What is the relationship between nicotine and lung cancer? It is known that cigarettes cause cancer, but does nicotine itself cause lung cancer?
Lung cancer is usually associated with cigarettes. In fact, cigarettes kill more people with lung cancer than all other cancers combined. Cigarettes are undeniably an unhealthy habit, but what exactly makes them so deadly? Is it the nicotine?
Nicotine is an active ingredient in tobacco products, and it has psychoactive properties on the user. In low doses, it relaxes the person. In higher doses, it activates the nervous system, speeds up the heart rate, and energizes the person. Because nicotine alters the chemistry in your brain, it is considered as an addictive drug.
But the fact that nicotine is addictive doesn't make it carcinogenic (cancer causing). To date, no sound scientific research has been able to find that nicotine causes lung cancer or any other cancer. Furthermore, research has shown that nicotine by itself is not all that addictive. When people switch to nicotine gum and patches that only deliver nicotine, they find that nicotine dependency is far easier to wane than the cigarettes themselves.
If nicotine does not cause lung cancer, what does? It is actually the tobacco smoke. The smoke in cigarettes contains chemicals such as carbon monoxide, tar, and free radicals. These dangerous chemicals damage your lung tissues, which make them more susceptible to all kinds of infection. Worse yet, the damaged cells are more likely to turn cancerous and become life-threatening tumors.
So does nicotine cause lung cancer? No. The fact that nicotine gum and patches exist as OTC supplements is solid evidence. If nicotine was carcinogenic, the FDA would simply pull it off the shelves. After all, why would you quit smoking with the substance that causes problems in the first place? Contrary to the popular belief, it is actually the rest of the chemicals in smoke that cause cancer. Interestingly, the big and rich tobacco companies still manage to allow consumers play Russian roulette with their lives, one pack at a time.
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