Tobacco and Nervous System Development and Function—New Findings 2015–2020

Abstract

Tobacco is a one of the most common addictive stimulants used by people around the world. The smoke generated during tobacco combustion is a toxic mixture of more than 5000 chemicals of which over 30 are known human carcinogens. While its negative effects on the human body are well understood, it remains a serious public health problem. One of the multiple effects of smoking is tobacco’s effect on the nervous system—its development and function. This review aims to summarize the progress made in research on the effects of tobacco on the nervous system both of the perinatal period and adults and both in animals and humans in 2015–2020. The 1245 results that corresponded to the keywords “tobacco, cigarette, nervous system, brain, morphology, function” were reviewed, of which 200 abstracts were considered significant. Most of those articles broadened the knowledge about the negative effects of smoking on the human nervous system. Tobacco has a significant negative impact on the development of nervous structures, neurotransmission and cognitive functions, and promotes the development of neurodegenerative diseases, insomnia and cerebrovascular diseases. The only exception is the protective effect of the dopaminergic system in Parkinson’s disease. In conclusion, in recent years much effort has been devoted to describing, revealing and uncovering new aspects of tobacco detrimental to human life. The nicotine contained in tobacco smoke affects the human body in a multidimensional way, including a serious impact on the broadly understood neurological health.

Nicotine Addiction and Psychological Stress: a Case-control Study Among the Unemployed North Indians

“…Nicotine addiction is extensively employed as a stress reliever in today's contemporary lifestyle but longterm consumption may be hazardous for physical and mental health [32]. This may also affect brain activity, producing neurodegenerative illnesses and degrading the nervous system's potential [33]. In the survey, we observed that nicotine users often report that their consumption helps to relieve the feeling of stress, divert the way of thinking and improve work performance.…”

“…A questionnaire of 10 items based on the frequency of emotional feelings and thoughts during the past month was given to volunteers and asked them to respond. According to the overall individual's score, all volunteers were categorized into three stress categories as low stress (<13), moderate stress (14-26), and high stress (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40) [30].…”

Biologically Active Compounds Present in Tobacco Smoke: Potential Interactions Between Smoking and Mental Health

“…In utero exposure and exposure of children to tobacco smoke are both believed to interfere with cognitive development, causing deleterious effects on attention span and ability to concentrate, in children ( Alhowail, 2021 ; Hajdusianek et al, 2021 ). With some caveats as to the strength of the evidence ( Chan et al, 2020 ) it is generally accepted that smoking in pregnancy is bad for the unborn child, although there is some doubt as to whether nicotine causes all of the problems noted ( Baler et al, 2008 ; Chan et al, 2020 ).…”

Analisis model perilaku perokok dengan adanya faktor kekambuhan merokok

“…Tembakau dalam rokok juga merupakan salah satu faktor resiko penyebab datangnya penyakit pada tubuh, misalnya pada perubahan morfologis sistem saraf. Selain itu, asap tembakau mengandung lebih dari 7000 bahan kimia dengan lebih dari 4500 racun, dimana racun tersebut dapat mempengaruhi volume otak (Hajdusianek, Zorawik, Waliszewska-Prosol, Poreba, & Gac, 2021). Sekitar 15% asap rokok diserap oleh perokok dan 85% lainnya dilepaskan ke atmosfer.…”