold promise as aid to quitting
A study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers reports that electronic cigarettes are a promising tool to help smokers quit, producing six-month abstinence rates nearly double those for traditional ...
Feb 08, 2011 |
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Scientists reveal key mechanism governing nicotine addiction
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a pathway in the brain that regulates an individual's vulnerability to the addictive properties of nicotine. The findings suggest a new ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Jan 30, 2011 |
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Nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants (Solanaceae) which constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots, and accumulating in the leaves. It functions as an antiherbivore chemical with particular specificity to insects; therefore nicotine was widely used as an insecticide in the past, and currently nicotine analogs such as imidacloprid continue to be widely used.
In low concentrations (an average cigarette yields about 1 mg of absorbed nicotine), the substance acts as a stimulant in mammals and is one of the main factors responsible for the dependence-forming properties of tobacco smoking. According to the American Heart Association, "Nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break." The pharmacological and behavioral characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Nicotine content in cigarettes has actually slowly increased over the years, and one study found that there was an average increase of 1.6% per year between the years of 1998 and 2005. This was found for all major market categories of cigarettes.
For more information about Nicotine, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
