4 ms·

Nicotine is sort of a mixed bag, but it isn't really the bad part of tobacco products. Cigarettes are generally bad for you because of all of the other things i

by hvs 12y ago

Nicotine is sort of a mixed bag, but it isn't really the bad part of tobacco products. Cigarettes are generally bad for you because of all of the other things in them besides nicotine. The bad part of nicotine is that it is so highly addictive, but it's health benefits for things like ulcerative colitis and other afflictions are becoming better studied.

jrlocke 12y ago
Radioactive polonium is the really worry with tobacco use.
- jrlocke 12y ago
  Not sure why I was downvoted, look here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium#Tobacco http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium#Tobacco Edit: I stand corrected. Thank you
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    Compare the 12,000 at the Wikipedia link to the 1.6 million here: http://www.who.int/cancer/prevention/en/ http://www.who.int/cancer/prevention/en/ From those numbers, the polonium is not a primary concern.
  - Alex3917 12y ago
    It's not entirely true. Even though the vast majority of tobacco-related cancer deaths may be caused by polonium, cancer deaths are still only around a third (iirc) of total tobacco deaths.
matznerd 12y ago
The ingredients in cigarettes are what actually make nicotine addictive...alone, it can actually be beneficial to the brain
- BugBrother 12y ago
  >> The ingredients in cigarettes are what actually make nicotine addictive Uh, that sounds wrong. "Snus" users get addicted. That is tobacco, even if it isn't burned. But afaik, users of e-cigarettes also get dependent -- that isn't tobacco.
  - casualobserver 12y ago
    There's a bunch of on-going research on nicotine gum dependence too. I was a participant in a study for this.
  - ethagnawl 12y ago
    > But as laboratory scientists know, getting mice or other animals hooked on nicotine all by its lonesome is dauntingly difficult. As a 2007 paper in the journal Neuropharmacology put it, “Tobacco use has one of the highest rates of addiction of any abused drug. Paradoxically, in animal models, nicotine appears to be a weak reinforcer.” http://www.salon.com/2013/12/29/sciences_obsession_the_search_for_a_smart_pill/ http://www.salon.com/2013/12/29/sciences_obsession_the_searc...

by hvs 12y ago

jrlocke 12y ago

Radioactive polonium is the really worry with tobacco use.

jrlocke 12y ago
Not sure why I was downvoted, look here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium#Tobacco http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium#Tobacco Edit: I stand corrected. Thank you
- maxerickson 12y ago
  Compare the 12,000 at the Wikipedia link to the 1.6 million here: http://www.who.int/cancer/prevention/en/ http://www.who.int/cancer/prevention/en/ From those numbers, the polonium is not a primary concern.
- Alex3917 12y ago
  It's not entirely true. Even though the vast majority of tobacco-related cancer deaths may be caused by polonium, cancer deaths are still only around a third (iirc) of total tobacco deaths.

matznerd 12y ago

The ingredients in cigarettes are what actually make nicotine addictive...alone, it can actually be beneficial to the brain

BugBrother 12y ago
>> The ingredients in cigarettes are what actually make nicotine addictive Uh, that sounds wrong. "Snus" users get addicted. That is tobacco, even if it isn't burned. But afaik, users of e-cigarettes also get dependent -- that isn't tobacco.
- casualobserver 12y ago
  There's a bunch of on-going research on nicotine gum dependence too. I was a participant in a study for this.
- ethagnawl 12y ago
  > But as laboratory scientists know, getting mice or other animals hooked on nicotine all by its lonesome is dauntingly difficult. As a 2007 paper in the journal Neuropharmacology put it, “Tobacco use has one of the highest rates of addiction of any abused drug. Paradoxically, in animal models, nicotine appears to be a weak reinforcer.” http://www.salon.com/2013/12/29/sciences_obsession_the_search_for_a_smart_pill/ http://www.salon.com/2013/12/29/sciences_obsession_the_searc...