Biological Basis of the Need for Nicotine

Nicotine is neither a nutrient nor a naturally occurring substance in the body. However, nicotine mimics the effects of acetylcholine (ACh) throughout the body, and ACh is a naturally-occurring substance. Although brain disorders can be caused by injury or strokes, most of them are caused by imbalances in neurotransmitters.

And nicotine appears to provide a corrective action for some of these imbalances.

Nicotine is being studied for treating Attention Deficit Disorder, chronic pain disorders, depression, anxiety, and memory impairments. It also works to prevent some of the nastier side-effects of medications used to treat schizophrenia. Nicotine prevents the build-up of alpha synuclean protein deposits in the brain which has implications for the prevention of dementia and Parkinson's Disease.

Many of the diseases that we used to call “mental” or “behavioral” we now know have a basis in biochemistry. There is still a tendency, I think, for people to hold those who have a brain disorder responsible for healing themselves. The “crazy people” should be able to “control themselves” better, the reasoning goes.

How many kids with true hyperactivity disorders were beaten for their misbehavior? And look how long we blamed those with stomach ulcers for being “too uptight” and "refusing" to relax — when in reality the cause of their disorder was a bacterial infection!

So I’m asking you to open yourself to the possiblity that feeling ill in the absence of nicotine and experiencing symptom improvement in the presence of nicotine is not necessarily a moral failing. It just might have a biological basis. This would explain why some folks need nicotine and others do quite well without it.

Alzheimer's Disease and Nicotine

In 1997, researchers at a university in Basel, Switzerland autopsied the brains of 301 patients who were 65 years or older when they died. Specifically, researchers were looking for neurological “tangles” and plaques that are seen in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Researchers had obtained a smoking history and were able to match 72 pairs for age and sex. In 28 of the pairs of smoking versus non-smoking women, smoking appeared to provide a protective effect against senile plaque formation.

More recent research has claimed that smoking increases the risk of AD. If that’s true, it must be something about smoking other than the nicotine causing problems. Research has been done and continues to be done using nicotine to treat AD.

A 4-week trial using a nicotine patch demonstrated significant improvement in attention for AD patients. Another trial provided 2 mg. nicotine gum and placebo to a group of AD patients while administering an electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brain wave activity. Nicotine significantly shifted EEG toward normal values. The National Institute on Aging is conducting an ongoing study of a nicotine patch to treat Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Galantamine is a substance extracted from the bulbs of the daffodil. It was already being sold as a nutritional supplement before pharmaceutical companies turned it into a prescription drug (Reminyl) for the treatment of AD. In 2006, German researchers reported on a study using galantamine to reduce smoking in alcohol-dependent subjects. Across the 24-week study, smokers reduced their cigarette consumption by about 20%. Results were validated by measuring blood levels of cotinine. [Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2006 Dec;44(12):614-22.]