Does Vaping Make You Less Smart?

Smoking has been shown to reduce stress, and it appears that vaping has the same benefits.

The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) has recently published two new studies that reveal a connection between vaping and brain fog. Compared to their non-vaping, non-smoking peers, adults, and children who vape are more likely to report having trouble focusing, remembering, or making decisions. Additionally, children who began vaping before the age of fourteen had a higher likelihood of experiencing mental fog.

However, many have believed that the result of vaping is otherwise. Backed by a couple of studies, many believe that vaping helps your concentration and focus, making you smarter.

It has been demonstrated that nicotine can benefit those nervous, and any vaper may tell you that taking a few drags from their e-cigarette helps them relax and concentrate. However, nicotine appears to have cognitive benefits in addition to its sedative properties.

It might sound like a fantastic story, but over four decades of research by scientists, Kjellerup and Ipsen on how nicotine affects the human body suggests that this could be one of the more unexpected advantages of vaping.

DOES VAPING MAKE YOU SMARTER?

Vape Yourself Clever

One of the things that Kjellerup and Ipsen's investigations have demonstrated is that nicotine can increase brain function by up to 30%. As a result, you'll be a bit wiser and be able to recall and retain knowledge better. Smokers and vapers have been demonstrated to have higher brain stamina than people who don't regularly consume nicotine, and nicotine has also been shown to increase attention span and memory.

Your electronic cigarette enables you to enjoy a delightful experience without any toxins typically connected with smoking while allowing you to monitor and control the quantity of nicotine you inhale. Thus, you can still consume nicotine in a safer and cleaner method, and your possibilities of increasing your mental capacity are much higher.

Vapes Keep You on the Ball

It's interesting to note that vaping is one of the most effective ways to consume nicotine. A nicotine patch is diluted, and nicotine gum doesn't have the same impact. According to studies, those who discontinue vaping may see a 25% reduction in brain function compared to before. Additionally, people with nicotine dependence may experience other unfavourable side effects.

Fortunately, the e-cigarette is the ideal tool if you want to reduce your nicotine consumption because e-liquids come in a range of nicotine concentrations. Even the tiniest amount of nicotine has been found to calm you and have a favourable impact on the brain. You can begin with an intense amount and reduce it as you go.

BENEFITS OF NICOTINE

The study's primary findings are as follows:

• Nicotine can increase brain performance by up to 30%.
• Your brain will be more resilient if you use nicotine than if you don't.
• You become more focused, accurate, and quick when you use nicotine.
• Your memory and attention are enhanced by nicotine.
• When under pressure, nicotine reduces your aggression.

HOW NICOTINE AFFECTS YOUR BRAIN

The risks associated with vaping are a hot topic, and for a good reason. A quarter of high school students say they have used an e-cigarette recently, a 135% rise from two years earlier. More alarmingly, even though most of those individuals were taking THC, at least 42 people have died, and countless more have become unwell after using defective vape pens.

Nicotine, the primary psychoactive component in e-cigarettes, is frequently ignored in discussions about vaping because there is such a concentration on the physical issues involved. The chemical agents in tobacco cigarettes and maybe e-cigarettes are unhealthy. What about nicotine, though? Is "pure nicotine" healthy for you, considering that its effects on mood and focus are frequently touted as why people use these products? And may the advantages of the drug be obtained safely through alternative means (such as nicotine gum or patches)? Most likely not.

Nicotinic receptors in the human brain are activated by nicotine, even though the name is misleading. The substance's ability to operate as a neurotoxic makes it a natural pesticide. In addition to being produced by tobacco plants, the nightshade family of vegetables, including cauliflower, eggplant, potatoes, and tomatoes, also contain trace levels of nicotine.

These receptors are called for nicotine only because that is how scientists discovered them; nicotine did not evolve into these receptors. The receptors are designed to bind to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter crucial for cognition, memory, and attention. Nicotine produces many of the same effects as acetylcholine but at a much higher pace since it replicates the natural molecule and fits into the neurotransmitter's receptor like a key into a lock.

Inhaling Nicotine

When nicotine or tobacco smoke is breathed, the chemical floods the brain's receptors within 10 seconds, giving off an almost immediate buzz. Nicotinic receptors are found in nearly all brain regions and cell types, which explains why nicotine has various effects. For instance, dopamine neurons in the nucleus accumbens, the brain's principal center for addiction, have receptors. Dopamine, a neurochemical essential for rewarding sensations, is released by the neurons once the nicotinic receptors are engaged.

John Dani, head of the Department of Neurosciences at the University of Pennsylvania, says, "all addictive substances seem to boost a dopamine signal in some way or another during early use." "That signal includes the instruction to reinforce the current behavior as part of its function. I want you to remember this and practice this sort of behavior."

Impacts on Other Body Organs

Other body organs are also impacted by nicotine, especially the heart and cardiovascular system. The medication raises heart rate and blood pressure, tightens blood vessels, and may lead to stiffening arterial walls. The substance also encourages the establishment of new blood vessels, which are thought to contribute to the development of tumors by supplying oxygen and nutrients to malignant cells. Although it doesn't cause tumors, nicotine will help them grow and spread if a person has cancer.

Judith Prochaska, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, claims that although smoking has harmful effects on the body and is a drug, this is not the main cause of smoking-related deaths. It doesn't appear to be fatal regarding cancer or cardiovascular disease, but it can increase your heart rate, and in some people, it can cause tachycardia.

