9781422272299

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.

15

How Nicotine Impacts the Body and Mind