# Does nicotine itself cause health problems? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188 "2016-12-19T22:23:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/1 "2016-12-19T22:23:19Z")
This question is obviously related to e-cigs. I know that nicotine is addictive and that cigarettes cause all sorts of problems ranging from lung cancer (presumably caused by the tars), other cancers, and heart and artery disease. In my own case, I wonder if I was unusually sensitive to CO in the smoke since I had a really sallow complexion until I stopped, as did my father. AFAIK, e-cigs deliver only nicotine and it affects the brain directly, but is it known whether it has any other effects? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/2 "2016-12-19T22:30:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Nicotine adversely affects EVERY major system in the human body. As it builds up from regular use, it can lead to weakened immune function, fatigue, decreased healing time, and long-term diseases including cancer. In fact, nicotine prevents the body from properly disposing of damaged cells, thereby allowing cancer cells to develop. [https://www.ucanquit2.org/nicotineeffects?p=1](https://www.ucanquit2.org/nicotineeffects?p=1) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/3 "2016-12-19T22:38:00Z")
As I understand it, the respiratory problems associated with smoking are mostly due to the tar (which you’ll get in any sort of smoke), but most of the other health problems are in fact due to the nicotine. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/4 "2016-12-20T00:06:58Z")
Contrary to the above posts, this summary of 266 studies of nicotine shows minimal adverse effects: > **[Nicotine Health benefits, dosage, safety, side-effects, and more |...](https://examine.com/supplements/nicotine/)** > > The latest research on Nicotine supplements. Expert analysis on potential benefits, dosage, side effects, and more. ---
**Author:** ![armyvetchris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@armyvetchris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armyvetchris)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/5 "2016-12-20T00:21:55Z")
at 67yo started smoking a little at 12yo everyone almost smoked my Dad esp I quit when wife got pregnant w 2nd of 4 boys and i quit for 22yrs i have had since young DEPRESSION gotten worse and western psych w/meds, vagal nerve stimulator and 23 shock therapy treatments all made me worse not on anything BUT I SMOKE ABOUT PACK CAMEL BLUE/DAY i always smoke outside and only smoke to 1" of filter AND ALWAYS SMOKE OUTSIDE OR WITH CAR WINDOWS DOWN SO I ONLY GET FIRST HAND, NO SECOND OR THIRD HAND FROM MY SELF OR OTHERS THIRD HAND COMES FROM OOF GASSING OF CARPET CLOTHES ETC i have depression now and have for past 3 decades have it all the time it is difficult, embarrassing, etc 20% of Americans smoke 50% of people with depression smoke I walk every day, eat right, am just few lbs overweight, donate blod evry 2 months over 25 gallons so far good luck evryone, god bless be grateful help others ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/6 "2016-12-20T00:51:39Z")
I live in England and my wife is attempting to quit smoking. (I stopped years ago.) She started using vapes to help her stop and went to the health clinic for more advice. All she got was a lecture from the nurse about the supposed dangers of e-cigs. I was furious. Don’t these idiots understand that it’s far better for her to use vapes than actual cigarettes? The health nazis in this country hate vapes for some reason, although they never back up that hatred with any actual data. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/7 "2016-12-20T00:59:53Z")
Can’t say what the current medical research indicates about nicotine by itself, but I’ve had three cardiologists smile and all but bless my use of nicotine gum and vape instead of actual smoking since my CABG. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/8 "2016-12-20T03:40:32Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I live in England and my wife is attempting to quit smoking. (I stopped years ago.) She started using vapes to help her stop and went to the health clinic for more advice. All she got was a lecture from the nurse about the supposed dangers of e-cigs. I was furious. Don’t these idiots understand that it’s far better for her to use vapes than actual cigarettes? The health nazis in this country hate vapes for some reason, although they never back up that hatred with any actual data. I think they’re worried about people picking up vaping before smoking, and then switching to smoking as a cheaper nicotine delivery system, especially if they vape off of other people’s equipment at first and don’t want to put the money down on their own set. This obviously is not a concern for someone who wants to use vaping to help them quit, but they’re still concerned that a proliferation of vaping combined with a “it’s not bad for you” attitude will eventually lead more people to smoking. It would also make sense that private doctors would not be concerned about them knowing they help individuals quit smoking, while more public-oriented health officials would be more concerned about the overall impact on the health of the community. Whether public health officials are correct in their concerns, I do not actually know. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/9 "2016-12-20T04:47:30Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Contrary to the above posts, this summary of 266 studies of nicotine shows minimal adverse effects: > > [Nicotine benefits, dosage, and side effects](https://examine.com/supplements/nicotine/) I wouldn’t put much confidence in a website that makes money from selling nutritional ‘supplements’ – most of them have unproven (or even harmful) results. ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/10 "2016-12-20T05:11:45Z")
Multiple sources (including NIH and Webmd) seem to indicate nicotine might delay dementia and aid in weight loss. Not the worst addictive drug. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/11 "2016-12-20T09:26:43Z")
It’s a potent poison. See UN 1654 or UN 1655 in a hazardous material table. Here is a link - [http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/hazmat/erg/gn/151.html](http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/hazmat/erg/gn/151.html) Yeah, I know the question is in relation to smoking. It’s poisonous when inhaled. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/12 "2016-12-20T13:53:43Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [https://www.ucanquit2.org/nicotineeffects?p=1](https://www.ucanquit2.org/nicotineeffects?p=1) That was a very odd web site and it completely screwed up my browser. DON’T GO THERE. As for what it said, it seemed to boil down to, it will increase your heart rate and blood pressure. It will also increase your metabolism, which is considered negative because that uses up energy (??). It is also claimed to harm eyes and bones, which is news to me. At any rate, it seems to me that e-cigs should be encouraged as an aid to stopping smoking. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/13 "2016-12-20T16:28:26Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [https://www.ucanquit2.org/nicotineeffects?p=1](https://www.ucanquit2.org/nicotineeffects?p=1) Is that a Yes or a No? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/14 "2016-12-20T16:46:47Z")
