Wednesday, May 20, 2015

For the Record

Is nicotine all bad?

About 40 years ago, Russell was one of the first scientists to suggest that people "smoke for the nicotine, but die from the tar".

And that's because nicotine is actually very, very good for sick people.   
(have I mentioned that people are not stupid?)

Nicotine tightens epithelial junctions.   It keeps bacteria and toxins from leaking out  of your lungs and intestines and  in through your skin and  into your brain through your blood-brain-barrier.   If you are infected, this is really really advantageous.


Nicotine does NOT cause cancer.  Even the cancer society say so.  It's all that other shit in cigarettes that kills you.   (mostly by destroying your mouth...)

And we have trouble quitting  not because it's addictive, but because it's powerfully effective.
Enough to actually reduce the harm from the other toxins in smoke.

A study in the journal Brain and Cognition in 2000 found that “nicotinic stimulation may have promise for improving both cognitive and motor aspects of Parkinson's disease.” Another, in Behavioral Brain Research, suggested “there is considerable potential for therapeutic applications in the near future.” Other work has looked at the stimulant's potential for easing symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
In Sweden, many people get their nicotine from sucking smoke-free tobacco called "snus." Research there has put rates of lung cancer, heart disease and other smoking-related illness among the lowest in Europe.

Mark my words:  Very soon, prescription inhalable nicotine is going to be a primary treatment for chronic infection.
Especially lung infections... heh.