A variety of ingredients in tobacco smoke cause cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Nicotine is not one of them. Nicotine is believed to be addictive because people have a great deal of difficulty giving up smoking. But there are major differences between nicotine and drugs such as alcohol, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines that people use to "get high. For one thing, nicotine does not cause intoxication. It does not impair judgement, motor skills, or the ability to get along with others. In fact, it improves these abilities. Nicotine Benefits Nicotine is being considered as a therapeutic agent to treat such conditions as attention deficit disorder, Alzheimer"s Disease, Parkinson"s Disease, Tourette syndrome, sleep apnea, obesity, ulcerative colitis, and inflammatory skin disorders. [1] Nicotine has the following benefits: • Relieves depression [2] • Reduces anxiety [3] • Improves ability to concentrate and long term memory [4] • Protects against developing high blood pressure [5, 6] • Protects against weight gain [7] • Protects against developing Parkinson"s Disease [8] Nicotine Abstinence Theoretically, the healthiest thing a smoker can do is to totally give up using nicotine in any form. But does reality conform to the theory? The official list of nicotine withdrawal symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) includes depressed mood, sleep disturbance, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, decreased heart rate, and increased appetite or weight gain. These symptoms are supposed to peak within a day or so and disappear altogether after a couple of weeks. However, researchers have found that in some groups of quitters, symptoms do not dissipate and can, in fact, worsen as time goes on. [9] The problems with concentration, memory, and mood make it difficult to fulfill responsibilities of daily living. How many employers are willing to overlook impaired job performance for weeks or months at a time? What effect does prolonged irritability that sometimes escalates into anger have on relationships with family, coworkers, and friends? For many would-be abstainers, the Catch 22 is that some improvements in physical health???for example, better lung function???must be paid for with possibly permanent declines in cognitive and emotional health. Is it any wonder that so many relapse to smoking within a few days of quitting? For those who do manage long-term nicotine abstinence, the picture is not 100% better in terms of physical health. For years the medical community claimed that smokers only gained 5 pounds after quitting. More recent studies reveal that the average weight gain is closer to 5 kilograms (11 pounds), accompanied by an average increase in waist circumference of 3.88 cm. [10] In 13 percent of women and 10 percent of men, weight gain exceeds 28 lb. The weight gained with smoking cessation is very resistant to weight loss interventions. [11] Smokers who become nicotine abstinent develop hypertension at a higher rate than continuing smokers and those who are at risk for diabetes develop that disease 26% more often than continuing smokers. [12] https://www.ecigarettedirect.co.uk/ashtray-blog/2014/11/nicotine-vaping-fall-blood-pressure.html https://www.ecigarettedirect.co.uk/ashtray-blog/2017/04/nicotine-body-vapers.html In einer Pariser Klinik wurde 6 Jahre lang erfolgreich ein an Parkinson erkrankter Patient mit Nikotin behandelt. Obwohl sich Verbesserungen der Motorik einstellten, kam es ьberraschenderweise nicht zu einem Anstieg des Blutdrucks. Ebenso blieben hдufige Nebenwirkungen wie Schwindel oder Ьbelkeit aus. Selbiges stellten Дrzte bereits 1926 fest. Damals wurden 13 Erkrankte auf diese Weise behandelt und wiesen rasch eine Verbesserung der Muskelfunktion auf. Wissenschaftlern zufolge kцnnte die Besserung durch die erhцhte Dopamin-Ausschьttung erfolgen. Dadurch kцnnten auch die D3-Dopaminrezeptoren vermehrt werden. Somit kцnnte Nikotin als Nervenschutz-Faktor in Frage kommen. Daher kцnnte es, aus medizinischer Sicht in Form von „Supplements“, bei Parkinson oder Alzheimer verwendet werden. Nun versuchen Forscher zu klдren, ob auch Nikotin-Kaugummis, Pflaster oder Sprays eine effektive Wirkung aufweisen.