Ex-smoker, current e-cig user here. The health benefits of vaping over smoking are clear and obvious to anyone who has done both and switched. I can breathe when I wake up in the morning without feeling like I’m going to cough up blood. I can take walks and go up stairs without wheezing after the first 20 steps. It’s night and day, and I only smoked for about 6 years total, and only 4 years in one stretch. People who smoked two packs a day for decades in the 1950s were in complete denial if they thought it wasn’t killing them. No surgeon general’s warning needed. Vaping may be addictive and annoying to non-vapers but it is not slow suicide like cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/15 "2016-12-20T17:01:11Z")
Nicotine as a drug can raise heart rate and blood pressure, and cause arterial constriction. This certainly is a potential problem with folks with coronary and peripheral vascular disease. It can by arrhythmogenic too. It may aggravate gastric and duodenal ulcers. It crosses into breast milk, and _may_ have untoward effects on pregnancy (studies on nicotine in specific vs. smoking in general which does adversely affect pregnancy, are lacking). It’s certainly not a particularly safe drug, but there are more dangerous ones being prescribed routinely. Of course, it’s not particularly useful in the treatment of anything other than nicotine withdrawal. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/16 "2016-12-20T17:18:28Z")
That’s the kind of answer I was looking for, QtM. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/17 "2016-12-20T17:19:26Z")
Nicotine makes a useful herbicide and a tobacco leaf tea will kill many common plants. It also kills slugs. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/18 "2016-12-20T18:08:32Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Contrary to the above posts, this summary of 266 studies of nicotine shows minimal adverse effects: > > [Nicotine benefits, dosage, and side effects](https://examine.com/supplements/nicotine/) “Minimal adverse effects” is a meaningless phrase that says nothing. Effects are always dependent on dosage, that’s a fundamental principle of pharmacology and toxicology. From your own link: > [@examine.com](#): > > N′-nitrosonornicotine (NNN), a nitrosamine found in tobacco as well as a metabolite of nornicotine,[14] appears to have carcinogenic potential.[181] NNN has been found in the urine of persons who quit smoking and were using either patches or gums containing nicotine, suggesting that some persons may produce NNN endogenously from nicotine.[182] An intervention addressing this issue using 21mg patches of nicotine over 24 weeks of smoking cessation noted urinary NNN noted that urinary levels ranged from below the detection limit (0.005pmol/mL) to 0.021pmol/mL with an average of 0.009+/-0.006pmol/mL.[183] This study also noted that 40% of nonsmokers exposed to second hand smoke (sample of 10) had a reported urinary level of 0.002pmol/mL NNN,[183] and although those two studies (the latter being well structured to assess this question) noted significant increases in urinary NNN, at least one study has failed to find an increase with nicotine replacement therapy (patches).[184] > > Nicotine consumption appears to produce some degree of the carcinogenic N’-Nitrosonornicotine (NNN; via nicotine being metabolized to nornicotine, then to NNN), but the degree of urinary NNN production appears to be relatively minor. Urinary NNN is found in nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke as well, which studies have not controlled for (could potentially explain variability)10.2. Lung > > Activation of the α7 acetylcholine receptor appears to induce anabolic effects such as phosphorylation of Akt[185] and activation of Src,[186] with activation of the nicotine receptor apparently enhancing cytoplasmic markers of pro-inflammation (5-LOX, COX-2, and NF-kB translocation).[187][188] > > Concentrations of 100nM nicotine, while not able to induce proliferation, may have anti-apoptotic effects.[189] The cholinergic receptors appear to act as a pro-survival signalling pathway in lung cancers,[190] which extends to acetylcholine itself.[191] > > Activation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor appears to be pro-survival in cells, which extends to cancer cells; nicotine has the potential to interfere with apoptosis (regulated cell death) of cancer cells Nornicotine is simply demethylated nicotine (and is found in some e-cigarette fluids - see [page 2 of this PDF](http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/ScienceResearch/ucm173250.pdf)) and the TL;DR version of the quote above is that nicotine and its byproducts may reduce the suppression of lung cancer cells. Vaping seems to be [quite clearly more healthy than smoking by the public health community](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-an-emerging-public-health-consensus), but that does not mean that vaping has no negative effects, anyone planning on using it should go into in planning on what frequency they intend to dose themselves with this material. Such language is common for cigarettes, but not yet for e-cigs. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/19 "2016-12-20T20:02:27Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > I think they’re worried about people picking up vaping before smoking, and then switching to smoking as a cheaper nicotine delivery system, especially if they vape off of other people’s equipment at first and don’t want to put the money down on their own set. I always read the vaping hate as being more a matter of “Smoking is fucking terrible and WILL kill you”, and while vaping is far better than smoking, it’s still pretty terrible for you overall. Kind of like something a friend who spent a few years in Russia back in the 1990s told me about. There was apparently some sort of anti-drinking/anti-alcoholism push that championed beer drinking. Sounds bizarre to us, but apparently when you drink vodka by the liter, switching to beer is an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188/20 "2016-12-20T20:24:29Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Nicotine makes a useful herbicide…and a tobacco leaf tea will kill many common plants. It also kills slugs. Except you can’t buy it any more commercially because it’s considered too toxic. (though I understand you can make your own by buying nicotine powder.) [Green tobacco sickness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Tobacco_Sickness) is a problem among some agricultural workers who brush up against wet plants while working in the tobacco fields, causing them to absorb problematic amounts of nicotine directly through their skin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nicotine-itself-cause-health-problems/775188.md?page=2)