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Genetics might determine which smokers get hooked, research says

Researchers have identified genetic risk factors that may accelerate a teen's progression to becoming a lifelong heavy smoker.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 27, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Discovery of gatekeeper nerve cells explains the effect of nicotine on learning and memory

Swedish researchers at Uppsala University have, together with Brazilian collaborators, discovered a new group of nerve cells that regulate processes of learning and memory. These cells act as gatekeepers and carry a receptor ...

Neuroscience created Oct 07, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Experimental drug found to reduce nicotine craving

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Aptuit Centre for Drug Discovery and Development in Italy, have found that a drug called GSK598809 is able to block a type of dopamine receptor in the brain that has been ...

Neuroscience created Sep 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2 | with audio podcast report

Researchers develop novel anti-body vaccine that blocks addictive nicotine chemicals from reaching the brain

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed and successfully tested in mice an innovative vaccine to treat nicotine addiction.

Medical research created Jun 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Nicotine vaccine prevents nicotine from reaching the brain

If smoking a cigarette no longer delivers pleasure, will smokers quit? It's the idea behind a nicotine vaccine being created by MIT and Harvard researchers, in which an injection of synthetic nanoparticles ...

Addiction created May 02, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 9 | with audio podcast weblog

Why smokers are thinner? Nicotine triggered appetite suppression site identified in brain

It is widely known that smoking inhibits appetite, but what is not known, is what triggers this process in the brain. Now researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, participating in a Yale University School of Medicine-led ...

Neuroscience created Jun 09, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers identify DNA region linked to depression

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and King's College London have independently identified DNA on chromosome 3 that appears to be related to depression.

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Quit smoking for new year, and feel less anxious, not more

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers have found that smokers who successfully quit feel less anxious afterwards - despite a widely held belief that smoking relieves stress and giving up makes you feel more on edge.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jan 03, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Drug helps women who stop smoking keep weight off

A medication being tested to help smokers kick the habit also may help avoid the weight gain that is common after quitting but only in women, according to a study published in the December issue of Biological Psychiatry. This i ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Dec 10, 2012 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Less harmful constituents when heating a cigarette at lower temperature

Many of the harmful constituents found in the smoke from a conventional cigarette result from the burning of tobacco. Lowering the temperature at which the "smoke" is generated means that nicotine and some ...

Health created Dec 07, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Judge orders tobacco companies to say they lied

(AP)—A federal judge on Tuesday ordered tobacco companies to publish corrective statements that say they lied about the dangers of smoking and that disclose smoking's health effects, including the death on average of 1,200 ...

Health created Nov 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 3

Researchers propose a new approach to understanding common psychiactric treatments

(Medical Xpress)—Drugs for psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia often require weeks to take full effect. "What takes so long?" has formed one of psychiatry's most stubborn mysteries. ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Researchers find why nicotine in cigarettes may relieve anxiety in smokers

Preclinical data suggests inactivation of a specific sub-class of nicotinic receptors may be an effective strategy to help smokers quit without feeling anxious, according to Virginia Commonwealth University ...

Medical research created Nov 08, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

How genetics shape our addictions: Genes predict the brain's reaction to smoking

Have you ever wondered why some people find it so much easier to stop smoking than others? New research shows that vulnerability to smoking addiction is shaped by our genes.

Genetics created Sep 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genes predict if medication can help you quit smoking

The same gene variations that make it difficult to stop smoking also increase the likelihood that heavy smokers will respond to nicotine-replacement therapy and drugs that thwart cravings, a new study shows.

Genetics created May 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Nicotine

Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants (Solanaceae) which constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots, and accumulating in the leaves. It functions as an antiherbivore chemical with particular specificity to insects; therefore nicotine was widely used as an insecticide in the past, and currently nicotine analogs such as imidacloprid continue to be widely used.

In low concentrations (an average cigarette yields about 1 mg of absorbed nicotine), the substance acts as a stimulant in mammals and is one of the main factors responsible for the dependence-forming properties of tobacco smoking. According to the American Heart Association, "Nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break." The pharmacological and behavioral characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Nicotine content in cigarettes has actually slowly increased over the years, and one study found that there was an average increase of 1.6% per year between the years of 1998 and 2005. This was found for all major market categories of cigarettes.

For more information about Nicotine, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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