Participants at the Global Forum on Nicotine 2022 which took place from 16 to 18 June in Warsaw, Poland observed that nicotine seems doomed to suffer from its association with smoking in major parts across the globe, but its health benefits are mostly ignored and suppressed.

Officials and industry experts at the session titled "Benefits of Nicotine" noted that there was a general misconception about the benefits of nicotine, yet its therapeutic use is effective for smoking cessation and in the treatment of degenerative brain maladies to some extent.

Estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that countries in the African region are experiencing an increasing rate of tobacco use.

Reports by the UN agency indicate that tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year globally while more than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

According to health experts’ nicotine is just one of about 7,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. Of those 250 known harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 69 are known to potentially cause cancer, it said.

Benefits of Nicotine

Dr Sudhanshu Patwardhan is a British licensed medical doctor passionate about helping people quit risky forms of tobaccouse. The doctor told delegates that, yes nicotine is found in tobacco, but it can also be found in lower concentrations in plants of the same family such as eggplants, tomatoes and potatoes.

However, WHO estimates show that nicotine contained in tobacco is highly addictive, but Dr Patwardhan is convinced that, although it is the most widely known chemical component in tobacco, its replacement products like nicotine patches, gums, and other medicinal products are proof that nicotine itself is not addictive.

Multiple studies have shown that, although smoking is notoriously bad for one’s health,  new research suggests that nicotine may have some benefits for patients living with schizophrenia and can aid the treatment of the disease.

"When taken out of the context of cigarette smoke, nicotine really isn’t much to worry about at all," Dr Patwardhan told delegates at the forum.

Freedom of Choice is Important

While some experts are convinced that exposure to nicotine might also cause cognitive disorders, others believe that electronic cigarettes have the potential to benefit smokers if used as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes.

However, during various interventions, participants came to the unanimous decision that both tobacco products and e-cigarettes pose risks to health and the safest approach is not to consume either.

Dr. Paul Newhouse, the Director of the US-based Center for Cognitive Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee stressed that in most cases anyone who starts using tobacco can become addicted to nicotine.

“There is still ongoing  debate on whether or not smoking is bad for one's health but there are also benefits of nicotine (..) people should have the freedom to make their own choices,” he said.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Michelle Minton, a senior fellow at the US-based Competitive Enterprise Institute noted that current patterns show that most of tobacco companies want people to get nicotine - and they're open-minded about how they get it.

Minton who is an expert in consumer policy, covering regulatory issues that include gambling, tobacco harm reduction, cannabis legalization, alcohol, and nutrition noted that the tobacco industry is now changing the use of Nicotine to liken it to that of coffee or chocolate.

“With the availability of nicotine replacement therapy such as nicotine patches and gum it is now easy for smokers to get a nicotine fix in non-smoking environments without cigarettes,” she observed.

The WHO Tobacco Control Programme is currently contributing to the reduction of the burden of disease and death caused by tobacco through reducing the prevalence of tobacco use and the exposure to tobacco smoke in all segments of the population in the African region.

The above strategy by the UN agency aims to help current tobacco users to quit and protect non-smokers from exposure to second-hand smoke.

Psychological Dependence 

Experts gathered on the sidelines of the Global Forum of Nicotine which took place in Warsaw, Poland in hybrid form also urged manufacturers to adjust the blend of tobacco leaves or use different types of paper or filters as a move to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes.

While some experts hail the benefits of nicotine in the treatment of some common diseases such as schizophrenia and its neuroprotective properties, others believe that smoking is still the most widespread addictive behavior across the world that needs strict control, as it causes physical and psychological dependence on the same chemical product.

Dr Riccardo Polosa, Founder of the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) at the University of Catania, Italy stressed that there are currently pharmacotherapies to aid smokers in maintaining long-term abstinence.

“The negative effects of nicotine and cigarette smoking are much greater than the benefits,” Dr Polosa told delegates. (END)