CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2015; 36(01): 24-31
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5851.151771
REVIEW ARTICLE

Harmful effects of nicotine

Aseem Mishra
Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Pankaj Chaturvedi
Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Sourav Datta
Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Snita Sinukumar
Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Poonam Joshi
Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Apurva Garg
Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
› Author Affiliations

Abstract

With the advent of nicotine replacement therapy, the consumption of the nicotine is on the rise. Nicotine is considered to be a safer alternative of tobacco. The IARC monograph has not included nicotine as a carcinogen. However there are various studies which show otherwise. We undertook this review to specifically evaluate the effects of nicotine on the various organ systems. A computer aided search of the Medline and PubMed database was done using a combination of the keywords. All the animal and human studies investigating only the role of nicotine were included. Nicotine poses several health hazards. There is an increased risk of cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal disorders. There is decreased immune response and it also poses ill impacts on the reproductive health. It affects the cell proliferation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, DNA mutation by various mechanisms which leads to cancer. It also affects the tumor proliferation and metastasis and causes resistance to chemo and radio therapeutic agents. The use of nicotine needs regulation. The sale of nicotine should be under supervision of trained medical personnel.



Publication History

Article published online:
12 July 2021

© 2015. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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