There is a fascinating look into smoking and nicotine addiction presented in the 900+ page report just released on the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Surgeon General's report on cigarette smoking. Much more interesting than the recent newspaper articles noting the 50th anniversary and a few cursory comments about the report. I decided to take a look at the full report and became captivated by the scientific rigor, the history and the data contained in the report. Trust me when I say I did not read the entire thing but I did read more than I intended to once I got started. I highly recommend you google the report and scan through the table of contents and pick the sections of interest to you. If you don't want to bother, here are some snippets that I found interesting:
Page 8 lists 10 major conclusions of the report you might want to look at.
Pages 31 and 32 have interesting information on the MSA.
The entire 5th chapter is devoted to nicotine alone.
Page 110 - The lag time between a puff on a cigarette and when nicotine reaches the brain is 10 to 20 seconds.
Page 112 - Nicotine itself is very toxic, it is not just the addictive ingredient in cigarettes. In fact, nicotine was widely used as a pesticide in the early 20th century. This practice contributed to several of the accidental poisonings from nicotine exposure.
Page 113 - The positive reinforcement of addiction to nicotine is primarily reinforced by the release of dopamine in the brain.(As an aside - drugs like marijuana and heroin also mimic or induce higher expression of dopamine in the brain so the mechanisms of nicotine addiction and the use of these drugs have some
similarities in the physiological response in the brain).
Page 124 - Conclusions on nicotine: acutely toxic; nicotine activates multiple biologic pathways through which smoking increases risk of disease; nicotine exposure adversely affects fetal brain development; nicotine contributes to preterm deliveries and stillbirths; nicotine exposure adversely affect brain development in adolescents; inadequate evidence that nicotine by itself causes cancer.
Page 846 - "Cold turkey" accounts for 90% of those who quit; 70% plan to quit; 50% of smokers try to quit each year; 4-6% of those who try succeed in quitting.
Page 858 - "New end game strategies have been proposed with the goal of eliminating tobacco smoking. Some of these strategies may prove useful for the United States, particlarly reduction of the nicotine content of tobacco products and greater restrictions on sales (including bans on entire categories of tobacco products)."
Lots of other good stuff I could have mentioned, but Enough Already! It is time for xxii. The FDA is under pressure and this report increases that pressure. Anything that can reduce a pesticide being put in your brain 10 seconds after a puff should not require all this foot dragging. I might just have to write my representatives in Congress to see if they might be able to give the FDA a call and see what is taking so long.
