Nicotine: The Main Reason Behind Cigarette Addiction

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Despite the fact that cigarette is unhealthy, addictive, and can kill, many people are still hooked to inhaling its smoke. Why is it so? Well the main reason is the content of nicotine in these cunning puffs. About 40% of smokers are making an attempt to stop smoking every year according to the American Cancer Society, however, only few are able to resist the temptation of getting into the vice again and leave the "friendly" stick for good.

Nicotine is an addictive substance found in tobacco which is the major ingredient of cigarettes. In low doses, it acts as a stimulant while a higher dose can result to fatal health effects. Generally, nicotine have dependence-forming properties that makes it addictive. According to American Heart Association, addiction in nicotine is among the hardest addiction to break and the smoker can also experience withdrawal symptoms as other drug users do. Since nicotine creates psychological changes while giving pleasurable, calming, and euphoric effects, smokers admit that quitting the habit is never easy.

How Nicotine Works? 

When a smoker puffs on a cigarette stick, he inhales the nicotine through the smoke as it spreads through the body. It will interfere with the communication process of nerve cells producing hormones serotonin and dopamine which are neurotransmitters responsible of happiness and reward. The result is a good feeling that will allow you to feel like not getting enough of the smoke. 

As you continue inhaling the addictive substance, the body also adapt that further result to tolerance. For smokers to achieve the same euphoria, and since the body can easily metabolize nicotine, the levels in human blood easily drops making the smoker need to smoke again to refresh its effect. There are smokers who lit their cigars one after the other to achieve the level they need to acquire the same pleasurable "feeling." 

The effects of Nicotine in the body is so powerful that in time the person wanted to stop the habit, side-effects would sometimes be severe. The known withdrawal symptoms are irritability and impatience, hostility, anxiety, depression, painful headaches, vulnerability to fatigue, sleeping problems, restlessness, difficulty to concentrate, increased appetite, decreased heart rate, etc.

It takes strong will to get out of a nicotine addiction pertaining to smoking especially for people who are already practicing the habit for years. If the effects of smoking would only hit the physical, many people would be able to endure the temptation and succeed. However, this is not the case, this addiction reaches the psychological level and if a person wanted to get over with it, discipline is very essential. Without their smoking rituals, smokers can sometimes find it hard to cope up with stress and problems they will encounter. Depression can be caused by withdrawal, and it is not easy to keep a vibrant attitude when deep inside you are feeling blue. However, there are ways that you can get through it if one wills, one is through the use of electronic cigarettes which is a healthier alternative to the bad habit of smoking nicotine.