title: Harmful effects of nicotine.
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.
authors: Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors: Aseem
authors: A
authors: Mishra
authors: Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors: Pankaj
authors: P
authors: Chaturvedi
authors: Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors: Sourav
authors: S
authors: Datta
authors: Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors: Snita
authors: S
authors: Sinukumar
authors: Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors: Poonam
authors: P
authors: Joshi
authors: Department of Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
authors: Apurva
authors: A
authors: Garg
keywords: Addiction; cancer; cardiovascular; gastrointestinal; nicotine; respiratory