Talk: Nicotine
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From the article: It has long been thought that tar and other chemicals in tobacco were the main cause of cancer but recent studies showed that nicotine alone has carcinogenic properties by inhibiting the natural ability of the body to get rid of cells with significant genetic damage before they turn cancerous.
I'm curious to know if there are some references for this? Links to studies or news articles? This is news to me, but, that may just be the ignorance talking. Secondly, evn if it is true, this statement seems to imply that the carcinogenic effect of nicotine may be equivalent to tar and the other chemicals in tobacco. Is that true? If not, I'd like to propose the addition of more specifc, focused language to clear up the confusion. I look forward to the real scoop! --NightMonkey 07:17, Aug 2, 2004 (UTC)
Quitting
As someone who has quit smoking less then 24 hours ago, and is now waiting for the patch to do something besides empty my wallet, I am heartened to hear that nicotine withdrawal typically lasts 48 to 72 hours. I am somewhat disturbed to read that symptoms can last for years, however -- anybody have any details?
The box that nicotine patches came in also claimed in a fairly prominent warning that use may cause extremely vivid dreams. Since this doesn't occur with cigarettes (and nicotine is the only active ingredient in the patch), I am curious as to the cause. Any details on that? (I haven't actually slept yet, so I dunno if I will be affected -- I'd kind of like to, as I haven't remembered a single dream on waking in some twelve years or so; hopefully, it will be a goody)Tuf-Kat 05:45, Oct 1, 2004 (UTC)
- The idea behind the nicotine patch is to deliver sufficient nicotine to your bloodstream to help alleviate physical withdrawal symptoms. You won't get the same spikes in your nicotine level that you get with cigarettes, but you shouldn't have major physical withdrawal symptoms. With the patch, the hardest part is getting over the habitual and psychological addiction of nicotine.
- Most of the patch systems allow the user to step down around week 6, going from 21mg/day to 14mg/day to 7mg/day. Tapering the dose like this should allow for a smooth landing when you're done smoking and make physical withdrawal symptoms unlikely. Dreams are a relatively common side effect from the patch, at least from me. ElBenevolente 06:29, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
