This date is celebrated annually on the third Thursday of November. Its purpose is to clarify the danger of this addiction to health, prevention of many diseases caused by nicotine consumption.
Smoking is a significant risk factor for the development of many diseases, including cardiovascular, bronchopulmonary, oncological, diabetes mellitus, impotence in men and infertility in women.
It has been proven that nicotine addiction is a disease. Scientists have found that a smoker lives on average 7 years less than a non-smoker. Many young people today believe that electronic cigarettes are a “safe” alternative to regular cigarettes. But in fact this is not the case. The liquid in the cartridge is unsafe in composition, because there is no uniform standard for electronic devices and liquids for them. It has been found that electronic cigarettes cause even greater dependence on nicotine than regular ones.
How does nicotine addiction occur?
Nicotine is a plant-based alkaloid, just like heroin and cocaine. And just like heroin and cocaine, it causes the development of psychological and physical addictions, affecting behavioral reactions of a person.
1. Getting into the brain, nicotine interacts with nicotine receptors, and as a result, dopamine is released – a substance that has a positive stimulating effect on the central nervous system. Pretty quickly, a “smoked – had fun” reflex is formed in the brain of a smoking person, which will gradually turn into addiction.
2. Nicotine addiction develops in every smoking person. The longer the smoking experience is, the more nicotine receptors in the brain are, the higher the degree of nicotine dependence is. With prolonged use of nicotine, the number of nicotine receptors in the brain increases, and in order to get the same feeling of pleasure, it is necessary to take more nicotine.
In addition to physical dependence, manifested through withdrawal symptoms, smoking causes psychological dependence.
Based on materials provided by the Department of Public Health and Healthcare of ICE