How does nicotine affect the body?

How does nicotine affect the body?

Linda Hyder Ferry (Associate Professor, Preventive Medicine and Family Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: Why is it so hard to quit smoking?; What is 'nicotine'?; How does nicotine affect the body? and more...

Once someone inhales cigarettes into the lungs, it gets picked up from the capillaries, absorbed into the blood, goes right up the arteries to the head and releases in the brain chemicals that create a sense of pleasure, relaxation, and stimulation. A smoker knows just how to smoke enough nicotine by the length of time they hold it into their lungs and how frequently they puff on the cigarette to create a level of nicotine that feels comfortable and good to them, creating the sensations of nicotine dependence. Every person uses nicotine differently to create that effect.