Nicotine and the Effects of Smoking Cigarettes

Nicotine has effects on the body that occur regardless of the method by which the drug is delivered.

Not all of the harmful effects of smoking are due to nicotine. Some pro-smoking activists may say that the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes occur because of the effects of tobacco combustion and as a drug, nicotine on its own is rather benign.

The facts about nicotine, however, show this is not the case. The continued and prolonged effects of nicotine on the body are by no means harmless.

The main effects of nicotine on the body are in the brain where it exerts its addictive influence by affecting the neurotransmitters that fortify the body against stress. At the same time it soothes the reward center in the brain by elevating dopamine levels.(See the Paradoxical Facts About Nicotine)

All of these nicotine effects on the brain are temporary, and a new supply of nicotine is needed when the effects wear off. This is why nicotine dependence can occur so quickly.

Many of the harmful smoking effects on the body are due to the free radical damage that occurs from the many carcinogenic and toxic ingredients in cigarettes that result from tobacco combustion such as carbon monoxide, benzene, arsenic and other added ingredients in cigarettes.

Facts About Nicotine Effects on the Body

Nicotine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system which results in a number of effects that may be harmful.

• the stimulation of the release of epinephrine causes an increase in heart rate, increase in blood pressure and an increase in respirations.


• the elevated epinephrine levels in the blood cause an increase in blood sugar.(See Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms)


• the stimulation of the adrenal glands puts the body under constant stress.


• nicotine is a powerful vasoconstrictor which narrow arteries and decreases blood supply to tissues. (See Causes of Impotence)


• the heart has to work harder to pump against the increased resistance of the narrow blood vessels.

All of these effects of nicotine occur every time you smoke a cigarette. Eventually you can wear out your heart, starve your body tissues of oxygen, and burn out your adrenal glands.