If you smoke, chances are you have wondered "what exactly is nicotine" and "what does it do to me". Nicotine is the active ingredient found in the tobacco plant. Cigarette smoking is the most popular way to consume nicotine. Nicotine is also present in smoking aid chewing gum and skin patches.

1. Nicotine Absorption and Effects
Nicotine is easily absorbed through your lungs and skin into your blood. The blood delivers nicotine to your brain, where it has psychoactive effects on your mood and energy.

In small doses, nicotine has a relaxing effect because it acts on your brain's reward circuit. In higher doses, nicotine has stimulative effects. It raises blood pressure, metabolism, alertness, and concentration. This is why smokers tend to lose weight when they first start smoking and gain weight when they try to quit. This is also why smokers tend to have urges to smoke when they are stressed out or at work.

2. Nicotine Addiction
Recent research has suggested that nicotine itself is not all that addictive. But when combined with other components in cigarette, the mixture is highly addictive. Nicotine gum and patches deliver lower doses of nicotine to help alleviate people who are trying to quit. However, the low success rates suggest that nicotine itself may not be the center of the problem. Cigarette addiction may involve other chemicals in smoke and the physical act of smoking. Regardless, nicotine is still a drug and you should not consume it if you can help it.

3. Nicotine and Cancer
Nicotine, contrary to popular belief, does not cause cancer. It is the thousands of other chemicals in cigarette smoke that are carcinogenic (cancer-causing). Cigarette smoking kills more people with lung cancer than all other cancers combined.

4. Health Risks and Benefits
Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, meaning that it causes blood vessels to constrict, which increases the heart rate. For this reason, nicotine is believed to increase risks of cardiovascular diseases. Nicotine has long been used for its pain-killing properties. It also has shown to help inhibit certain types of cancer. Nicotine derivatives are under investigation for their potentials to treat psychological disorders.