Nicotine, Poison which not cause Cancer
Published on May 22, 2009 4:16 AM
Many smokers who want to quit can’t quit without smokeless products help. These include products based on nicotine, the addictive drug that keeps smokers hooked.
Smokeless tobacco products can take the form of gum, patches, nasal sprays or tablets. In each case, they aim to help smokers wean themselves off tobacco by providing a hit of nicotine without any of the other cancer-causing substances which were found in cigarette smoke. Nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) products work by giving less nicotine more slowly and are much less addictive.
But anti-smoking researchers reported that smokeless products are not as safe as it is known, because the nicotine in these products could actually cause mouth cancer.
In the laboratory, the researchers looked at samples of mouth cells grown in 75 people, 15 of whom had mouth cancer. And they found that high levels of FOXM1 (a master protein that can switch other genes on or off, it’s often overactive in various cancers) were associated with mouth cancer. Compared to normal mouth cells, the gene was more active in those that were on the verge of becoming cancerous, and even more active in those that had actually turned into cancer cells.
The researchers then exposed the lab-grown mouth cells to concentrations of nicotine, similar to those that build up in the mouths of people who chew nicotine gum. They found that at these concentrations, nicotine switched on the FOXM1 gene in their cells, and speeded up the transformation of normal cells into cancerous ones.
As it is known, in tobacco products there are around 70 cancer-causing substances, but most scientists feel that nicotine isn’t one of them. It’s obviously very addictive and at high doses, it can be very poisonous, but it’s not regarded as a cause cancer.
Nicotine is known to switch on receptors on the surface of cells in certain parts of the brain, causing these neurons to release the Neurotransmitter dopamine, this chemical is one that is associated with feelings of pleasure and can rise our mood.
Some studies have suggested that nicotine could influence the growth of cancerous cells, but even that is controversial. Nicotine itself is either harmless or substantially less harmful than the full range of chemicals in tobacco smoke.
There is no doubt however about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, so smokers should make every effort for to quit.
