Effects of tobacco on the brain

At present, approximately 6 million people a year die from smoking. There are many known diseases derived from their consumption such as respiratory difficulties, cardiovascular diseases or lung cancer. Placing tobacco consumption as an important problem in public health. However, diseases derived from the impact of tobacco on the body are not addressed from a neuropsychological perspective and even so, there are several factors that entail an impact on brain functioning, because physiological changes occur in certain brain structures, affecting in the quality of life of people and in their proper functioning. Therefore, in this Psychology-online article, we will expose which are the Effects of tobacco on the brain.

1. Addiction to tobacco nicotine
2. Effects of tobacco
3. Effects of tobacco on the brain

Addiction to tobacco nicotine

Smoking is defined as a syndrome that causes multisystemic damage slowly, at a progressive level, associated with nicotine dependence. This is characterized by the loss of control over the will to smoke, causing with abstinence symptoms against the disappearance of the cigarette and subsequently, causing relapses after a certain time without smoking.

The effects of nicotine on the nervous system and in the whole organism are several. When smoking There is a secretion of adrenaline in the brain, which stimulates the central nervous system and also stimulates dopamine production. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter related to motivation, euphoria and pleasure. Dopamine activates the circuits responsible for feelings of pleasure, called rewarding circuits, so that the smoking increases dopamine, thus increasing the sensation of pleasure or reward, which contributes to increase its abuse. In addition to this, the effects of nicotine shoot in an intense and short term.

In addition to this, the need for consumption (Craving) takes the person to a vicious circle among the concern for wanting to consume the substance, addiction, dependence and abstinence, which leads to the Craving. It should be noted that the Craving It produces a set of symptoms that can start at a few hours after having consumed a cigarette:

• Cognitive and attention deficit
• Sleep disturbances
• Increase in appetite

To measure the level of nicotine addiction, the most used instrument is the Fargetröm test.

Finally, it should be noted that smoking has a cumulative effect, which causes chronic smokers increasingly difficult for them to stop smoking.

Effects of tobacco

There are numerous effects produced by the habit of smoking, however the consequences tend to be considered as far away and therefore, they do not produce so much concern. However, nicotine and other tobacco components can produce Rapid appearance changes in our body. Among the effects of tobacco we find:

• Bad skin appearance Because of the contraction of blood vessels, preventing the correct circulation of oxygen to reach the skin.
• Bad breath, which is not only present after cigarette consumption, but in smokers the halitosis disorder occurs, persistent bad breath.
• Reduced sport performance Because of the difficulty of breathing, diminished circulation or the speed of beats.
• There is a Greater risk of injury and slower healing because of the difficulty of producing body collagen.
• Smoking also entails More risks of contracting diseases As colds, flu, bronchitis ..

This effect set appears shortly after smoking. However, there are many known diseases derived from their long -term consumption, such as lung cancer or cardiovascular diseases. In addition, several factors have been recognized that produce an impact on brain functioning, behaving neurocognitive damage to smokers.

Effects of tobacco on the brain

There are many studies that denote the growing evidence of Tobacco produces deterioration in the cerebral cortex in the long term, whose process accelerates with prolonged consumption of nicotine. Faced with this, smoking has been associated with a decreased function of neurocognitive abilities. Specifically, it has been related to Structural anomalies In the previous frontal regions, the subcortical nuclei and the white substance, also producing global brain atrophy and reductions in the global volume of the brain, thereby implying a deterioration of executive functions and reductions in the gray substance of the brain.

This set of changes produced by the effect of tobacco in the brain, results in the following neurocognitive alterations:

• Executive functions: complex mental skills, which direct our cognitive and emotional behavior and activity to achieve the proposed goals or objectives. Some of the executive functions that are affected in the long term by the consumption of tobacco are the following:

1. Cognitive flexibility: ability to make changes to adapt to our environment.
2. Planning: Ability to generate the most appropriate action plans, keeping in mind the respective consequences.
3. Reasoning skills: It aims to solve problems based on the establishment of causal relationships.
4. Decision making: selection of alternatives according to the needs and consequences derived.
5. Work memory: maintains, manipulate and transform information.

• General intellectual abilities
• Memory processing rate
• Learning
• Decreased capacity to execute some daily life activities
• Committed postural stability
• Greater risk of appearance of various forms of dementia, usually Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia
• Difficulty in impulse control
• Deterioration of the ability to judge
• Difficulty in attention

These are some of the effects of tobacco in the brain, specifically, the neurocognitive consequences of chronic tobacco consumption found in existing literature. However, the mechanisms that promote these alterations are not entirely clear, because longitudinal studies are needed to estimate it.

Finally, it should be noted that studies agree that quarrels would allow partial or total recovery of the size of the cerebral cortex, producing a cortex regeneration. In case of wanting to quit smoking, it is interesting to know how to fight anxiety when quitting smoking.

This article is merely informative, in psychology-online we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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