Tobacco Use can be Harmful to Health

California Scientists have found that a byproduct of nicotine, the substance that makes cigarettes so addictive, causes a type of chemical reaction in the body similar to that which occurs when sugar is burned or food goes bad. This reaction is thought to play a role in diabetes, cancer and other diseases.

When the scientists tested the blood of smokers and non-smokers, they found that the smokers had higher levels of the nornicotine-modified proteins than non-smokers. The smokers also had higher levels of the advanced glycation endproducts.

Researchers also found that the interaction between sugars and proteins can produce substances called advanced glycation endproducts, or AGEs. The accumulation of AGEs appears to contribute to the aging process and certain diseases.

Drs. Kim D. Janda and Tobin J. Dickerson at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla have found that blood collected from smokers had higher levels of the nornicotine-related AGE than blood from nonsmokers.

Janda and Dickerson reported: "Our results provide a direct chemical link between tobacco use and the development of AGEs, a class of compounds previously implicated in various disease states."

According to this research tobacco use can be harmful to health.

The researchers found that nornicotine interacted with the steroid prednisone to form byproducts that may interfere with the activity of the steroid as well as cause harmful effects.

Janda added: "The public needs to be made more aware that tobacco and other nicotine-containing products create a substance that was previously unrecognized as a potential danger to proteins in the body and administered prescription drugs."

Janda pointed out that even nicotine patches and gums that people use to quit smoking can trigger the reaction.

Of course, if these products are successful, then a person will no longer have to consume any sort of nicotine - in cigarettes or in gums or patches.