Is nicotene itself actually harmful?

[cjsaxman]

Other than of course being addictive, does it cause health issues? I read in the ECF library section that it apparently doesn't.

My mother, who is a RN, thinks that it raises blood pressure.

I personally feel it is so much healthier than what I did before, it isn't really relevant, if it is a concern, I suppose I might switch to non nicotene juices someday.

I occassionally have high blood pressure issues already and she is a bit worried it could make it worse. (The joys of having a mom who is a nurse lol)

EDIT: some people misunderstood my post. She doesn't advocate smoking either, she realizes it'd be worse, she just tries to persuade me to get off the nicotene altogether lol.

 

[dr g]

It has stimulant effects somewhat similar to caffeine.

 

[LeftHandBlack]

Promotes Heart Disease by causing veins and arteries to constrict. Hasnt been found to cause cancer like other cigarette chemicals. Also deady in large amounts.

 

[klynnn]

I happen to be one of the weirdos who think nicotene will be a benefit. They are testing it now for diabetes/parkinsons.alzheimers, Just think how many will die if they ban it.

 

[John_]

The majority of the health issues that the majority of people have come to associate with nicotine are actually caused by the other chemicals in things like cigarettes and cigars. Nicotine by itself is relatively harmless when you consider all of the garbage you were inhaling with a cigarette. Ideally you wouldn't want to be inhaling anything besides fresh air, but that's just not going to happen for a lot of people here. Nicotine does have a similar effect as caffeine on your body. If you want to learn more about it I would find some research articles about it, just make sure they aren't biased, like a big-tobacco company funding a study on nicotine, that would make me cautious of the article.

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

Ask he what years of elevated Carbon Monoxide levels in the bloodstream would do to someone

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-liquid-discussion/465485-its-not-nicotine.html


To quantify however...in concentrated amounts...just like caffeine it is actually MORE toxic than arsenic...thank God...the nicotine in e-juice is extremely diluted among other non-harmful chemicals that create the vapor and each puff delivers a minute metered amount

 

[stevegmu]

According to the bible of knowledge, it is bad, very bad-

Toxicology[edit]

See also: Nicotine poisoning
NFPA 704
140
The LD50 of nicotine is 50 mg/kg for rats and 3 mg/kg for mice. 30–60 mg (0.5–1.0 mg/kg) can be a lethal dosage for adult humans.[6][67] However the widely used human LD50 estimate of 0.5–1.0 mg/kg has been questioned in light of several documented cases of humans surviving much higher doses.[68] Nevertheless nicotine has a relatively high toxicity in comparison to many other alkaloids such as ......., which has an LD50 of 95.1 mg/kg when administered to mice. It is unlikely that a person would overdose on nicotine through smoking alone, although overdose can occur through combined use of nicotine patches or nicotine gum and cigarettes at the same time.[7] Spilling a high concentration of nicotine onto the skin can cause intoxication or even death, since nicotine readily passes into the bloodstream following dermal contact.[69]
Historically, nicotine has not been regarded as a carcinogen and the IARC has not evaluated nicotine in its standalone form or assigned it to an official carcinogen group. While no epidemiological evidence supports that nicotine alone acts as a carcinogen in the formation of human cancer, research over the last decade has identified nicotine's carcinogenic potential in animal models and cell culture.[70][71] Nicotine has been noted to directly cause cancer through a number of different mechanisms such as the activation of MAP Kinases.[72] Indirectly, nicotine increases cholinergic signalling (and adrenergic signalling in the case of colon cancer[73]), thereby impeding apoptosis (programmed cell death), promoting tumor growth, and activating growth factors and cellular mitogenic factors such as 5-LOX, and EGF. Nicotine also promotes cancer growth by stimulating angiogenesis and neovascularization.[74][75] In one study, nicotine administered to mice with tumors caused increases in tumor size (twofold increase), metastasis (nine-fold increase), and tumor recurrence (threefold increase).[76] N-Nitrosonornicotine (NNN), classified by the IARC as a Group 1 carcinogen, is produced endogenously from nitrite in saliva and nicotine.
The teratogenic properties of nicotine has been investigated. According to a study of ca. 77,000 pregnant women in Denmark,[citation needed] women who used nicotine gum and patches during the early stages of pregnancy were found to face an increased risk of having babies with birth defects. The study showed that women who used nicotine-replacement therapy in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy had a 60% greater risk of having babies with birth defects compared to women who were non-smokers.
Tobacco use among pregnant women has also been correlated to increased frequency of ADHD. Children born to mothers who used tobacco were two and a half times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.[77] Froelich estimated that "exposure to higher levels of lead and prenatal tobacco each accounted for 500,000 additional cases of ADHD in U.S. children".[78]
Effective April 1, 1990, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency added nicotine to the list of chemicals known to cause developmental toxicity.[79]

