Nicotine study opens path for anti-smoking drug

[xg4bx]

Scientists have pinpointed a source of nicotine craving in the brain, opening up a new path towards drug treatments to help smokers kick their habit, according to a study released Sunday.

The gene controls a receptor -- an entry point on the surface of brain cells -- which responds to nicotine molecules.

With a normal version of this gene, anything more than a tiny dose of nicotine triggers a message to the brain which says, in effect, "stop consuming," the scientists found.

Larger doses unleash a sense of repulsion, similar to "bad-tasting food or drink," lead researcher Paul Kenny at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida said in an email exchange.

But the effect was quite different in mice in which a tiny sub-unit of the receptor, known as alpha5, had been knocked out.

The negative message was never sent -- and as a result, the rodents couldn't get enough of the potent drug.

A similar scenario occurs naturally in some humans, the researchers believe.


On the strength of the new findings, published online in the journal Nature, Kenny has received funding from the National Institute of Drug Abuse to design a new category of drugs.

"This study has important implications for new approaches to tobacco cessation said Jon Lindstrom, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania who has investigated other nicotine receptors in the brain and will participate in the follow-up research.

Nicotine study opens path for anti-smoking drug - Yahoo! News


how about they work on a drug to treat caffeine addiction next?



and frankly i think it's the other crap in cigs that makes them truly addictive, not nicotine. us vapers are vaping pretty much pure nicotine, if it's so addictive, why do alot of us literally seem to forget to vape? i know i have, it just strikes me out of the blue that i'm not vaping. why am i not shaking like a smack junkie if i go without vaping for a few hours if nicotine is so incredibly addictive yet an hour without a cig and i was ready to kill someone?

until you can treat the addiction to carbon monoxide, cyanide, etc, there will never be a magic pill to "cure" smokers.

i'm no scientist so i'm sure i have no idea what i'm talking about but my heart is in the right place lol.

 

[cigarbabe]

I'm never quite sure you can correlate studies on mice, to achieve the same exact conclusions in people.
C.B.

 

[juicejunky]

and frankly i think it's the other crap in cigs that makes them truly addictive, not nicotine. us vapers are vaping pretty much pure nicotine, if it's so addictive, why do alot of us literally seem to forget to vape? i know i have, it just strikes me out of the blue that i'm not vaping. why am i not shaking like a smack junkie if i go without vaping for a few hours if nicotine is so incredibly addictive yet an hour without a cig and i was ready to kill someone?

until you can treat the addiction to carbon monoxide, cyanide, etc, there will never be a magic pill to "cure" smokers.

i'm no scientist so i'm sure i have no idea what i'm talking about but my heart is in the right place lol.

Hmmmm. I am at 69 days, when does this time come when I forget to vape? That hasn't happen to me yet.

Thanks for the study, interesting.

 

[VpnDrgn]

Ive been vaping for a little over 7 months now. The other day I was watching a movie and my carto started tasting a little funky, but I didn't feel like getting up and getting a fresh carto / filling it / labeling it / letting it sit / etc...etc. After a couple of hours I finally got up and took care of the carto.

When I was smoking, if I ran out of cigs, I got up right then, got dressed, and went out in the pouring rain to the store. HMMMMM ?

 

[throatkick]

Interesting. Will have to see how this plays out and what the side effects are. When this settles they may finally be on to something.

<sarcasm>

Will they have a vapable version?

Meanwhile:

Actor/Doctor smiles and says: Make sure you are in constant contact with your doctor. Our last great attempt to beautify your life and empty your pockets ended in people committing suicide.

With an even bigger smile: Our mice have genetically enhanced livers and altered brains. They can withstand all the side effects. You on the other hand will probably go crazy and die a miserable and insanely difficult death.

</sarcasm>

 

[Vocalek]

Wait just a cotton-picking minute. They have been promoting their own fanatasy for so long that they have started to believe it. Their fantasy is that "nicotine addiction is no different from addition to any other psychoactive drug."

Nicotine is very different. The process these scientists are looking at is called "tolerence," where ever-increasing doses of the drug are required to continue receiving the same effect. Alcoholics who develp a very high tolerance can drink most normal people "under the table" as the saying goes before they become "drunk."

One thing that nicotine researchers who have been around the block a few times have noticed is that nicotine tolerance tends to be self-limiting. Prior to the 1980s most smokers worked their way up to a pack a day -- and stayed there for life. The only reason that average intake rose after the 1980s is because the Surgeon General recommended smokers who can't quit switch to "reduced tar and nicotine" cigarettes.

The unanticipated consequence occurred because smokers--without being aware of what they were doing--began smoking more to compensate for the reduced amount of nicotine.

