Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the United States. According to 2010 information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking kills over 443,000 people annually; it kills more people each year than car accidents,...
Smoking is an addictive habit where the user inhales tobacco, which contains the drug nicotine. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that nicotine reaches the brain within eight seconds of smoke inhalation. Smoking can have damaging...
It is no secret that smokers are addicted to cigarettes, making it hard for them to quit. This happens because activities in the nervous system and receptors in the brain can cause addiction. The person becomes more tolerant of nicotine, but it is...
Researchers have been studying the health effects of smoking for decades. Tobacco smoke puts a smoker at risk for heart disease and lung cancer and exposes others to these same risks. The carcinogens in cigarette smoke are known for their toxic...
According to "Psychology Today," although there are over 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes, it is mainly the nicotine that is affecting the brain. It does this just like drugs do. Quite rapidly, a person becomes addicted to nicotine, then builds...
Smoking cigarettes is one of the hardest addictions to end, because many regions of the brain are wired for reinforcement of smoking. Nicotine, the main active component of cigarettes, acts on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain....
The Surgeon General has called smoking "the single greatest avoidable cause of disease and death." Smoking damages multiple organ systems and some of the damage is irreversible. Smokers also are plagued by chronic cough, discolorations of the...
Most cigarette smokers understand that smoking is hazardous to your health. Despite this, millions attempt to quit each year unsuccessfully, because there is more to being hooked on cigarettes than the physical addiction to nicotine and tobacco....
It can be difficult to quit smoking. Part of this is because tobacco contains nicotine, which works to stimulate the brain. Over time, the brain gets used to nicotine, and when you try to quit smoking, your brain craves the nicotine, causing you...
One of the best ways to quit smoking is to replace your nicotine habit with one that does not involve tobacco. The psychological part of an addiction to cigarettes is every bit as powerful as the physical part. When you quit smoking, you will find...
Many people find it extremely difficult to stop smoking. Part of this is psychological, but part of this is also due to how physically addictive cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are. Although some people are able to quit "cold turkey,"...
Tobacco's ability to wreak havoc on health is well known, yet cigarettes continue to lure new smokers into a life of nicotine addiction. The tobacco industry won't be closing up shop anytime soon, so educating smokers about the mechanisms by which...
Smoking bans may do more than protect your lungs. Less smoking may improve your memory. Cigarette smoking has been linked with increased risk for cancer, heart disease, emphysema and premature death. Forgetfulness can now be added to the list of...
There are two schools of thought when it comes to quitting smoking. One encourages the use of nicotine replacement therapy or medications. The other advocates quitting cold turkey, which means taking an all-or-nothing approach. Proponents of this...
Numerous types of diseases or disorders are associated with hyperactivity. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, hyperactivity is a state of excessive muscle activity or a situation in which a...
Smoking cigarettes is a common form of drug use that is legalized for people ages 18 and older in the United States. It is one of the leading causes of lung cancer in the United States and has also been connected to health problems like high blood...
The adverse health effects brought about by smoking tobacco are well publicized. According to the American Heart Association, smoking is considered to be one of the highest causes of preventable deaths in the United States. Smoking tobacco is a...
Princeton University's health services report tobacco use is the leading cause of death worldwide. Alarmingly, complications from tobacco use reportedly result in over 400,000 fatalities annually. A cigarette contains thousands of harmful tars and...
Smoking cigarettes, hookahs, cigars and pipes sends thousands of chemicals including nicotine into the body. The chemical nicotine in cigarettes produces both physical and emotional effects on the brain and can cause dependence, meaning that...
Quitting smoking can be more difficult to do than breaking other habits. Due to the effects of nicotine, smoking is extremely addictive. When you stop smoking, the parts of your brain that respond to nicotine begin creating withdrawal symptoms,...
The cigarette is an effective and amazingly efficient method of delivering nicotine to the brain. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a smoker receives 1 to 2 mg. of nicotine for every cigarette smoked. The fast delivery to the...
Smoking is the leading cause of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute, but some adolescents and younger smokers may dismiss that concern, believing that cancer is far in the future. However, all smokers should know that smoking won't...
Smoking can be a very difficult habit to quit. Part of this is physical, because tobacco contains nicotine, an extremely addictive substance that stimulates the brain. Stopping smoking can cause your body and brain to crave nicotine as you go into...
Smoking is highly addictive, and although the number of smokers has halved in the last 40 years in the United States, smoking is still responsible for hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths annually. Understanding what makes smoking so...
Cannabis causes numerous problems for habitual users. Not only is it illegal, but it can also cause health problems. Marijuana damages the lungs and can alter a person's personality. Once a user has started smoking, it is difficult to quit....
As the National Institute on Drug Abuse explains, when nicotine gets into the bloodstream, it has a number of effects on the body's physiology. Nicotine stimulates the adrenal glands to produce a chemical called norepinephrine (also known as...
Dopamine is a type of chemical known as a neurotransmitter, which is produced naturally in the brain to help ensure proper brain function. Sometimes dopamine production or activity becomes dysfunctional, in which case treatment with supplements or...
One of the reasons why it can be difficult to stop smoking is the effects that nicotine has on the chemistry of the brain. Consequently, medications have been developed that can interact with brain cells and help block the effects of nicotine on...
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, pot (marijuana) is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. The active ingredient in pot is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). When you smoke pot, THC travels from the lungs...
