6 ms·
It is very actionable: Give nicotine to patients. No smoking required.
by akimball 4y ago
It is very actionable: Give nicotine to patients. No smoking required.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- RajT88 4y agoYes. That is also a terrible idea. Worse than off-brand uses of other medications, because it is addictive on top of being unproven.
- geofft 4y agoI was about to post roughly this comment, but then I remembered reading https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine a while ago: > many associations with harm are confounded by past or present tobacco use [...] but when pure nicotine is examined [...] the harms appeared minimal: like all stimulants, nicotine may raise blood pressure somewhat, and is addictive to some degree, but the risks do not appear much more strikingly harmful than caffeine [...] There is little evidence from the NRT [nicotine replacement therapy] literature that ‘never-smokers’ like myself are all that likely to become highly addicted (To be clear, I understand why the medical community would be hesitant to endorse this without it rising to the level of a "cover-up," but it seems like it's not as bad an idea as it intuitively sounds. But it's also unclear if the stimulant levels mentioned in that article are anywhere close to the levels relevant for covid.)
- akimball 4y agoYet it is strictly necessary in order to test the physical model.
- eurasiantiger 4y agoTobacco addiction stems from psychoactive ”nicotine boosters” both preexisting in the tobacco plant as well as intentionally added to commercial cigarettes. Pure nicotine is not significantly habit-forming by itself. Just don’t combine it with coffee.
- MockObject 4y agoThen why do nicotine gums and patches work?
- akimball 4y agoDesperation. Acetyl aldéhydes in tobacco are highly addictive. Nicotine supplements do not supply these, but folks manage to quit tobacco using them because they are motivated, and they are the best available alternative.
- eurasiantiger 4y agoThat’s like asking why amphetamines help speedball freaks quit opiates.
- sacrosancty 4y agoWas there any evidence that the nicotine was what helped, rather than the smoke or something else?
- xhkkffbf 4y agoAre you sure nicotine is the active ingredient here that's mitigating the COVID? It's certainly what smokers crave but the COVID virus could be affected by some other part of the smoke.
- akimball 4y agoSure? I am sure of very little. My priors (i.e. my physical model) favor the theory that nicotine prevents infection by blocking ACE2 receptors. I have no posterior inferences to confirm or refute the hypothesis.
- eurasiantiger 4y agoSmokers crave something else than nicotine. It is just a convenient boogeyman. There are studies where tobacco addicts are given the choice between getting nicotine intravenously or smoking denicotinized cigarettes. An overwhelming majority prefers smoking denicotinized cigarettes.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]