What is more harmful Nicotine or CO

[IMWylde]

Reading an article about the dangers of nicotine to say hypertension or heart disease patients got me to thinking. Being that I have heart disease and was a wastrel smoker.

Which is more harmful:

The constant subjection to Carbon Monoxide

or

Nicotine.
​

If you truly know the answer please reply. If your only guessing please wait until others reply.

Thanksya​

 

[cozzicon]

Reading an article about the dangers of nicotine to say hypertension or heart disease patients got me to thinking. Being that I have heart disease and was a wastrel smoker.

Which is more harmful:

The constant subjection to Carbon Monoxide

or

Nicotine.
​

If you truly know the answer please reply. If your only guessing please wait until others reply.

Thanksya​

I don't think there is an easy answer. What is better?

1. Both are poisons.

I suppose I would say Nicotine is "better" because it make you sick before you poison yourself. Carbon Monoxide makes you so weak and sleepy you can't save yourself before it kills you.

But considering you are only getting nicotine and not carbon monoxide from an e-cig I'd say it's a no brainer. E-Cig for the win.

HOWEVER: my actual answer is that you seek medical advice. Generally speaking, my assumption would be that if your doctor would give you NRT you are probably safe to vape. However that is not medical advice. It is an *assumption*.

 

[CaptJay]

carbon monoxide is much worse for you - nicotine is a vasoconstrictor but other than that its no worse than caffeiene (also a vasoconstrictor). Your arteries aren't going to sing and dance about nic but if you are fit and excercise you can compensate SOMEWHAT for its affects.
There's plenty of research around about the effects of both compounds on the body and brain - you just need to google it and you should get the layman's versions of some of the more complicated science-speak papers.

 

[IMWylde]

I'm not actually asking on a personal level, but thanks. Yes I believe that the constant CO of cigarettes alone is much more harmful then the nicotine in an e-cig and thats before we start to talk about the cancer causing ingredients.

 

[RIMP]

I'm not actually asking on a personal level, but thanks. Yes I believe that the constant CO of cigarettes alone is much more harmful then the nicotine in an e-cig and thats before we start to talk about the cancer causing ingredients.

Along with the other 3000+ chemicals with co2, nicotine much less harmful to me
RIMP

 

[greenpuff]

NOT medical advice but my Internist was very happy I went to e-cigs after smoking for 30 years. Got rid of my "smokers cough" within 10 days of putting down the cigarettes!

 

[cozzicon]

NOT medical advice but my Internist was very happy I went to e-cigs after smoking for 30 years. Got rid of my "smokers cough" within 10 days of putting down the cigarettes!

Same thing happened with me.

 

[Poeia]

cozzicon is right -- they are both poisons. As such, quantity matters. A gallon of pure nicotine vs. a hermetically sealed room full of carbon monoxide? Both will make you equally dead.

Being constantly subjected to them isn't really a factor as neither is retained in your body. The half life of nicotine is about 2 hours. The half life of carbon monoxide is 3-4 hours at room temperature. Therefore both would be pretty well out of your system when you awoke each morning. (Unlike tar and many of the other chemicals we all used to inhale.)

So, for a smoker, the question becomes which has the potential to do more harm, at the levels they are introduced to you system via a cigarette, while they are still in your body. For someone with heart disease (diagnosed or not), the potential danger of a vasoconstrictor such as nicotine would probably be worse. For someone in reasonably good health with no pre-existing conditions? No idea.

 

[DaveP]

My BP actually dropped a few points after I devoted most of my nicotine habit to Ecigs. Lay off the salt and analogs and vape moderately. And, talk to your doctor about the issue!

CO is bad! I've never heard of anyone committing suicide with a PV, but many have used a tailpipe and a hose. The CO from a cigarette is a contributor to a slow death.

Most well read physicians now recognize that their patients are going to satisfy their need to ingest nicotine through some method or other. Nic gum and other replacements have something in the range of 7% effectiveness in reducing tobacco cravings. The polls suggest that Ecigs are better than 80% effective in reducing the urge to smoke. Doctors who are informed recognize that and are on board. My doctor now has ecig pamphlets in his office for patients to read. That happened about 3 weeks after I demonstrated my Ecig in the examining room. He was impressed and researched the product using some links I gave him. Maybe I was instrumental in that.

