Nicotine, an ingredient of cigarettes and tobacco products, is what makes smoking addicting. On average, it takes nicotine 10 seconds to reach the brain.Aside from causing physical and psychological dependence, nicotine also plays a role in a many smoking-related diseases. Although nicotine is not carcinogenic, it inhibits apoptosis which accelerates the growth and migration of existing cancer cells, and has the ability to turn some precancerous cells cancerous.

Lung cancer is one of the diseases attributed to smoking. People who have smoked at some point in their lives have a 1 in 10 chance of developing lung cancer. If they continue smoking, the risk increases to 1 in 6. In the United States, around 87% of lung cancer cases are smoking-related. Secondhand smoking also increases the risk of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30%.

As a stimulant, nicotine increases blood pressure and heart rate. Heart rate rises to as much as 30% during the first 10 minutes of smoking. Nicotine has also been linked to narrowing of blood vessels and increased likelihood of blood clots. Smokers below 40 years old are 5 times more likely to have a heart attack. Even secondhand smoking increases the risk of a heart attack by 25 to 30%.

Smoking increases the risk of acquiring infections. Infections include HIV susceptibility, common colds, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.

Secondhand smoking is connected to sudden infant death syndrome. Infants who die from this disease have high concentrations of nicotine in their lungs. Even if the parents do not smoke, their exposure to smoke also increases the infant’s risk. This is because the nicotine inhaled through smoke travels through a woman into her breast milk. Thus, nicotine will be ingested by her infant.

You have lived without nicotine before, right? Quit smoking and get nicotine out of your system. Remember, nicotine can cause many diseases which can cost you your life. Quit now!

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