Swedish Medical Center - Condition Detail

Nicotine Addiction

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Animation Movie Available Related Media: Choosing a Quitting Method

Nictotine addiction is when a person becomes dependent on nicotine. Being dependent means there is a physical change in how your body reacts to a substance. Your body will also have a reaction when you stop using the substance.

Nicotine can be found in tobacco products such as cigarettes, snuff, chewing tobacco, cigars, or pipes. Tobacco use is also associated with several serious health conditions, such as:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Chronic bronchitis
Emphysema
Cancer, like cancers of the larynx (voice box), oral cavity, throat, esophagus, lung, and colon
Heart disease
Stroke
Dementia
Increased risk of stillbirth, infant death, low birth weight, miscarriage, premature delivery, or sudden infant death syndrome
Shorter life span
Problems if you have surgery

Throat Cancer

Nicotine addition can be treated, often with a combination of treatments.

Kenfield SA, Stampfer MJ, Rosner BA, Colditz GA. Smoking and smoking cessation in relation to mortality in women. JAMA. 2008;299:2037-2047.

Questions about smoking, tobacco, and health. American Cancer Society website. Available at: http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/002974-pdf.pdf. Updated January 17, 2013. Accessed March 11, 2013.

Tobacco addiction. National Institute on Drug Abuse website. Available at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/tobacco-addiction. Updated July 12, 2012. Accessed March 11, 2013..

Tobacco use disorder. PEMSoft at EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what. Updated February 19, 2013. Accessed March 11, 2013.

2/27/2007 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Etter JF, Stapleton JA. Nicotine replacement therapy for long-term smoking cessation: a meta-analysis. Tob Control. 2006;280-285.

9/24/2007 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: LF Stead, T Lancaster. Interventions to reduce harm from continued tobacco use [review]. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2007;3.

3/25/2008 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Parkes G, Greenhalgh T, Griffin M, Dent R. Effect on smoking quit rate of telling patients their lung age: the Step2quit randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2008;336:598-600.

10/14/2008 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Shiffman S, Ferguson SG. Nicotine patch therapy prior to quitting smoking: a meta-analysis. Addiction. 2008;103:557-563.

12/16/2008 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Eisenberg MJ, Filion KB, Yavin D, et al. Pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.CMAJ. 2008;179:135-144.

2/5/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Cochran CJ, Gallicchio L, Miller SR, Zacur H, Flaws JA. Cigarette smoking, androgen levels, and hot flushes in midlife women. Obstet Gynecol. 2008;112:1037-1044.

2/17/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Stead LF, Lancaster T. Group behaviour therapy programmes for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009;(1):CD001007.

7/6/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Myung SK, McDonnell DD, Kazinets G, Seo HG, Moskowitz JM. Effects of Web- and computer-based smoking cessation programs: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169:929-937.

7/21/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Lancaster T, Stead L. Self-help interventions for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009;(2):CD001118.

11/13/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Piper ME, Smith SS, Schlam TR, et al. A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of 5 smoking cessation pharmacotherapies. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66(11):1253-1262.

12/21/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Whittaker R, Borland R, Bullen C, et al. Mobile phone-based interventions for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009;(4):CD006611.

11/30/2010 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Rusanen M, Kivipelto M, Quesenberry CP Jr, Zhou J, Whitmer RA. Heavy smoking in midlife and long-term risk of alzheimer disease and vascular dementia.Arch Intern Med. 2010 Oct 25. [Epub ahead of print]

4/29/2011 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/: Mills E, Eyawo O, Lockhart I, Kelly S, Wu P, Ebbert JO. Smoking cessation reduces postoperative complications: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Am J Med. 2011;124(2):144-154.e8.

6/24/2011 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/: Leonardi-Bee J, Britton J, Venn A. Secondhand smoke and adverse fetal outcomes in nonsmoking pregnant women: a meta-analysis.Pediatrics. 2011;127(4):734-741.

Last reviewedFebruary 2013by Brain Randall, MD

Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Nicotine Addiction

Throat Cancer

Causes

Risk Factors

Symptoms

Diagnosis

Treatment

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

Behavioral Therapy

Medication

Prevention

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