News tagged with nicotine
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 |
4.9 / 5 (40) |
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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 |
4.7 / 5 (17) |
2
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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) |
0
Electronic cigarettes are unsafe and pose health risks, new study finds
Electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes), also called "electronic nicotine delivery systems," are increasingly used worldwide even though only sparse information is available on their health effects. In the ...
Dec 03, 2010 |
2.5 / 5 (19) |
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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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Nicotine may have more profound impact than previously thought
Nicotine isn't just addictive. It may also interfere with dozens of cellular interactions in the body, new Brown University research suggests.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Apr 03, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
3
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) |
0
The more someone smokes, the smaller the number of gray cells
Is there a relation between the structure of specific regions of the brain and nicotine dependence? This is the question researchers of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) Berlin, Germany, have been investigating ...
Oct 28, 2010 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
1
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) |
0
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) |
5
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Nicotine activates more than just the brain's pleasure pathways
Duke University Medical System researchers have discovered there are differing taste pathways for nicotine, which could provide a new approach for future smoking-cessation products.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Jan 22, 2009 |
4 / 5 (4) |
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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) |
5
Can't live without it: The nicotine addiction
The first pull on a cigarette should send you into convulsions. The brain proteins that nicotine affects are nearly identical to a receptor protein on muscle cells that tells them to contract, but nicotine ...
Sep 23, 2010 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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New compounds may treat both alcohol and cigarette addictions
Researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, and Pfizer Inc., have determined that two new compounds may be effective in treating both alcohol and nicotine dependence ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 03, 2010 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
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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.
