9781422272299

Smoking and vaping addiction

CIGARETTES AND TOBACCO PRODUCTS The Predatory Drug DEADLY VAPING ADDITIVES CBD, THC, and Contaminants FACTS AND FIGURES Smoking and Vaping NICOTINE ADVERTISING AND SALES Big Business for Young Clientele NICOTINE AND GENETICS The Hereditary Predisposition NICOTINE TREATMENTS Fighting to Breathe Again NICOTINE Negative Affects to the Adolescent Brain PEER PRESSURE TO SMOKE OR VAPE Finding the Strength in You VAPING The New Cool Way to a Shorter Life

ERIC BENAC

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Copyright © 2022 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-4579-8 Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4582-8 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7229-9 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1: How Nicotine Impacts the Body and Mind ............ 7 Chapter 2: Factors That Influence Nicotine Addiction .......... 23 Chapter 3: Serious Health Problems Associated with Nicotine Use ................................................... 39 Chapter 4: Vaping Is as Troubling as Smoking . ..................... 55 Chapter 5: Getting Help for These Problems ......................... 71 Chapter Notes ............................................................................ 85 Series Glossary of Key Terms ................................................... 88 Further Reading . ....................................................................... 90 Internet Resources .................................................................... 91 Index . .......................................................................................... 92 Author’s Biography / Credits . .................................................. 96 KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR: Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

Cigarettes, electronic vapor devices, and other products that contain nicotine can cause serious health effects such as heart and lung diseases that make it difficult for users to breathe normally.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

cognitive: related to the mind, particularly a person’s ability to think and problem solve emphysema: a lung disease that progressively worsens and ultimately results in death half-life: the time a substance or drug lasts in a person’s body before being metabolized inflammation: swelling in the tissues of the body, caused by disease or medicines stimulant: a drug or substance that temporarily increases levels of physiological or nervous activity in the body and brain toxicity: the level of damage caused by a poisonous substance

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Nicotine Treatments: Fighting to Breathe Again

1 CHAPTER

How Nicotine Impacts the Body and Mind Like all drugs, nicotine causes changes in a person’s body and affects the ways that the user’s brain operates. These changes are often quite subtle but can quickly make a person addicted to cigarettes, electronic vapor devices, or other products that contain nicotine. No matter how a person ingests nicotine, they will experience these symptoms. Some of the effects of nicotine use may seem beneficial or positive to users at first. However, scientists and public health experts have found that the long-term effect of nicotine use is often a lifetime of addiction and decreasing health. The potency of this drug, and the insidious ways that it affects the body and mind, make it extremely difficult for most users to quit. Tobacco users will eventually find that their once-cool habit has betrayed them in ways that they could never have imagined when they were younger. Nicotine Hijacks the Brain Nicotine is a chemical that occurs naturally in the leaves of the tobacco plant ( Nicotiana tabacum ). Because of its effect on the body and brain, it is considered to be a type of drug called a stimulant , which temporarily increases a user’s alertness and energy. (Other examples of stimulants include amphetamines and

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A farmer looks at a tobacco plant. When the dried leaves of the plant are smoked or chewed, they release nicotine, a potent drug.

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Nicotine Treatments: Fighting to Breathe Again

cocaine.) A person who takes nicotine into their body, whether it is through smoking, chewing, vaping, or other means, will experience a very brief “high” that often includes increased focus, higher energy, and a momentary feeling of pleasure. However, nicotine has a very short half-life , which means that its effects typically disappear a few seconds after a person ingests the drug. As a result, the nicotine user must take another hit to bring more nicotine into their body. This short reaction time also makes many smokers light another cigarette minutes after their last, or draw on their electronic vapor devices to continually receive a nicotine jolt throughout their day. Nicotine effectively hijacks the brain, making a person crave more of the drug and creating an addiction. Nicotine works by activating various hormone receptors in the brain and triggering a brief burst of endorphins in the bloodstream. The body produces these chemicals naturally for pain management or to produce pleasurable feelings in the body. However, drugs like nicotine artificially increase the level of endorphins released, which can make the brain quickly come to depend on that substance. Studies have found that there are specific areas of the brain that are more heavily affected by nicotine, resulting in addiction when exposure is persistent or high enough. In one study of laboratory mice, Patrick Zickler reported, “The results with knock-out mice suggested that α 4 sites on brain cells are necessary for development of nicotine addiction, but didn’t address the question of whether the sites are sufficient by themselves to initiate the behaviors associated with addiction.” The study found that the rate at which addiction occurred varied. Some mice never became addicted to nicotine, while others developed very quick dependencies that resulted in rapid and severe withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal often occurs when a person stops taking any addictive substance. The symptoms are the body’s physical reaction to the lack of a substance that it has become dependent upon. Nicotine

