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Nicotine is a known stimulant and vasoconstrictor so one could imagine that it's not great for long term cardiovascular health. That said, it seems consensus is

by entee 10y ago

Nicotine is a known stimulant and vasoconstrictor so one could imagine that it's not great for long term cardiovascular health. That said, it seems consensus is that it's better than smoking [1] (quite old I know). EDIT: Also, yes wood smoke has bad things in it [2], but dose and dilution make the poison. In the developing world, poor venting of wood stoves is a real health problem [3]. [1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S073510979700079X http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109797... [2] https://www.epa.gov/burnwise/wood-smoke-and-your-health https://www.epa.gov/burnwise/wood-smoke-and-your-health [3] http://www.unfoundation.org/who-we-are/impact/our-impact/decreasing-child-mortality/time-to-tackle-one-of-the-worlds-deadliest-killers-cookstove-smoke.html http://www.unfoundation.org/who-we-are/impact/our-impact/dec...

djtriptych 10y ago
Quickening and impeding the heart just makes it work harder to get the same job done. Why wouldn't we think this has similar effects to mild exercise on long term CV performance?
- entee 10y ago
  That's a good point, and I don't know. Though I would propose that there's a difference between chronic stressor and short term stressors. In the case of exercise you're fluctuating up and down, in the case of a nicotine patch, you might be more constantly stressed.
ethanwillis 10y ago
There's emerging evidence that nicotine itself actually increases lifespan. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23871228 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23871228
- entee 10y ago
  Right, though fruit flies may not be the ideal model system here.