Frontpage » Tag » nicotine

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

created Jan 30, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (17) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

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

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (16) | comments 10 weblog

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

created Apr 24, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (10) | comments 0

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. ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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

created Jan 04, 2011 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jan 02, 2011 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (4) | comments 11

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 ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 16, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (40) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

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

created Nov 03, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 01, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Personalized approach to smoking cessation may be reality in 3-5 years

A personalized approach to smoking cessation therapy is quickly taking shape. New evidence from Duke University Medical Center and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) suggests that combining information about a smoker's ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jul 02, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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.

Medicine & Health / Health

created May 21, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (10) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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

created Mar 08, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 10, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Crushing cigarettes in a virtual reality environment reduces tobacco addiction

Smokers who crushed computer-simulated cigarettes as part of a psychosocial treatment program in a virtual reality environment had significantly reduced nicotine dependence and higher rates of tobacco abstinence than smokers ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Oct 27, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

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

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

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.