Cognitive Effects

The cognitive effects of nicotine have received much attention lately, and some non-smokers have even begun using patches or nicotine gum as a nootropic. According to studies, nicotine can improve working memory, focus and attention, and reaction time. The fact that the participants in this research are either smokers or non-smokers is a significant complicating issue. Scientists have shown that people who have developed a habit of constantly consuming nicotine respond better to doses of the medication, especially when used to reduce withdrawal symptoms. It's less certain if the chemical will have the same impact on someone who has never used nicotine; some research supports this claim, while others do not.

According to Paul Newhouse, a professor of psychology, pharmacology, and medicine at Vanderbilt University, "If you're operating well, then there's not much evidence that nicotine can enhance that." If you block nicotinic receptors in those already operating normally, performance will worsen.

Alzheimer's disease, ADHD, and the cognitive issues that can precede schizophrenia and depression have all been treated with medication in clinical trials. However, according to Newhouse, nicotine may benefit those with cognitive impairment. Alzheimer's patients have lower acetylcholine activity and lesser nicotinic sensors in their brains, making it a particularly good disease to target. One method to counteract those changes and cure some of the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer's is to administer a tiny, continuous dose of nicotine throughout the day, about the same amount as a normal cigarette.

In a preliminary investigation, nicotine recipients outperformed non-users on cognitive tests in 74 individuals with cognitive impairments, a precursor to Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, over six months, some of those individuals even improved a handful of the activities, indicating nicotine may be able to stop cognitive deterioration in Alzheimer's. Newhouse is currently running a bigger, multi-site trial to support these findings and better comprehend what transpires in the brain throughout treatment.

Historically, attempts to deploy nicotine substitutes in late-stage clinical trials have failed. Although small preliminary studies frequently show promise, none of the bigger clinical trials examining nicotine or nicotine analogs have been able to demonstrate an advantage over a placebo.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO STOP YOUR NICOTINE ADDICTION?

Without any substitutes, quitting smoking cold turkey is challenging. Success rates for stopping smoking range from 3% to 5%. It's challenging since many people's daily routines include smoking, which creates recurring triggers.

Dopamine communicates that something pleasurable happens when nicotine increases dopamine levels in the brain and instructs the brain to understand and learn how to repeat that positive behavior repeatedly. Dopamine solidifies the link between an action and its result. It also binds the cues that surround it in this way. These signals, a person, place, time of day, thing, or event, eventually become desire triggers. For many people, these triggers are all around them.

People's conversations while smoking cigarettes [are] constantly present throughout the day. The alarm will inevitably go off. Breakfast is a morning need. It would be best if you drove yourself home from work. Avoiding your buddies and your parking lot is difficult. All of those elements serve as cues to promote cigarette smoking.

Utilizing nicotine replacement treatment, like a patch or gum, is one approach to dealing with those cravings. These devices give the drug a lower and slower amount, so individuals don't experience the same thrill as they would from a cigarette or vape pen hit. Still, they do so to alleviate people's withdrawal symptoms or urges.

Chantix

Chantix, the first prescription medication to treat nicotine addiction, has become available in recent years as an additional choice. Chantix only partially stimulates some of the nicotinic receptors in the brain since it is a selective partial agonist. The ones in the nucleus accumbens that it acts on are most responsible for addiction. Chantix is supposed to lessen cravings and withdrawal symptoms by partially occupying those receptors, but it does so without giving users a pleasant high.

Chantix can assist people in quitting smoking by reducing craving and withdrawal symptoms and decreasing tobacco enjoyment. Additionally, because Chantix is already present at the receptor, smoking while taking it effectively prevents nicotine from activating it. Chantix has an annual abstinence rate of between 19% and 27%.

ARE NON-SMOKERS SMARTER THAN SMOKERS?

According to specialists, young males who consumed a pack of cigarettes every day or more had IQ scores of 7.5 points lower than non-smokers.

Programs intended to reduce smoking may target teenagers with lower IQ scores.

Although there is evidence linking smoking to lower IQs, experts highlight in their paper that many studies have depended on childhood intelligence testing. It included individuals with mental and behavioral issues, who are more inclined to smoke and much more likely to have low IQs.

The researchers examined 20,211 18-year-old men enlisted in the Israeli military to understand the connection between smoking and IQ. Anyone with severe mental health issues was excluded from the group since they were ineligible for military service.

The researchers found that 68 percent of survey participants had never smoked, 3 percent reported quitting smoking, and 28 percent smoked at least one cigarette each day.

Smokers scored much worse on IQ tests than non-smokers, and this result was even after the experts considered a recruit's parent's socioeconomic standing, which was determined by the number of years the recruit's father had had in formal schooling.

The average IQ of guys who did not smoke before joining the military was 94, compared to roughly 101 for non-smokers. From 98 for individuals who smoked one to five cigarettes per day to 90 for those who consumed more than a pack per day, IQ steadily declined as cigarette consumption increased. The range of IQs believed to represent typical intellect is 84 to 116.

The researchers point out that since recruits aren't permitted to smoke while taking intelligence tests, it's likely that withdrawal symptoms could have an impact on smokers' results. They also examined the IQ results of guys who were not smokers at 18 but developed a smoking habit while serving in the military to address this problem. Additionally, the average score of these males was lower than that of never-smokers (97 points), "showing that nicotine withdrawal was likely not the reason for the discrepancy," the researchers write.

The researchers also compared the IQs of 70 brother pairs, where one brother smoked while the other did not. Once more, the non-smoking sibling's average IQ was greater than the smokers.

Experts conclude that the results do not support the notion that nicotine makes people less intellectual but that those with lower IQs are more likely to decide to smoke.