How can Nicotine effect your brain?

Nicotine is a harmful chemical which when reaches your brain can make you addictive and kill your body. Once nicotine reaches your body you become addicted to a particular thing. A smoker is often already significantly dependent on nicotine. Smokers who have an addiction problem usually smoke a cigarette in the morning - often within half an hour of waking up. They can stop smoking, if they try, but only for a few weeks at a time. Addiction is an emotionally charged word that is often associated with using drugs. But smoking also shares all the effects on the body of other addictive drugs. When a smoker feels the need to smoke and feels uncomfortable, the reason is that the level of nicotine in the body has been reduced below some value. After the first puff on a new cigarette, nicotine is back in the brain within 7 seconds. So the effect of a new dose of nicotine is quickly noticeable. This way the nicotine causes physical dependence. The body wants to get the new substance over and over again. Therefore whenever the quantity of nicotine in the brain is reduced you feel the urge of another cigarette. This is how you become dependent on smoking. You loose control over yourself and as a result face problems of depression and other serious psychological problems.

Nicotine also increases the level of other neurotransmitters and chemicals that modulate how your brain works. For example, your brain makes more endorphins in response to nicotine. Endorphins are small proteins that are often called the body's natural pain killer. It turns out that the chemical structure of endorphins is very similar to that of heavy-duty synthetic painkillers like morphine. Endorphins can lead to feelings of euphoria also. If you're familiar with the runner's high that kicks in during a rigorous race, you've experienced the "endorphin rush." This outpouring of chemicals gives you a mental edge to finish the race while temporarily masking the nagging pains you might otherwise feel.

Nicotine works by attacking on the receptors in the brain that bind the neurotransmitters’. Neurotransmitters traverse the physical space between two neurons and bind to special protein receptors on the postsynaptic cell. Once bound, these receptors set in motion physiological changes within the neuron that allow it to send the signal on down the line. The smoker often deals with a double addiction. In addition to the direct effect of nicotine on the body, as described above, there are all kinds of moments, all day long, that  more or less ask for a cigarette. It is very hard for many smokers to break that pattern; it is a form of mental dependence. Because smokers smoke after eating, when drinking coffee, while having a drink, during a phone call, in the car, at work, during a break, after having sex, in front of the television, after a game, when not? And even if there is not a direct reason to smoke, they do. Just  because they are used to it.  A smoker who stops smoking sits with empty hands on many occasions, and at first, that feels very uncomfortable.

When tobacco is smoked, nicotine is absorbed by the lungs and quickly moved into the bloodstream, where it is circulated throughout the brain. All of this happens very rapidly. In fact, nicotine reaches the brain within 8 seconds after someone inhales tobacco smoke. Nicotine can also enter the bloodstream through the mucous membranes that line the mouth (if tobacco is chewed) or nose (if snuff is used), and even through the skin.

Nicotine affects the entire body. Nicotine acts directly on the heart to change heart rate and blood pressure. It also acts on the nerves that control respiration to change breathing patterns. In high concentrations, nicotine is deadly, in fact one drop of purified nicotine on the tongue will kill a person. It's so lethal that it has been used as a pesticide for centuries.

Nicotine is a harmful chemical it can take your death. Nicotine can act as both a stimulant and a sedative. Immediately after exposure to nicotine, there is a "kick" caused in part by the drug's stimulation of the adrenal glands and resulting discharge of epinephrine (adrenaline). The rush of adrenaline stimulates the body and causes a sudden release of glucose as well as an increase in blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate. Nicotine also suppresses insulin output from the pancreas, which means that smokers are always slightly hyperglycemic. In addition, nicotine indirectly causes a release of dopamine in the brain regions that control pleasure and motivation. This reaction is similar to that seen with other drugs of abuse-such as cocaine and heroin- and it is thought to underlie the pleasurable sensations experienced by many smokers. In contrast, nicotine can also exert a sedative effect, depending on the level of the smoker's nervous system arousal and the dose of nicotine taken.

Scientific research is also beginning to show that nicotine may not be the only psychoactive ingredient in tobacco. Using advanced neuroimaging technology, scientists can see the dramatic effect of cigarette smoking on the brain and are finding a marked decrease in the levels of monoamineoxidase (MAO), an important enzyme that is responsible for breaking down dopamine. The change in MAO must be caused by some tobacco smoke ingredient other than nicotine, since we know that nicotine itself does not dramatically alter MAO levels. The decrease in two forms of MAO, A and B, then results in higher dopamine levels and may be another reason that smokers continue to smoke - to sustain the high dopamine levels that result in the desire for repeated drug use. Personal and private nicotine/cotinine drug testing is an important part of helping an addict stop their substance abuse.

Nicotine causes so many problems because of its highly addictive nature. When a smoker inhales smoke, nicotine is pulled deep into the lungs and absorbs into the bloodstream. The bloodstream carries nicotine throughout the body, which is why it affects so many parts of the body, including the blood vessels, hormones and heart. Short term effects of nicotine ingestion include increases in heart rate, blood flow to the heart and blood pressure. In addition, the body will also experience narrowing of the arteries.

Due to the addictive nature of nicotine, smoking tobacco may easily become a habit. Nicotine increases the release of a brain chemical called dopamine, which results in feeling good. This dopamine boost contributes to the cycle of nicotine intake. There are psychological as well as physical factors. You may develop a routine surrounding the act of smoking. For example, you may have a schedule of when you smoke such as after a meal or in certain locations or under certain levels of stress. Changing behaviors and routines you associate with smoking will have to be addressed if you are to overcome the addiction to nicotine.

However it should be noted that Nicotine does not stay in the body for very long and is quickly broken down by various enzymes and chemical reactions. It has a half-life of around 40 minutes, which means that after this amount of time the nicotine loses half of its effect and the smoker will soon feel the need to light up another cigarette.

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