Given what these older researchers found, my guess would be that the number of human smokers who "can't get enough" makes up a mighty tiny proportion of all smokers.

Once again, the scientists latch onto a false idea about the cause of habitual smoking and seek a treatment doomed to a high rate of failure because the cause was incorrectly identified.

 

[maxx]

Nicotine study opens path for anti-smoking drug

Oh joy....more profits for big pharma and another suicide pill down the road.

Don't researchers have a disease or something they could be working to cure?

 

[theopold]

Hmmmm. I am at 69 days, when does this time come when I forget to vape?

It usually happens on day 71. Aren't you excited??

 

[Uma]

Elaine, that's exacty what happened to me... was a pack a day for 20 years until I switched to "lights". Two packs a day later and craving 3 packs for over 20 years I finally discovered vaping. It was fun to see everything turn about face within days, and then down to 0 within the first week.

Great another pill. Then another pill to counter the effects from this pill. They sure know how to stay in business don't they.

time to go vape those 6,600 carts so I can try to catch up to the FDA's acceptable quota ...

 

[kristin]

Ironically, before I started vaping I had already dropped to about 1/2 pack a day without even trying. I had been up to 1 pack a day prior and I just found that I wasn't smoking as much for some reason. I wasn't sick or anything, I just didn't get the urge. I only smoked more when I went out drinking. How does that fit into their theories about it being as addictive as crack?

 

[kristin]

"It has beneficial effects on anxiety and attention, among other things, thus making quitting very difficult. Withdrawal symptoms from quitting smoking make this worse."

Nicotine treatments, such as "patches", boost these reward circuits but can themselves be addictive.

There you go again - implying that if something is addictive it is bad, even though it has extremely low health risks and is beneficial to the user??? What sense does that make?

 

[Turnkeys]

.....
time to go vape those 6,600 carts so I can try to catch up to the FDA's acceptable quota ...

6,600 carts... 6,600ml. 223 oz, 1.7 gallons. Better get busy!!! lol I did the conversions for a reply to an article this morning. I figure they might be useful to put things into a different perspective for some people. Most don't drink that much in fluids each day.

 

[Vocalek]

6,600 carts... 6,600ml. 223 oz, 1.7 gallons. Better get busy!!! lol I did the conversions for a reply to an article this morning. I figure they might be useful to put things into a different perspective for some people. Most don't drink that much in fluids each day.

Nearly 2 gallons? Excuse me, nature calls!

 

[Thulium]

6,600 carts... 6,600ml. 223 oz, 1.7 gallons. Better get busy!!! lol I did the conversions for a reply to an article this morning. I figure they might be useful to put things into a different perspective for some people. Most don't drink that much in fluids each day.

Even vaping 6,600 carts of "about 1%" DEG probably wouldn't be enough to kill anybody since the FDA didn't actually detect any DEG in the vapor itself. Even if someone tried vaping 66 cartridges of 100% diethylene glycol in a single day, the fact is they'd probably exhale a good portion and still not receive a lethal dose.

The ridiculousness of all this is why the antis resort to inaccurate generalizations to make something harmless sound scary: "There is no safe level"...unless it is FDA approved, of course.

 

[Uma]

puff puff puff... now ya tell me. :faint:

 

[Vocalek]

Even vaping 6,600 carts of "about 1%" DEG probably wouldn't be enough to kill anybody since the FDA didn't actually detect any DEG in the vapor itself. Even if someone tried vaping 66 cartridges of 100% diethylene glycol in a single day, the fact is they'd probably exhale a good portion and still not receive a lethal dose.

The ridiculousness of all this is why the antis resort to inaccurate generalizations to make something harmless sound scary: "There is no safe level"...unless it is FDA approved, of course.

Who said anything about vaping them? Bottoms up!

 

[Turnkeys]

Who said anything about vaping them? Bottoms up!

LMAO!!!! Fortunately, having learned a hard lesson, I've conditioned myself to put the coffee or soda down before reading forums, IMs, e-mail, etc. Else my laptop and screen would've been in peril.

"NEWS FLASH!!! Man dies guzzling flavored nicotine liquid! Witnesses claim he'd managed to finish the first gallon and was starting on his second...."

Or perhaps we can simply submit him for a Darwin Award.

"In other news, a woman dies in a house fire, investigators conclude her use of an electronic cigarette was at fault."

Obviously lack of sleep and coffee has done something to me.

 

[Vocalek]

It occurred to me later that there might be someone who did not realize that I made the remark with tongue firmly in cheek (That's American for "I was only foolin'"), so thanks for being the first to laugh.

WARNING: Do not ever drink E-cigarette liquid. Poison! Mr. Yuk! Bad! No-no!