Nicotine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

...whaaaat...I quoted myself in my reply...

Uggh..I need more coffee

 

[Recon Number 54]

Nicotine has effects on the human body. It is a stimulant of the CNS and other systems, it crosses the blood-brain barrier and interacts with various neuro-transmitters/receivers.

... nicotine-rich blood passes from the lungs to the brain within seven seconds and immediately stimulates the release of many chemical messengers such as acetylcholine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, vasopressin, histamine, arginine, serotonin, dopamine, autocrine agents, and beta-endorphin. This release of neurotransmitters and hormones is responsible for most of nicotine's effects. Nicotine appears to enhance concentration and memory due to the increase of acetylcholine. It also appears to enhance alertness due to the increases of acetylcholine and norepinephrine. Arousal is increased by the increase of norepinephrine. Pain is reduced by the increases of acetylcholine and beta-endorphin. Anxiety is reduced by the increase of beta-endorphin. Nicotine also extends the duration of positive effects of dopamine and increases sensitivity in brain reward systems...

Heart rate and blood pressure also raise as a result of nicotine ingestion, just like many other stimulants.

It's a drug, it has significant effects (but not as profound as say opioids) but is typically self-administered to a self-medicated therapeutic (or self-satisfaction) level, much like caffeine. It is habit forming, even addictive. Severe withdrawal or resumption can be controlled and avoided by metered and slow reduction of ingestion levels down to zero.

 

[patkin]

I can only give personal experience. I had high blood pressure as a 2 PAD smoker and was on meds for it. It took me around 6 months to totally quit smoking and had that time to watch my BP readings. My BP got better and better as smoking decreased and vaping increased. I vaped mostly 12 mg and chain vaped. Now I don't chain like I did but vape 24mg. My BP is so good that last cardio visit the doc said if it holds for like this for 3 months or drops lower than it is before that I can/will have to stop all meds for it.

The other experience I have with BP and nic is when first put on a beta block (I take a calcium channel blocker now instead) my BP went to 60/30. I had heard that smoking raised BP and was probably why mine was high to start with. Three family members held lit smokes to my mouth to suck on on the way to the ER and I probably smoked four of them by the time we got there.... it didn't help.

My personal opinion is that there's something else in smokes that affects BP or the low oxygen saturation from inhaling smoke but don't believe its the nic because of experience with mine vaping. Now, if one overloads on it I imagine it would affect BP just from the stimulant heart racing that would cause which I have experienced accidentally once but that was no different than if I drank too much caffeine.

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

According to the bible of knowledge, it is bad, very bad-

Toxicology[edit]

