Nicotine and the smoker

In spite of the considerable publicity about the health hazards of smoking, people continue to smoke. Smokers must consider that the risks are outweighed by smoking's benefits. This highly selected review of nicotine and the smoking habit reveals that nicotine does have positive effects. Nicotine releases hormones which reduce fatigue and acts on the central nervous system to produce more efficient processing of information. The increased efficiency produced by nicotine enables both smokers and nonsmokers to perform better in work situations. In addition, nicotine has a sedative action reducing anxiety and anger. Smokers titrate their nicotine intake so that they obtain the appropriate dose of nicotine for these kind of effects. The pharmacokinetic properties of nicotine make smoking doses remarkably safe for normal healthy adults in comparison with other available stimulant and sedative substances and so there is a high benefit-risk ratio for nicotine versus other comparable agents. If the other components of cigarette smoke could be made less active, the unique pharmacological properties of nicotine make it an ideal substance for self-medication by inhalation.