Nicotine is one of the most heavily used addictive drugs in the United States. In 2004, 29.2 percent of the U. S. population 12 and older – 70.3 million people – used tobacco at least once a month. This figure includes 3.6 million young people age 12 to 17. Young adults aged 18 to 25 reported the highest rate of current use of any tobacco products.
Tobacco use kills nearly half a million Americans each year, with one in every six U.S. deaths the result of smoking. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and compromising smokers’ health in general.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing approximately 440,000 premature deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more that $75 billion in direct medical costs attributable to smocking. Over the past four decades, cigarette smoking has caused an estimated 12 million deaths, including 4.1 million deaths from cancer, 5.5 million deaths from cardiovascular diseases, 2.1 million deaths from respiratory diseases, and 94,000 infant deaths related to mothers smoking during pregnancy.
Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke, is a mixture of smoke given off by the burning end of tobacco products (sidestream smoke) and the mainstream smoke exhaled by smokers. It is a complex mixture containing many chemicals including known carcinogens such as formaldehyde, cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and nicotine. Non smokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent. Secondhand smoke causes respiratory problems in nonsmokers such as coughing, phlegm, and reduced lung function. Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma.
Women who smoke generally have earlier menopause. Pregnant women who smoke cigarettes run an increased risk of having stillborn or premature infants or infants with low birth weight. Children of women who smoked while pregnant have an increased risk for developing conduct disorders. National studies of mothers and daughters have also found that maternal smoking during pregnancy increased the probability that female children would smoke and would persist in smoking.
The primary therapeutic use of nicotine is in treating nicotine dependence (smoking). Controlled levels of nicotine are given to a patient through gums, dermal patches, or nasal sprays in an effort to wean them off of their dependence.
Recent studies have indicated that nicotine can be used to help adults suffering from autosomal dominant frontal lobe epilepsy. The same area that causes seizures in that form of epilepsy is also responsible for processing nicotine in the brain.