 

[fritos1]

Analog cig=4,000 harmful chemicals Ecig= Nicotine and either pg/vg so I would say ecig is got to be better.

 

[Automaton]

Honestly, I don't even think it's a fair fight.

Yes, nicotine is a poison. So are many other things people safely consume every day.

Is nicotine good for you? Well... sometimes, yes.

It is a stimulant, but not a particularly extreme one. It has side effects, but with typical use (even for an addict), none of them are particularly severe.

Nicotine has also shown real benefit for a number of ailments, including mental illness, Parkinson's, bowel irregularities, and has shown strong preventative effects for all types of dementia.

Nicotine is addictive, and addiction to anything should be avoided. But nicotine, all by itself, is probably one of the safer addictions to have quite honestly.

CO, on the other hand, has an extremely corrosive effect on the body in a relatively short period of time, and has virtually no benefits.

This debate isn't a debate.

 

[Teo]

Reading an article about the dangers of nicotine to say hypertension or heart disease patients got me to thinking. Being that I have heart disease and was a wastrel smoker.

Which is more harmful:

The constant subjection to Carbon Monoxide

or

Nicotine.
​

If you truly know the answer please reply. If your only guessing please wait until others reply.

Thanksya​

After smoking for over 40 years from 20 to 24 analogs daily, I personally found out the hard way! I had a stroke on April 8, 2010 that proved to me beyond any doubt that carbon monoxide is far more dangerous than nicotine! Upon my continued recovery and ALL my attending Doctors concur the same! So take this for whatever it is worth? Vaping approximately 4 ingredients versus smoking over 4,000 is just NO Contest as to which one wins!

 

[gigibuybuy]

First of all i am a med student but not a very good one, so count my statement like any other guy

i will try to explain how both CO (carb monox) and nicotine can kill a patient with a heart condition

it would be better if you state which specific heart condition you were diagnosed with, and some lab results for example, your ejection fraction, if you have done a coronary angiography the % of stenosis etc etc

A patient with heart disease, should avoid nicotine at all cost, because like another member already mentioned it constricts patient's blood vessels, this will increase the work of his heart mainly due to increased resistance and i can think of at least 3 other mechanisms and i'm not even that good of a student

increased workload of the patient's heart will require more oxygen delivered to his heart muscles, and Carb Monox comes into play here, it will decrease his oxygen delivery to the heart muscles which is working too hard already, and while nicotine constrict the heart blood vessels the patient can experience a myocardial infarction.

because patients already have a narrow blood vessel due to fat deposit and hardening of their heart arteries, and nicotine makes them even smaller, while CO decrease your red blood cell ability to carry and deliver oxygen to patient's heart muscle, at the same time the muscle is over working and overworking cause it to demand more oxygen.

you see it all works against the patient, everything together, so there's no excuse to keep any of it. exercise, eat healthy, take prescription drugs, see your doctor regularly, and exercise some more.

i can go into detail if you'd like, i kinda enjoy this, but please provide the specific diagnosis and lab results then i can explain more.

 

[zbasspro]

Didn't read all the responses nor am I a medical professional. I will say this, my father smoked for 47 years and basically died of suffocation for all intents and purposes. He lived his last years on oxygen. I don't believe for one second that had a darn thing to do with nicotine. I was headed down the same path. I could hardly walk up a flight of stairs without stopping to catch my breath. Within a few short months that has changed dramatically. I vape 24MG liquids, I know what my opinion is on this, and if you ask me which is worse?

No Question O2 not a doubt in my mind.
boB

 

[FyreDragon]

Not going to say which is worse - both are toxic. Hoewver I will throw out one bit of info about CO I was taught while I while involved in EMS many moons ago.

CO has approximately 400 times the affinity for hemoglobin (the part of your blood that carries oxygen) compared to oxygen. That means once it finds hemoglobin and changes it to carboxyhemoglobin, it wants to stay that way. Since the hemoglobin is no longer able to bind to oxygen, it can't carry any oxygen to the cells until the CO breaks off again. I love it that I no longer get CO with my PV!

Without specifying specific exposure dosing situations, it's rather difficult to say that one toxin is more toxic than another. Even oxygen can be toxic, under certain conditions. The devil's in the dose, as they say!