Nicotine Myth - Does Nicotine Really Cause Lung Cancer?

By Marc Riley

Does nicotine cause lung cancer? Although it is true that cigarettes cause lung cancer, people often mistakenly extend that fact to nicotine. Let's uncover the truth once and for all.

When you think of smoking, you think of lung cancer. In fact, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of cancer above all others. Lung cancer alone kills more people every year than all other types of cancer combined. Cigarettes undeniably play a big part in it. But what makes cigarettes so deadly? Could it be the nicotine?

Nicotine exists naturally in the tobacco plant, and it can affect your nervous system. In low doses, nicotine relaxes the user. When higher doses are administered, it has stimulative effects on the person, making the person more alert or anxious. Nicotine is addictive and contributes to the overall difficulty in quitting cigarettes.

But the fact that nicotine is addictive doesn't make it carcinogenic (cancer causing). To date, no sound scientific research has been able to find that nicotine causes lung cancer or any other cancer. Furthermore, research has shown that nicotine by itself is not all that addictive. When people switch to nicotine gum and patches that only deliver nicotine, they find that nicotine dependency is far easier to wane than the cigarettes themselves.

If nicotine does not cause lung cancer, what does? It is actually the tobacco smoke. The smoke in cigarettes contains chemicals such as carbon monoxide, tar, and free radicals. These dangerous chemicals damage your lung tissues, which make them more susceptible to all kinds of infection. Worse yet, the damaged cells are more likely to turn cancerous and become life-threatening tumors.

In conclusion, nicotine does not cause lung cancer. This is the reason that nicotine gum and patches are allowed on the store shelves. Think about it, if nicotine was carcinogenic, would the FDA allow them to be sold as anti-smoking supplements? After all, it makes little sense to use a carcinogen to quit another. When you light up, it's the thousands of other chemicals in smoke, not the nicotine, that cause lung cancer. Cigarettes can kill you with their smoke, with or without nicotine. - 30285

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here