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How Nicotine Impacts the Body and Mind

withdrawal symptoms include nausea, anxiety, and depression, sometimes accompanied by strong feelings of anger or frustration. Some people chew their nails or think constantly about smoking or vaping until their next opportunity for a hit of nicotine. This experience is familiar with all drugs, but it is often harder to escape from nicotine addiction for a few reasons. These include the ease of purchasing nicotine products, the half-life of the substance, and the potency of its effects on the mind. Nicotine Also Damages the Brain The massive impact of nicotine on the brain can lead to other severe problems, some of which may be as severe as brain damage. For example, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that smoking during adolescence significantly increased a person’s chances of developing cognitive problems or psychiatric disorders as an adult. These results occurred because nicotine also adversely affects other areas of the brain. For example, nicotine can impact a person’s attention span, decrease their memory capabilities, make it harder for a person to learn new skills, and decrease brain plasticity, which is the ability of the mind to adapt to new concepts and skills by adjusting the ways that it operates. Young children have higher plasticity than adults, but this adaptability slowly decreases as a person ages. Unfortunately, nicotine abuse can impact a teen’s brain plasticity early and make it harder for them to learn new skills. Even worse, it may affect their emotional development and make it harder for them to control their impulses or to process emotional problems. As a result, a teen who starts smoking young may find that they never mature the way their peers do and stay at a state of somewhat arrested development. This point shouldn’t be stated too heavily, as nicotine won’t make a person drastically less intelligent or mature. However, researchers

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Nicotine Treatments: Fighting to Breathe Again

Nicotine has a permanent effect on certain areas of the brain, leading users to become addicted to the drug even after just a short period of use.

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How Nicotine Impacts the Body and Mind

TOBACCO AND THE CIVIL WAR.

The American Civil War was a devastating conflict that still reverberates throughout American society to this day. The use of slaves in the southern states was a massive reason for this war, and slave use was profoundly affected by the impact of tobacco on southern society. Tobacco use was very common during this era and grew most successfully in the South. As a result, slave owners pushed their slaves to the limits when growing crops, often abusing them. The horrible reality of human slavery led to revolts, agitation in the northern states, and ultimately the Civil War. have found that the damage is more severe than many nicotine users may realize, particularly younger ones. And since nicotine hijacks the brain and often forces a person to continue using for their whole life, they may continually damage their mind for the rest of their lives. Nicotine Poisons the Body Although nicotine addiction starts in the mind, a majority of the damage caused by this substance occurs in the body. This damage occurs because nicotine causes an increase in the body’s metabolism that more quickly wears out organs like the heart and lungs. This increased rate also puts a strain on the blood vessels and veins of the body, which may develop damage more quickly. However, readers must also remember that nicotine is classified as a poison, which means it causes damage to whatever it touches in the body. Few people who vape understand this fact and think that

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Nicotine Treatments: Fighting to Breathe Again

Because the brain becomes dependent on nicotine, a person who tries to stop using the drug will experience unpleasant symptoms of withdrawal. Physical symptoms like headaches, cramps, and difficulty sleeping can persist for three to five days. Mental symptoms of withdrawal, such as depression, irritability, and a strong desire to use nicotine, can last for weeks. Withdrawal makes it very hard for users to quit smoking or vaping.

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How Nicotine Impacts the Body and Mind

nicotine vapor is much safer than smoke. While it may not have as many harmful chemicals and carcinogens as tobacco smoke, nicotine vapor still damages the body in a variety of different ways. The toxicity of nicotine was examined in a study titled “Harmful Effects of Nicotine,” which stated that nicotine exposure causes “irritation and burning sensation in the mouth and throat, increased salivation, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.” It also discussed problems such as damage to the gastrointestinal tract, higher blood pressure, and an increase in plasma free fatty acids.

Studies have found that adolescents who use nicotine are more likely to develop cognitive problems. These can permanently affect their perception of events, their memory, and their ability to learn and to solve problems.

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Nicotine Treatments: Fighting to Breathe Again

Scan here to learn how nicotine affects a person’s psychological state.

Nicotine can also cause a higher increase in skeletal muscle blood flow but a decrease in coronary blood flow. This reaction often causes damage to the muscles of the body and may make a heavy smoker feel weaker. High concentrations of nicotine may even cause tremors, convulsion, coma, and even death, though these reactions only occur at very high levels in overdoses. Overdoses are rare with cigarette smokers but have occurred in people using vaporizing equipment. Abusing Nicotine Damages the Lungs While the damage described above is severe enough to be problematic, most damage is likely to occur in a person’s lungs. For example, the American Lung Association states that developing fetuses in their mothers’ wombs experience severe brain and lung damage if their mothers use nicotine. This damage occurs even if the mother uses vaporizing equipment instead of smoking cigarettes.

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How Nicotine Impacts the Body and Mind

However, teen and adult users are not safe from nicotine-related lung damage. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center states that smoking causes severe damage to the lungs and airways in a person’s body. Smokers constrict their airways, which can make breathing more difficult. However, the chemicals in tobacco smoke—particularly the nicotine—are poisonous and will slowly damage a person’s lungs. For example, smoking causes an increase in the number of cells producing mucus in a person’s lungs. As these cells increase, a person will find it harder to expel this mucus and will struggle to breathe. Some mucus cells may even cause damage in a person’s lungs and make it even harder to inhale and exhale. However, nicotine itself can directly damage and kill the cells in a person’s lungs. Although lung cells do regrow when given time, enough damage can make this recovery more difficult. As a result, a person may find it more and more difficult to breathe and may experience diseases later in life such as emphysema , which damages the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs so that the body cannot get the oxygen it needs. Combined with damage to a person’s heart—such as a decrease in muscle mass and more—a person may find that breathing simply doesn’t give them the oxygen that it once did. Heart Damage May Make Breathing Even Harder Smoking is considered one of the worst heart health decisions because it raises the heart rate, increases blood pressure, and can also increase a person’s level of dangerous cholesterol. However, smoking- related heart damage also has a co-occurring effect on a person’s lungs. As heart damage spreads, a person’s body won’t pump blood as effectively as it once did.

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Nicotine Treatments: Fighting to Breathe Again