I Am Not A Midget

801, 808, 510, 901, HV, LR, no matter what you use, as an e-Cig User/ Vaper, nicotine is likely what brought you into the vaping community.

Why Nicotine Makes Us Feel Good

Nicotine is an organic compound that is found naturally throughout the tobacco plant, with a high concentration in it’s leaves. Nicotine alkaloids are also found in the leaves of the coca plant. Inhaled nicotine takes about 7 seconds to reach the brain. The half life of nicotine in the body is about 2 hours.

Nicotine effects both the central nervous system (CNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). In the CNS, nicotine increases levels of neurotransmitters such as dopamine. Dopamine is part of our chemistry that is responsible for feelings of euphoria and relaxation.

Also in the CNS, Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO) enzymes are also an element in inhaled nicotine. This compound significantly decreases MAO activity in users of inhaled nicotine. MAO enzymes break down neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin thus increasing their availability. Big Pharm presently has several MAOI (inhibitor) drugs on the market that are used for treatment of atypical depression – such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, substance abuse, migraine headaches and attention deficit disorder.

In the SNS (sympathetic nervous system), nicotine activates nerves that stimulate the release of epinephrine into the bloodstream by nerves acting on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The release of epinephrine causes an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rates as well as higher blood glucose levels due to epinephrine’s effect on the liver.

As you can see from above, the psychoactive effects of nicotine are mood-altering in more than one way. Nicotine acts as both a stimulant AND a relaxant. Users report feelings of relaxation, sharpness, calmness and alertness.

Nicotine and Your Health

Current literature indicates that nicotine, on it’s own, does not promote the development of cancer in healthy tissue.

As a stimulant, nicotine does act as a vasoconstrictor, making it more difficult for blood to pump through constricted arteries. While it has been speculated that nicotine increases the risk of blood clot via plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, though this has not been proven.

Nicotine alone, outside of a tobacco cigarette, has not been proven to elevate the fibrogen levels, and without the further elevation and exacerbation caused by COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) development of blood clots via just nicotine are presently unproven.

You may be a PG user or a VG user, but no matter what, you are likely vaping as a way to reduce the amount of analog cigarettes you consume or, hopefully, replace analog cigarettes entirely. Nicotine is the tie that binds us together as a community. Vape on.

Sources

http://www.3dchem.com/molecules.asp?ID=204

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAO

http://www.drugs.com/nicotine.html