Niocotine in your brain

NICOTINE IN YOUR BRAIN

Nicotine is the main ingredient in all tobacco products that keeps you going back for more. Nicotine can even be lethal in very small amounts. In fact, a drop of pure nicotine placed on your skin could kill you. While the amounts found in your cigarettes aren’t high enough to be lethal, they are high enough to get you addicted.

When you inhale a puff of a cigarette, the nicotine travels directly to your brain in seven seconds. That’s incredibly fast! It’s faster than if you injected the nicotine into your veins. The fact that the nicotine reaches your brain so quickly has a lot to do with its addictive nature.

It’s been known for a long time that nicotine is more addictive because it reaches your brain quickly, and the tobacco companies have used that knowledge to their advantage. It’s a key point to tobacco companies because it’s in their best interests if you become addicted ti their products. That way, you will use more of them, whether you like it or not. Tobacco industry executives have admitted that cigarettes have been specifically designed to be the very best “nicotine delivery system’ possible. The modern day cigarette is the end result of many years and millions of dollars worth of research aimed at designing a cigarette that can deliver an addicting amount of nicotine.

Once in your brain, the nicotine stimulates certain parts of your brain that make you feel good. This drug is unique in that it can act as both a stimulant in smaller quantities and as a relaxant in larger quantities. If you need a pick-me-up, a cigarette can do the trick. And if you’re stressed out, a few deep puffs can help relieve some of that tension (or at least make you feel as if this is happening).

Once in your brain, the nicotine attaches to special receptors on your brain cells. The best way to think about nicotine and brain receptors is to imagine a lock and a key. Think of the nicotine as the key and the brain receptor as the lock. As the nicotine (key) inserts itself into the brain receptor (lock), a “door” is opened in your brain. This allows for the release of chemicals into your brain that affects how you feel.

We have been able to identify many of these chemicals. One chemical in particular, called dopamine, helps regulate moods and causes you to feel good. So, as you smoke your cigarette and inhale, the nicotine reaches your brain and causes the release of dopamine. The result is that your mood is improved.

As with many other drugs, the body develops a tolerance to nicotine. This means that as your body got used to the effects of nicotine, you needed to smoke more to get the same effect.

This explains why most people who smoke started with a few cigarettes a day, only to end up smoking one or more packs per day. Over time, your body will tell you that it has to have more in order to feel okay. In response, you smoke more and more and more. (And those tobacco executives laugh all the way to the bank.)

Some people who smoke never seem to go on to develop a physical addiction to nicotine. They smoke several cigarettes a day and never go on to become pack-a-day smokers. It turns out that these individuals may be genetically different (genetic defects) in a way that prevents them from becoming physically addicted. In this case, a “defective” gene actually protects the person from
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nicotine addiction. They can, however, become psychologically dependent on cigarettes and still smoke as a way to manage feelings. So, the next time people brag about how easy it was for them to quit smoking, just tell them it’s because they are a genetic defect.

Let’s take a look at your body’s need for nicotine. Answer the following questions to assess your nicotine tolerance (tolerance is when you no longer get the desired effect from the same amount of nicotine.)

• How many cigarettes do you smoke each day (honestly)? _____

• How soon after you wake up do you usually have your first cigarette?_____

• Is it difficult for you not to smoke in situations where you cannot (such as at the movies)? _____

If you smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day, you’re probably addicted to nicotine. It takes about 10 cigarettes a day to maintain an addiction to nicotine. That’s why when people who smoke try to cut back, they frequently get stuck at about 10 cigarettes. If they try to go any lower, things get uncomfortable because of withdrawal.

As if breaking lifelong habits and overcoming physical dependence weren’t enough, enter the mind games. Anyone who smokes knows about the psychological dependence that develops over time.

As the months go by, your cigarettes begin to take on the role of a best friend. They help you through the bad times, and they’re with you for the good times. A lot of this has to do with the versatility of nicotine: It has the ability to both stimulate you (when you’re bored or feeling down) and to relax you (when you’re stressed or frustrated).

Overcoming an addiction to tobacco is a giant challenge, and it’s going to be one of the most rewarding experiences you will ever have.