Nicotine has its benefits

[DisMan]

Don't forget the fact that nicotine prevents millions of deaths every single day.

Could you imagine how many morons, retards, jerk wads, and jack asses would be killed if smokers didn't get their daily nicotine?

[Kate51]

Interesting. I wonder (since the world seems to change in cycles) if one day nicotine (obtained from safer sources than smoking of course) will be considered beneficial to one's health and its use will actually be encouraged. Granted, this is FAR in the future as society has cycled into an anti-nicotine crusade at the current time.

I've read from several sources how nicotine can decrease the chance of one getting Alzheimer's disease (something I'm highly afraid of ever having to deal with) among other things. Nicotine obtained from relatively safe sources may actually end up being good for the body in low doses and in certain situations. With all the steroids in our meats and all the artificial garbage in most of our food can nicotine really be all that bad in comparison?

It would be interesting if one day it was "determined" that the pros of nicotine actually outweighed the cons. Whatever the case... this article just gives me another reason (though hopefully I'll never be exposed to ricin ) to love Vitamin N.

It's a known fact nicotine raises your blood pressure. I took mine last night, it was 119/70. I'm 62 years old. A little past prime weight, not much though.
Hell, if it wasn't for Vitamin N and don't forget the "C" (coffee) my heart would have just stopped beating a long time ago, I'm thinking.

[Kate51]

Disman has a really good point. I can picture the Headlines, "Nicotine-deprived Glock-toting Gramma goes on a rage in a government-run No Smoke Shop, killing hundreds, because they kept asking "what's wrong?"

[TBDesigns]

wow very interesting.

[WerkIt]

It's a known fact nicotine raises your blood pressure.

I smoked for 28.5 years. Those few times I went to the doctor (I am NEVER sick), my blood pressure always checked normal. Actually, my absolute fave buzz in the world is the combination of nic buzz, caffeine buzz and exercise buzz. I don't ever do my two miles speedwalk/jogs WITHOUT nicotine and caffeine (5 cups coffee at a minimum, often topped off with a diet Coke or two) and usually pop a fresh snus mini-portion right before I head off to the trails. It drops me off in nirvana every time, although I don't know whether it effects blood pressure for the good or not.

[gashin]

They have done clinical studies involving hundreds of people - you may be one of the few exceptions.

I smoked for 28.5 years. Those few times I went to the doctor (I am NEVER sick), my blood pressure always checked normal. Actually, my absolute fave buzz in the world is the combination of nic buzz, caffeine buzz and exercise buzz. I don't ever do my two miles speedwalk/jogs WITHOUT nicotine and caffeine (5 cups coffee at a minimum, often topped off with a diet Coke or two) and usually pop a fresh snus mini-portion right before I head off to the trails. It drops me off in nirvana every time, although I don't know whether it effects blood pressure for the good or not.

[Survivors]

Add me to the "exception" list. Very low blood pressure, never really sick, rock and roll with the gusto of 4-5 guys (though I am a small gal) and been smoking (heavily) and doing coffee for over 40 years. Nonetheless, I am so grateful to be free of the smell and cost and stigma of analogs! I won't ever go back to them. :-)

[gashin]

Wow you guys must have really good genes. High blood pressure runs in my family so I have to exercise/eat well to stay healthy - none of which I'm doing that well these days...

Add me to the "exception" list. Very low blood pressure, never really sick, rock and roll with the gusto of 4-5 guys (though I am a small gal) and been smoking (heavily) and doing coffee for over 40 years. Nonetheless, I am so grateful to be free of the smell and cost and stigma of analogs! I won't ever go back to them. :-)

[WerkIt]

To get back on topic, was it nicotine, or smoking itself, that was shown to protect from the effects of radiation, in much the same way nicotine protects from the effects of ricin?

[Vocalek]

It's a known fact nicotine raises your blood pressure. I took mine last night, it was 119/70. I'm 62 years old. A little past prime weight, not much though.
Hell, if it wasn't for Vitamin N and don't forget the "C" (coffee) my heart would have just stopped beating a long time ago, I'm thinking.

It's a misleading fact. Actually, smoking nicotine temporarily raises blood pressure. So does exercise. The reason I say it is misleading is that the American Lung Association has long used the statement "20 minutes after smoking your last cigarette, your blood pressure returns to normal" (which is true) to fool people into believing that smoking cessation will have the effect of lowering their blood pressure over the long haul.

But regular use of nicotine has a protective effect against hypertension (high blood pressure that requires medical treatment.) How do we know this? By comparing how much bp has gone up or down over a long period of time in a set of people who have quit smoking to a set of people who continued smoking. Notice how the period of time effects the numbers in the results of this study Effects of Smoking Cessation on Changes in Blood Pressure and Incidence of Hypertension : A 4-Year Follow-Up Study -- Lee et al. 37 (2): 194 -- Hypertension:

Those who had quit for less than a year had lower BP than continuing smokers, but those who had quit between 1 and 3 years were 1.5 times more likely to have hypertension than continuing smokers. And those who were quit for more than 3 years were 3.5 times more likely to have hypertension.

The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MR FIT) study was a massive, lengthy, expensive clinical trial initiated in 1972 that was designed to demonstrate the value of special interventions to reduce health risks from smoking, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels.

More quitters developed hypertension than continuing smokers.

11.5% of the special intervention group and 10.8% of the usual care group developed diabetes over 6 years of follow-up.

"Weight gain after smoking cessation and the use of antihypertensive drugs may have counterbalanced the beneficial effect of the lifestyle intervention for the special intervention group smokers, while the lifestyle intervention was beneficial among nonsmokers."