Does Nicotine damage the skin?

[hobo.lord]

I've been scouring the web for the negative side effects of nicotine alone, and have found this:

Nicotine induces vasoconstriction associated with local hyperaemia. It inhibits inflammation through effects on central and peripheral nervous system and through direct effect on immune cells. It delays wound healing and accelerates skin aging. The role of nicotine on skin diseases remains unclear.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15500638

Anyone have any information that confirms or contradicts this? I wonder what mechanism makes nicotine age the skin, is it because it increases Vitamin C metabolism, because you could counter that with Vit C supplements. Is it due to the vasoconstriction, because I thought caffeine is a vasoconstrictor and yet it doesn't have a large affect on skin other than the fact it dehydrates you, which you can counter by ingesting more water. I would rather go cold turkey than keep smoking nicotine if my health and physique are in further danger.

I've found one study that partially contradicts the previous:
Nicotine Accelerates Angiogenesis and Wound Healing in Genetically Diabetic Mice

Which brings me to my next point, that nicotine causes angiogenesis which assists in tumor growth. So nicotine seems unlike caffeine in that it has a plethora of un-counterable negatives?

Pls don't reply and say "at least ecigs are better than analogs", that much is obvious

 

[Talyon]

I was asked once by a medical specialist if I smoked and at that time I replied yes, why? He stated I knew you did judging by the look of your skin.

That being said it would seem nicotine can damage skin, but purely a hypothesis on my part.

Vapeing can be done with 0 nic, just saying.

 

[Abbell]

I am no doctor, but I play one at home... *cough*

From what I read nicotine inhibits capillary action and can reduce healing. Nicotine is a poison. Anyone who vapes should not pretend otherwise. I happen to prefer my poison in a cleaner form. You can go to zero nicotine. For me personally that is the same as non-alcoholic beer or decaf coffee... they marginally fill the need, but fail to deliver.

If you are concerned about nicotine in general here is one of thousands of informative links

Nicotine Side Effects | Drugs.com

 

[Penguins_CC]

Personally I have found that it affected my toenails when I used to smoke analogs but greatly reduced since I started vaping.

I have not noticed any effects on skin.

 

[Slots]

It also needs to be remembered that nicotine is a normal and natural part of the diet.
Everyone tests positive for nicotine in the blood and for its metabolytes in the urine.
There has never been a large-scale clinical trial of nicotine where anyone tested negative for nicotine.
The last test by the CDC in the USA involved 800 subjects and all tested positive for nicotine at measurable levels, even where the subject was a non-smoker, had never smoked, and had no possible contact whatsoever with smokers.

The reason for this is because many vegetables contain nicotine, and also the co-located and similar compound nicotinic acid (also known as vitamin B3 or niacin).
Tomatoes, potatoes and several other vegetables all provide dietary nicotine.
Tea often contains nicotine, which after all is one of the reasons it works as a pick-me-up.
Some vegetables such as aubergine (eggplant) contain significant amounts.
These vegetables are broadly (but not exclusively) members of the Solanaceae family, one of our most often-consumed vegetable groups

Nicotine is a perfectly healthy, normal and natural part of the diet.
Some individuals may need more than the usual dietary quantity, as is observable for many other dietary constituents.
Just as some may need a very large supplement of 2,000mg of extra vitamin B3 (nicotinic acid) in order to normalise cognitive function, short-term memory and work capacity; so a similar increase of nicotine may be necessary for such persons.
This has been demonstrated by clinical trials that showed the positive effects on stress, work capacity, memory and cognitive function for some individuals.
Although research in this area is sparse at this time (due to the unfashionable reputation of nicotine since it tends to be conflated with smoking), it is reasonable to expect that:

Some people need more of a specific dietary component than others; it is why people take supplements.
Since similar effects can be shown for nicotine and nicotinic acid (vitamin B3), it seems possible that those who demonstrate a requirement for supplementary B3 may also require supplementary nicotine.
No one has ever demonstrated:

a. That nicotine is harmful in reasonable quantities - many vitamins or dietary ingredients are of course toxic or even fatal in large quantities, such as vitamin A, vitamin D and iron, so that this is a non-argument.

b. That nicotine is any more harmful than coffee (caffeine).

We know from the Swedish national health statistics that ad lib long-term consumption of nicotine by tens of thousands of people over periods of decades has no identifiable risk.

The key to all of this is to remove the smoke.
Without the smoke in cigarettes, consumption of certain specific types of tobacco (and, especially, nicotine consumption alone) can be proven to be ultra low risk.
If a large population of people consume nicotine ad lib for decades with no visible health impact, then the issue is not debatable.

 

[Cathbadh]

Well, anything is debatable - but yes, nicotine naturally occurs in lots of plants. It's extremely toxic to insects and other pests.

 

[stevegmu]

The level of nicotine in foods is miniscule. You'd need to consume about 20 lbs. of eggplants to equal the amount of nicotine in 1ml of medium strength e-juice.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

The dose always makes the poison.

Nicotine can be toxic and cause damage at high dosages. However, research has shown that vapers absorb much less nicotine than smokers because smoke delivers it in a way that the body absorbs much more easily. Vapers with a lot of experience can do a lot better in getting it into their system than the average noob, but even then they are not getting the same dose as they were as smokers.

I don't know if it was the adhesive or the nicotine, but when I tried patches those areas burned like hell after a few hours.

 

[AgentAnia]

Were/are you a smoker, hobo.lord? Are you a vaper?

 

[cocacola31173]

I actually think my complexion looked a lot better after starting vaping. I got the rosy color back in my face and it just looks smoother. Don't have to worry about them smoke wrinkles around the mouth no more either.

 

[zoiDman]

...

Which brings me to my next point, that nicotine causes angiogenesis which assists in tumor growth. So nicotine seems unlike caffeine in that it has a plethora of un-counterable negatives?

...

I was Never one who compared the Risks of using Nicotine be to on the Same Level as using Caffeine. I subscribe more to the Belief that Vaping, in Totality, has Less Inherent Risks that Smoking Tobacco.

But that does Not Imply that Vaping is 100% Safe in the Long Run.

 

[Caridwen]

I've been scouring the web for the negative side effects of nicotine alone, and have found this:
Nicotine effects on skin: are they positive or ... [Exp Dermatol. 2004] - PubMed - NCBI

Anyone have any information that confirms or contradicts this? I wonder what mechanism makes nicotine age the skin, is it because it increases Vitamin C metabolism, because you could counter that with Vit C supplements. Is it due to the vasoconstriction, because I thought caffeine is a vasoconstrictor and yet it doesn't have a large affect on skin other than the fact it dehydrates you, which you can counter by ingesting more water. I would rather go cold turkey than keep smoking nicotine if my health and physique are in further danger.

I've found one study that partially contradicts the previous:
Nicotine Accelerates Angiogenesis and Wound Healing in Genetically Diabetic Mice

Which brings me to my next point, that nicotine causes angiogenesis which assists in tumor growth. So nicotine seems unlike caffeine in that it has a plethora of un-counterable negatives?

Pls don't reply and say "at least ecigs are better than analogs", that much is obvious

We aren't doctors, we're ex-smokers. If you want more than antidotal evidence, the best place to get that probably isn't on a message board.

If you can, probably best if you could go cold turkey because no one here can give the information you're asking.