Nicotine. Although nicotine is a very addictive substance it's relatively harmless. It's the carbon monoxide, tar and other toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke that will cause serious damage to your health. Clean forms of nicotine are licensed to help smokers quit.
Tobacco contains nicotine, an ingredient that can lead to addiction, which is why so many people who use tobacco find it difficult to quit.
Cigarette smoke contains a poisonous gas called carbon monoxide. You can't smell, see or taste it. Carbon monoxide stops your blood from carrying as much oxygen. This means your heart must work harder, and your organs don't get the amount of oxygen they need.
(tuh-BA-koh tar) A chemical substance made when tobacco is burned. Tar contains most of the cancer-causing and other harmful chemicals found in tobacco smoke. When tobacco smoke is inhaled, the tar can form a sticky layer on the inside of the lungs.
Nicotine that gets into your body through cigarettes activates structures normally present in your brain called receptors. When these receptors are activated, they release a brain chemical called dopamine, which makes you feel good. This pleasure response to dopamine is a big part of the nicotine addiction process.
In the short-term, vaping nicotine may feel good by stimulating production of the “feel good” chemical in the brain called dopamine which can create feelings of pleasure and relaxation. Vaping nicotine also creates social opportunities to connect with other people and provides a distraction from stressful situations.
Nicotine withdrawal is associated with deficits in neurocognitive function including sustained attention, working memory, and response inhibition. Several convergent lines of evidence suggest that these deficits may represent a core dependence phenotype and a target for treatment development efforts.
3 months – According to research, your dopamine levels will return to normal3 at this point, and the reward part of your brain no longer requires nicotine.
E-cigarettes do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements in tobacco smoke. The liquid and vapour contain some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke, but at a much lower level.
Studies have shown that your lungs will recover and eliminate all traces of tar in a few years. Also, if you stop smoking you will add as much as 15 years to your life span.
Lungs are self-cleaning organs that will begin to heal themselves once they are no longer exposed to pollutants. The best way to ensure your lungs are healthy is by avoiding harmful toxins like cigarette smoke and air pollution, as well as getting regular exercise and eating well.
1 to 12 months after quitting
Tiny hair-like structures (called cilia) that move mucus out of the lungs start to regain normal function, increasing their ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
1: Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it's still not safe. E-cigarettes heat nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic.
To conclude, though you might not immediately exhibit the tell-tale stains or smell of a smoker, your dentist will be able to deduce the other symptoms of vaping.
On their own, these blisters don't typically produce symptoms. You don't know you have them, unless they rupture. Smoking — and now vaping — are associated with an increased risk of bursting these blisters, leading to lung collapse.
Good news about quitting
The good news is that after you quit smoking, even in your 60s, 70s, or beyond: Your heart rate and blood pressure drop to more normal levels. Your nerve endings begin to regenerate, so you can smell and taste better. Your lungs, heart, and circulatory system will begin to function better.
After Quitting, Lungs Don't Fully Recover
The new study shows that although lung capacity declines at a much lower rate in ex-smokers (an extra 1.57 mL/year compared with nonsmokers) than current smokers (an extra 9.42 mL/year), the rate doesn't normalize (reach zero) for at least 30 years.
Damage to the brain's outer layer caused by smoking may be reversible after quitting, but it could take years, a study said. Brain scans of 500 Scottish septuagenarians confirmed a link between smoking and an acceleration of age-related thinning of the cortex—the outer layer of grey matter, researchers reported.
It can take up to 1-3 months for your brain chemistry to fully re-balance after quitting nicotine. The most severe withdrawal symptoms occur 1-3 days after stopping nicotine use.
Three months after quitting smoking, levels of dopamine in the brain return to normal, according to a new study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.