See also: Nicotine poisoning
NFPA 704
140
The LD50 of nicotine is 50 mg/kg for rats and 3 mg/kg for mice. 30–60 mg (0.5–1.0 mg/kg) can be a lethal dosage for adult humans.[6][67] However the widely used human LD50 estimate of 0.5–1.0 mg/kg has been questioned in light of several documented cases of humans surviving much higher doses.[68] Nevertheless nicotine has a relatively high toxicity in comparison to many other alkaloids such as ......., which has an LD50 of 95.1 mg/kg when administered to mice. It is unlikely that a person would overdose on nicotine through smoking alone, although overdose can occur through combined use of nicotine patches or nicotine gum and cigarettes at the same time.[7] Spilling a high concentration of nicotine onto the skin can cause intoxication or even death, since nicotine readily passes into the bloodstream following dermal contact.[69]
Historically, nicotine has not been regarded as a carcinogen and the IARC has not evaluated nicotine in its standalone form or assigned it to an official carcinogen group. While no epidemiological evidence supports that nicotine alone acts as a carcinogen in the formation of human cancer, research over the last decade has identified nicotine's carcinogenic potential in animal models and cell culture.[70][71] Nicotine has been noted to directly cause cancer through a number of different mechanisms such as the activation of MAP Kinases.[72] Indirectly, nicotine increases cholinergic signalling (and adrenergic signalling in the case of colon cancer[73]), thereby impeding apoptosis (programmed cell death), promoting tumor growth, and activating growth factors and cellular mitogenic factors such as 5-LOX, and EGF. Nicotine also promotes cancer growth by stimulating angiogenesis and neovascularization.[74][75] In one study, nicotine administered to mice with tumors caused increases in tumor size (twofold increase), metastasis (nine-fold increase), and tumor recurrence (threefold increase).[76] N-Nitrosonornicotine (NNN), classified by the IARC as a Group 1 carcinogen, is produced endogenously from nitrite in saliva and nicotine.
The teratogenic properties of nicotine has been investigated. According to a study of ca. 77,000 pregnant women in Denmark,[citation needed] women who used nicotine gum and patches during the early stages of pregnancy were found to face an increased risk of having babies with birth defects. The study showed that women who used nicotine-replacement therapy in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy had a 60% greater risk of having babies with birth defects compared to women who were non-smokers.
Tobacco use among pregnant women has also been correlated to increased frequency of ADHD. Children born to mothers who used tobacco were two and a half times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.[77] Froelich estimated that "exposure to higher levels of lead and prenatal tobacco each accounted for 500,000 additional cases of ADHD in U.S. children".[78]
Effective April 1, 1990, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency added nicotine to the list of chemicals known to cause developmental toxicity.[79]

Nicotine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

I can only give personal experience. I had high blood pressure as a 2 PAD smoker and was on meds for it. It took me around 6 months to totally quit smoking and had that time to watch my BP readings. My BP got better and better as smoking decreased and vaping increased. I vaped mostly 12 mg and chain vaped. Now I don't chain like I did but vape 24mg. My BP is so good that last cardio visit the doc said if it holds for like this for 3 months or drops lower than it is before that I can/will have to stop all meds for it.

The other experience I have with BP and nic is when first put on a beta block (I take a calcium channel blocker now instead) my BP went to 60/30. I had heard that smoking raised BP and was probably why mine was high to start with. Three family members held lit smokes to my mouth to suck on on the way to the ER and I probably smoked four of them by the time we got there.... it didn't help.

My personal opinion is that there's something else in smokes that affects BP or the low oxygen saturation from inhaling smoke but don't believe its the nic because of experience with mine vaping. Now, if one overloads on it I imagine it would affect BP just from the stimulant heart racing that would cause which I have experienced accidentally once but that was no different than if I drank too much caffeine.

Read my It's not the nicotine... Link to a goverment study listing KNOWN chemical levels in the cigarettes...guess what chemical overshadows even nicotine by a HUGE factor..in each cigarette, no matter, the strength, brand, or flavor

 

[Baldr]

I occassionally have high blood pressure issues already and she is a bit worried it could make it worse. (The joys of having a mom who is a nurse lol)

Your RN mother would rather you smoke? At that point, she has no business working in the medical industry, and her opinion isn't worth jack.


This is from the FDA, and essentially says that long term use of nicotine has, in their terms, "few adverse events".

https://www.federalregister.gov/art...erapy-products-for-over-the-counter-human-use

There are also articles about benefits of nicotine.

Discovery Health "How can nicotine be good for me?"

and

Researchers Investigate (Horrors!) Nicotine's Potential Benefits - New York Times

Personally, I think for best possible health and lowest possible risk, you don't want to smoke or vape. However, compared to smoking, vaping is a clear winner and anyone arguing that you shouldn't bother to vape because it isn't healthy is completely clueless.

