Smoking has negative effects on your brain in addition to your lungs and heart. Many people do not realize that. Nicotine mimics several neurotransmitters [that send signals] in the brain, stimulating pleasure centers and encouraging addiction. Smoking can raise the risk of dementia and is linked to a higher risk of midlife cognitive decline.
Carbon monoxide
A deadly gas known as carbon monoxide (CO) is produced by burning fossil fuels insufficiently with air. CO crowds out oxygen in the bloodstream and can damage cells and organs. High levels of CO exposure can result in mortality, heart illness, and brain damage. Headache, ill feelings, and weakness are typical signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. People with long-term exposure may experience impaired memory and concentration. Carbon monoxide can have similar symptoms to the flu at low levels and is sometimes misdiagnosed.
Inhaling CO binds to hemoglobin, reducing the blood’s oxygen capacity. It can cause hypoxia (lack of oxygen) in the bloodstream, especially harming the brain and heart. Carbon monoxide combines with hemoglobin about 300 times more readily than oxygen, producing carboxyhemoglobin (COHb). The brain and heart are particularly sensitive to hypoxia because they require the most oxygen. Carbon monoxide may also contribute to clot formation in the brain’s arteries, leading to an ischaemic stroke. Smokers are twice as likely to have this type of stroke than non-smokers.
Nicotine
Nicotine is present in tobacco products, including cigarettes and e-cigarettes. It is a highly addictive substance that changes your brain and causes withdrawal symptoms when you stop smoking. When nicotine enters your body, dopamine, a neurotransmitter that causes sensations of pleasure, is released. It also blocks acetylcholine receptors, which helps control your memory and learning abilities. Repeated exposure to nicotine causes the brain to adapt, requiring more to feel the same effects. This adaptation is what makes people addicted to smoking. The cigarettes effects on the brain negatively affect the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an area of the brain important for learning and self-control. This damage can lead to poor attention and a lower ability to filter irrelevant information. Researchers have also linked nicotine to dementia, a disease that affects an individual’s memory, behavior and thinking skills. Smokers are 30 % more likely to experience dementia than non-smokers. A combination of age and genetic factors may contribute to this. However, quitting smoking can reverse these negative impacts on the brain and improve memory and cognitive functioning.
Arsenic
The planet contains the naturally occurring element arsenic. Minuscule amounts are present in all rock, air, water and soil. It is a metalloid, which means it has some characteristics of both metals and non-metals. Arsenic is also found combined with other elements in different chemical forms, some of which contain carbon (organic) and some do not (inorganic). Drinking contaminated groundwater can cause arsenic poisoning. It is most common in areas where mining and fracking are popular or where coal-fired power plants or arsenic-containing pesticides have been used. Long-term exposure can lead to various symptoms, including skin pigmentation changes, numbness, diabetes and vascular disease. It can also cause cancer. Access to clean drinking water is the most effective way to prevent arsenic poisoning. Doctors use chelation therapy and bowel irrigation to treat it to remove the arsenic from your body. They may also give you other medications like fluids, blood transfusions, or heart and kidney medication. Various studies suggest vitamin E and selenium supplements may limit the effects of arsenic, but more human research is needed.
Ether
Ether is a colorless, odorless liquid that can be vaporized into a gas and used as a general anesthetic. It’s also a common solvent and a foaming agent, and it’s found in automotive coolants and fumigants. It’s a known carcinogen and can cause respiratory distress and lung irritation. A chemical ether is any compound with an oxygen atom directly bound to two groups of hydrocarbons (alkyl or aryl). Ethers are soluble in water and can form hydrogen bonds with it, unlike alcohols or amines, which cannot because of their bulky carbon atoms. These organic compounds are often referred to as ethers, but systematic IUPAC names are preferred for compounds with more than one ether functional group. Very simple ethers, which have no or few other functional groups, often acquired names before IUPAC rules on nomenclature were established; for example, diethyl ether is still commonly called ether, but it was once known as sweet oil of vitriol. The luminiferous ether, a hypothetical medium of force that permeates the universe and gives life to the physical world, captured the imagination of scientists and the public in parts of the nineteenth century. Modern scientific theories of matter and energy eventually replaced the ether metaphysics of this concept.
Alcohol
The depressant alcohol causes the body and brain to function more slowly. It also can cause serious health problems, such as liver disease, some types of cancers and permanent cognitive damage. Dementia, a term commonly used to describe severe, persistent memory and reasoning issues, can occur in people with alcohol use disorder (AUD). These symptoms are usually due to low levels of thiamine or vitamin B-1. Taking certain vitamins and avoiding alcohol can improve these symptoms. Alcohol affects the frontal lobe, which controls higher-order abilities like planning, organization, short-term memory and cognitive control. This area of the brain undergoes a major fine-tuning during adolescence when it responds differently to alcohol than an adult’s frontal lobe. Heavy drinkers often have lower gray and white matter volume than light drinkers. A study found that drinking two or more units was associated with reduced brain volume, and the effect was stronger for those who drank more than three or four drinks daily. Researchers are working to develop medications that can prevent or treat these effects.
