I understand tobacco and chew and vapes aren’t good for you, because of all the other shit in there, but is nicotine itself as a chemical bad for you?
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I am a neuroscientist and I know a little bit about this. Nicotine effects (wait for it) nicotic receptors throughout the brain and body. Normally, we name receptors after endogenous (made inside the body naturally) neurotransmitters that bind to them… such as dopamine receptors or GABA receptors. In the case of these nicotine receptors, there is no such thing as endogenous nicotine. Instead, these receptors are actually available for the presence of a very important neurochemical transmitter called acetylcholine (ACh). ACh is wide spread throughout the brain and body (actually, for an important reason that is too long to go into here, it’s actually just choline, but it is readily converted into ACh for proper muscular function). ACh is also super important for memory formation and retention (or consolidation as it is better known).
The reason the receptors for ACh are called nicotinic is because they were discovered to be impacted by the use of nicotine. In essence, nicotine as a chemical is structurally similar and works well on the same receptors that are meant for memory formation and muscle movement. Because these systems are HEAVILY tied to the reward system and dopamine production, nicotine is powerfully addictive.
Does it work? Kind of… but not as well as you would probably hope. It is too fast acting to make any real contribution (again, too long to explain here but has to do with controlling motor function at the neuromuscular junction) and it is easy to overdo it to the point that the body starts making chemicals to depress you to attempt to counteract the effect, which is why cigarettes calm people down, despite being a stimulant.
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