 

[John_]

I don't think his mother was advocating smoking just that she was still concerned about the effects of the nicotine in eliquid on his blood pressure.

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

Your RN mother would rather you smoke? At that point, she has no business working in the medical industry, and her opinion isn't worth jack.


This is from the FDA, and essentially says that long term use of nicotine has, in their terms, "few adverse events".

https://www.federalregister.gov/art...erapy-products-for-over-the-counter-human-use

There are also articles about benefits of nicotine.

Discovery Health "How can nicotine be good for me?"

and

Researchers Investigate (Horrors!) Nicotine's Potential Benefits - New York Times

Personally, I think for best possible health and lowest possible risk, you don't want to smoke or vape. However, compared to smoking, vaping is a clear winner and anyone arguing that you shouldn't bother to vape because it isn't healthy is completely clueless.

Whoah whoah whoah...slow your roll bro!

Daggum!

Even medical professionals get caught up in falsehoods and propaganda...my friend who works in the industry says some of them are the WORST parrots of misinformation there are, they hear it in a meeting...it becomes gospel truth...they don't even NEED the internet!

 

[John_]

I have a couple friends that are med students and I had to spend an afternoon telling them a bunch of crap one of their professors was telling them was false and explain why.

Whoah whoah whoah...slow your roll bro!

Daggum!

Even medical professionals get caught up in falsehoods and propaganda...my friend who works in the industry says some of them are the WORST parrots of misinformation there is, they hear it in a meeting...it becomes gospel truth...they don't even NEED the internet!

 

[NICnurse]

My only comment to this is WIKIPEDIA is NOT a credible source. For ANYTHING. It is a joke of a site where anyone can put anything on it without backed up substantial evidence based credit. It is not a credible source for citing anything in ANY level of collegiate writing. If you cite Wiki, you automatically fail the assignment.

Okay, so given that.....find me PROOF in an actual scientific study that says NICOTINE causes cancer. Because every evidence based research article I have read does not provide this evidence. And any illusion that it does is lumped into burning tobacco research and not solely nicotine dependent.

Also, as an RN, I can say this as well. His mom's concerns are due to ingrained habit. We are all taught that smoking makes your BP elevate. Nicotine is the big bad boogey man. Bad smokers, bad bad bad. It is crammed down our throats in nursing school so bad. Nicotine is the equivalent of the atom bomb to a nursing instructor. MANY levels of healthcare needs to find a proctologist to pull their collective heads out of their poop filled rectums. Nursing instructors, the sheeple nurses that believe the misinformation, and physicians that will readily PRESCRIBE a traditional NRT for hypertensive patients to help them quit smoking and reduce blood pressure yet they pish posh and condemn vaping even though it is built around the same premise.....nicotine REPLACEMENT.

Tons of misinformation. Everywhere. Including this thread.

 

[Nermal]

Nicotine raises blood pressure. The question is, does the nicotine in juice raise it more that the nicotine in tobacco somke.

 

[patkin]

Not in my experience. Another thing I had happen was unexplained rise in BP even with meds. Come to find out I had started taking a Chinese herb preparation that contained licorice root. When I stopped taking it the BP went back down. Out of curiosity, I looked up the ingredients in the brand of smokes I had 2 PAD of... yup, one ingredient was licorice. There's none of that in my juice and I have no doubt I'm getting more nic now than when I smoked yet my BP is now that of a healthy teenager... well, I still have to take the lowest dose calcium channel blocker until the doc is convinced I won't go back to smoking. But I have accidentally skipped a day with no rise in BP and deliberately done it for more with no rise just to see what happens. Actually continuing meds until he's convinced kinda scares me because I'm not used to seeing such low numbers... usually around 105/65 but when I called about it he said it was okay.

 

[011COACH]

Promotes Heart Disease by causing veins and arteries to constrict. Hasnt been found to cause cancer like other cigarette chemicals. Also deady in large amounts.

Pretty much sums it up.