I'm not going to get to sappy on here but someone in my family was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. I know smoking and heavy alcohol abuse cause congestive heart failure but can nicotine itself cause it?
Is nicotine linked with congestive heart failure?
- Thread starter son et lumiere
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
- Status
Yes, it absolutely can cause atrial fibrillation, which can trigger congestive heart failure:
Nicotine Exposure In Aging Hearts
Nicotine is the component in cigarettes that makes smoking harmful to your heart....So, that is one aspect of ecigs that remains dangerous...
Nicotine Exposure In Aging Hearts
Nicotine is the component in cigarettes that makes smoking harmful to your heart....So, that is one aspect of ecigs that remains dangerous...
I would not say ABSOLUTELY. There are a lot of unusual findings in that study, such as higher nic concentrations lower AF risk in older rats. All stimulants can increase the risk of AF, including caffeine, sudafed and amphetamine(Adderall). Alcohol is VERY strongly associated with CHF due to decreasing cardiac muscle contractility. I would say nicotine is a risk, but I doubt there is any DIRECT evidence. Realize that it is likely that all current studies on nicotine/CHF involve smoking. The CHF may be related to coronary artery disease from smoking rather than nicotine exposure. If you google causes of CHF, you will see hundreds of contributing factors. Alcohol and CAD are at the top of the list. Valve disease, anemia, thyroid conditions, atrial fibrillation, electrolyte imbalances, advanced age, obesity and hypertension are all common causes.
Also, realize that CHF is rarely hereditary.
Also, realize that CHF is rarely hereditary.
Hi son et luminiere,
I am very sorry to hear of the diagnosis for your family member. I am NOT a doctor, but I have personally read a lot of material on that subject due to a similar personal situation. Please take the below from a fellow interested (and affected) lay person.
The study that jplanet references is from 2003 and was conducted only on rats. As far as I know, it was never moved forward to a human setting.
As far as I can tell, nicotine can cause damage in two ways:
1) It is considered a "vasoconstrictor" - generally, it can cause blood vessels to contract thus making the heart work harder. Over an extended period of time this could potentially lead to heart damage.
2) It can cause "endolethial damage" - generally, nicotine MAY cause damage to the lining of blood vessels - which then could cause cholesterol build up, and thus could cause vessel inflammation. They are not 100% sure - this assumption is due to an elevated protein found in some nicotine users and those users have other items ingested as well.
My personal opinion is yes, as a stimulant like any other, nicotine can cause heart damage.
HOWEVER, there are several more educated people than me in the medical field that disagree. Carol Southard, a health professional, RN, MSN and Smoking cessation consultant said in 2008:
"Nicotine is not the dangerous chemical in cigarettes. Cigarette smoke contains many harmful chemicals, and it is these, not nicotine, that are responsible for the heart attacks, cancer, and lung disease. The risks of cigarette smoking are much greater than the risks of NRT [nicotine replacement therapy]. NRT packages come with many warnings and directions that can lead a person to believe that NRT is far more risky than it actually is. It is a mistake to think that any NRT product is as dangerous as cigarettes." [emphasis added]
Caffeine (and several other stimulants we find in every day life) have similar effects physiologically as nicotine. Without abstaining from these as well it is difficult to point to nicotine as the culprit.
However, the carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia in regular smoking (along with hundreds of other extremely dangerous substances) have been proven to cause heart disease (and cancer) in and by themselves. Excessive alcohol abuse is also terribly hard on the body and most especially the heart and liver.
Alcohol abuse and smoking are #1 and #2 for heart disease. Follow that with age, stress, heredity, hypertension, caffeine, etc... nicotine is personally the least of my worries.
Son et luminiere, you will definitely be in my prayers. I lost my father to alcohol abuse and more recently a very dear friend to cancer caused by many years of smoking. I wish there were something I could write to alleviate some of your pain. I hope this provides some information at least to guide you on your search.
I am very sorry to hear of the diagnosis for your family member. I am NOT a doctor, but I have personally read a lot of material on that subject due to a similar personal situation. Please take the below from a fellow interested (and affected) lay person.
The study that jplanet references is from 2003 and was conducted only on rats. As far as I know, it was never moved forward to a human setting.
As far as I can tell, nicotine can cause damage in two ways:
1) It is considered a "vasoconstrictor" - generally, it can cause blood vessels to contract thus making the heart work harder. Over an extended period of time this could potentially lead to heart damage.
2) It can cause "endolethial damage" - generally, nicotine MAY cause damage to the lining of blood vessels - which then could cause cholesterol build up, and thus could cause vessel inflammation. They are not 100% sure - this assumption is due to an elevated protein found in some nicotine users and those users have other items ingested as well.
My personal opinion is yes, as a stimulant like any other, nicotine can cause heart damage.
HOWEVER, there are several more educated people than me in the medical field that disagree. Carol Southard, a health professional, RN, MSN and Smoking cessation consultant said in 2008:
"Nicotine is not the dangerous chemical in cigarettes. Cigarette smoke contains many harmful chemicals, and it is these, not nicotine, that are responsible for the heart attacks, cancer, and lung disease. The risks of cigarette smoking are much greater than the risks of NRT [nicotine replacement therapy]. NRT packages come with many warnings and directions that can lead a person to believe that NRT is far more risky than it actually is. It is a mistake to think that any NRT product is as dangerous as cigarettes." [emphasis added]
Caffeine (and several other stimulants we find in every day life) have similar effects physiologically as nicotine. Without abstaining from these as well it is difficult to point to nicotine as the culprit.
However, the carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia in regular smoking (along with hundreds of other extremely dangerous substances) have been proven to cause heart disease (and cancer) in and by themselves. Excessive alcohol abuse is also terribly hard on the body and most especially the heart and liver.
Alcohol abuse and smoking are #1 and #2 for heart disease. Follow that with age, stress, heredity, hypertension, caffeine, etc... nicotine is personally the least of my worries.
Son et luminiere, you will definitely be in my prayers. I lost my father to alcohol abuse and more recently a very dear friend to cancer caused by many years of smoking. I wish there were something I could write to alleviate some of your pain. I hope this provides some information at least to guide you on your search.
Last edited:
yeah almost everyone in my family are doctors nurses ect nicotine is a stimulant so yes it could be linked with it. but its still WAY safer then cigs and in MY case my caffine in my 600 mg caffine intake a day from mt dew mixed along with a tylenol from a headache from rush hour is wayyyYYYYYy more harmful to me then any nicotine i inhaled that day lol but again this would depend on specific usage by certain individuals
Any stimulant is hard on your heart, caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines and even certain cold/sinus medications act in such a way. It is not definitive if nicotine itself is the harbringer of heart disease, and other heart ailments, so it would uneducated to make a bold canvas statement. However, if one has heart issues, they should use any stimulant with great caution.
I would say any drug in excess could cause negative effects. However most people start developing a sort of tolerance to nicotine. There is a big difference when studying the effects a drug on someone who is used to it, and someone who is taking it for the first time. Someone who never uses nicotine will get a much greater reaction to the drug than someone who has been using it for years. That being said, I believe what hurts the heart in cigarettes is not primarily the nicotine. It is the smoke and tar. Your heart has to work harder when the lung function is reduced, and the sticky tar substance can coat your lungs and possibly your arteries. A good way to understand nicotine on heart disease would be to study studies done on snus. that would make the most sense to me.
Wow my Cardio lets me drink energy drinks-maybe cause he thinks its once in awhile & not daily.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
