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- Apr 17, 2022
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Everybody knows that smoking is associated with very bad health outcomes (read: death). However nicotine, the main addictive substance delivered by cigarette smoke, doesn't seem to be a carcinogen but rather a simulant for the central nervous system. So I naively concluded that it's harmless.
Spoiler alert: It's not.
Nicotine by itself is very dangerous and chronic consumption will have two primary negative effects:
1. Hijacking of the dopamine reward system in a very intricate manner. It doesn't just lead to addiction, it alters the brain chemistry and neurophysiology in a number of ways, and may even hinder brain development in young people. The full extent of this effect may not be fully understood, due to the complexity of the brain. But it's safe to assume that throwing random substances at it is a very bad idea.
2. Damaging effects on micro vasculature (not sure if I got the name right). This basically means reduced blood flow to sensitive tissues in the body, which results in:
During the pandemic I made the catastrophic decision to start using nicotine (primarily in the form of chewing gum), for the short term improvements in cognition (which do occur, but only for the short term).
I am now tapering off nicotine and should be completely off in a few weeks. I will never use it again.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXs-zPc63kM&ab_channel=AndrewHuberman
Spoiler alert: It's not.
Nicotine by itself is very dangerous and chronic consumption will have two primary negative effects:
1. Hijacking of the dopamine reward system in a very intricate manner. It doesn't just lead to addiction, it alters the brain chemistry and neurophysiology in a number of ways, and may even hinder brain development in young people. The full extent of this effect may not be fully understood, due to the complexity of the brain. But it's safe to assume that throwing random substances at it is a very bad idea.
2. Damaging effects on micro vasculature (not sure if I got the name right). This basically means reduced blood flow to sensitive tissues in the body, which results in:
- cognitive impairment
- erectile dysfunction
- skeletal muscle weakness
- hair loss
- high blood pressure
- etc.
During the pandemic I made the catastrophic decision to start using nicotine (primarily in the form of chewing gum), for the short term improvements in cognition (which do occur, but only for the short term).
I am now tapering off nicotine and should be completely off in a few weeks. I will never use it again.
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