News tagged with nicotine
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 |
4.7 / 5 (17) |
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Vaccine being developed to help smokers quit
(PhysOrg.com) -- Glaxo-SmithKline has joined forces with Nabi Pharmaceuticals to produce a vaccine to help smokers give up their addiction permanently.
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 20, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (16) |
10
How cigarettes calm you down
The calming neurological effects of nicotine have been demonstrated in a group of non-smokers during anger provocation. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions suggest that n ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Apr 24, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
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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 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Evidence suggests e-cigs safer than cigarettes, researcher claims
In a new report that bucks the concerns raised by the Food and Drug Administration, a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) (sph.bu.edu) researcher concludes that electronic cigarettes are much safer than real ...
Dec 16, 2010 |
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Sales of electronic cigarettes rise, and so does criticism
Makers of electronic cigarettes are reporting strong growth in sales as anti-tobacco laws force European smokers into the cold streets, but campaigners say the device is undercutting health efforts.
Jan 02, 2011 |
2.5 / 5 (4) |
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Vaccine blocks cocaine high in mice
Researchers have produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a safe vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Jan 04, 2011 |
3.5 / 5 (2) |
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New pump created for microneedle drug-delivery patch
(PhysOrg.com) -- Purdue University researchers have developed a new type of pump for drug-delivery patches that might use arrays of "microneedles" to deliver a wider range of medications than now possible ...
Sep 01, 2010 |
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Learning addiction: Dopamine reinforces drug-associated memories
New research with mice has provided some fascinating insight into how addictive drugs hijack reward signals and influence neural processes associated with learning and memory. The research, published by Cell Press in the ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 09, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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Researchers testing vaccine to help people quit smoking
In a unique twist to a decades-old health crisis, Michigan State University researchers are testing a new vaccine to help people quit smoking and avoid relapses.
May 21, 2010 |
4.4 / 5 (10) |
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Key Brain Receptors Linked To Learning and Memory Decrease with Age
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying cognitive decline that accompanies aging have been interested in nicotinic receptors, part of a key neural pathway that not only enhances learning and memory skills but ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 11, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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New Insight on How Fast Nicotine Peaks in the Brain
(PhysOrg.com) -- Nicotine takes much longer than previously thought to reach peak levels in the brains of cigarette smokers, according to new research conducted at Duke University Medical Center.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Mar 08, 2010 |
4 / 5 (2) |
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Are bees also addicted to caffeine and nicotine?
A study carried out at the University of Haifa has found that bees prefer nectar with a small concentration of caffeine and nicotine over nectar that does not comprise these substances at all. "This could ...
Feb 10, 2010 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
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Scientists seek to manage dopamine's good and bad sides
The good, the bad and the ugly: That's a quick summary of the effects of dopamine, a natural brain chemical that's linked to pleasure, addiction and disease.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Oct 07, 2009 |
5 / 5 (6) |
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Cocaine Vaccine Shows Promise for Treating Addiction
(PhysOrg.com) -- Immunization with an experimental anti-cocaine vaccine resulted in a substantial reduction in cocaine use in 38 percent of vaccinated patients in a clinical trial supported by the National Institute on Drug ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Oct 05, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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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.
