Smoking and nicotine withdrawal can both cause symptoms of dizziness because of factors involving the single thing that a human being needs most to exist: oxygen. Researchers and smokers have known this for a while, and studies completed since 2003 also indicate that a smoker inherits the tendency to experience this side effect, and this has some serious implications.
Causes
When you inhale on a cigarette, your body takes in a number of noxious gases. One of these is carbon monoxide, also a component in car exhaust, and it is the primary cause of dizziness when you smoke. Carbon monoxide pushes out the oxygen in your blood and replaces it. Dizziness will occur immediately, after just one cigarette, and is more noticeable if you've abstained for a while. Hydrogen cyanide, an insecticide, is also contained in cigarettes. In high doses it can make your heart beat irregularly, which causes dizziness when blood flow to your brain is disrupted.
Effects of Withdrawal
When you stop smoking, your body takes in less carbon monoxide and keeps more of its oxygen. This rush of oxygen can lead to dizziness. The side effect typically lasts only a few days to a week. Eventually, your body will acclimate to the level of oxygen it should have been enjoying all along.
Heritability
A study of 3,300 twins completed by Washington University School of Medicine in 2003 revealed that smokers' physical reactions to nicotine, especially dizziness, are pre-programmed to a significant extent. The side effect of dizziness was proved to run in families, particularly when it is the result of a smoker's first cigarette.
Implications
A subsequent study by the University of Colorado in 2010 showed that not only can young people inherit a predisposition to dizziness when they smoke, but this predisposition is also an indicator of long-term addiction. According to the study, the genes that contribute to dizziness are also linked to an inclination to smoke in the first place and to difficulty quitting. In fact, 61 percent of the smokers studied by Washington University indicated that they did not enjoy their first cigarette---yet they went on smoking regardless. The university also found a correlation between these smokers and alcohol dependency, lending support to the theory that substance dependence in general is inherited.
References
- Washington University School of Medicine: First Reactions to Cigarettes and Alcohol; Pamela A. Madden, et al.; 2003
- "Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine"; Dizzy After Your First Smoke? Your Genes Might Be 'Loaded'; Clint Talbot
- Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation: Tobacco FAQ
- Quit Smoking Hub: Why Cigarette Ingredients Can Cause Cancer
- MedlinePlus: Nicotine Addiction and Withdrawal
