Why is Nicotine So Addictive?
Smoking a single cigarette may provide enough nicotine to initiate the addictive process, a recent study found. That is because small amounts of nicotine, roughly equivalent to what is found in one cigarette, can produce long-lasting changes in the midbrain. So nicotine in the cigarette can cause the person to smoke cigarettes repetitively and finally lead to an addiction.
Smoking is a mechanism whereby nicotine enhances dopamine output by increasing the excitatory drive to the dopaminergic neurons. Increased dopamine release in the brain contributes to addiction and is an effect of all addictive substances. It is also proved that the direct stimulatory effect on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the midbrain was short-lived because these receptors desensitized in a matter of seconds. This phenomenon, explains the sustained rise in dopamine release that follows nicotine exposure.
Nicotine’s ability to induce long-term initiation of the excitement input to brain reward centres appears to be a vital early step in the addiction process, particularly when taken in the context of previous research correlating increased brain dopamine levels with reinforcement of addictive behaviour.
Smoking is equivalent to a drug abuse or even more, however the euphoric ecstasy that is induced through smoking nicotine is more subtle and takes a while to understand the effect it causes in the human body and brain. These nicotine impact is manifested under more restricted conditions, and do not readily predict the difficulty most smokers experience in achieving abstinence. One possible resolution to this apparent inconsistency is the environmental indication associated with powerful incentive properties that are critically important for sustaining smoking in humans and nicotine self-administration in animals.
Nicotine is actually like an abrasive. This is the sole ingredient in the numerous harmful chemicals that constitute a cigarette, which causes the addiction in the human body. Nicotine, not only makes the human body addictive, but also contributes largely towards the emotional dependency on cigarettes. It gives the instant relaxed feeling to a person that most people believe in the myth that smoking is a stress reliever.
Nicotine is a very addictive component of the cigarette and is very harmful since it increases the level of cigarette inhalation. The urge to smoke rises substantially with the first smoke. This effect of creating the need for a cigarette is done by nicotine. Thus there is no better time to quit smoking. Every day is good and every moment is precious in rebuilding the lost health.