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Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

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Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#91

Post by [deleted] »

samx18 wrote: post #79
anigbrowl wrote: post #48

“This defines a completely novel strategy for medication development,” says lead author As someone with schizoaffective problems and raging ADHD, I find quotes like this acutely annoying. I've told every psychiatrist I'eve ever dealt with about the experiential costs/benefits of smoking (and consuming various other recreational drugs). They all nod sagely and say things like 'but smoking is bad' (no shit Sherlock!) w…

IMO Vaping is a far safer alternative to smoking for getting nicotine.

[deleted]

Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#92

Post by beambot »

anigbrowl wrote: post #48

“This defines a completely novel strategy for medication development,” says lead author As someone with schizoaffective problems and raging ADHD, I find quotes like this acutely annoying. I've told every psychiatrist I'eve ever dealt with about the experiential costs/benefits of smoking (and consuming various other recreational drugs). They all nod sagely and say things like 'but smoking is bad' (no shit Sherlock!) w…

Your psychiatrist runs a practice and you're mad that they are practicing rather than researching? That seems like an unrealistic expectation. If your doc was doing more research, then they probably wouldn't be practicing as much. It's like asking you to be a professional developer and do cutting edge CS research -- that's pretty rare.

Tracking nicotine vs your mood strikes me as being "research" -- especially since there wasn't a previously-known scientific correlation, as demonstrated by the recently-published results! Instead... I'd be glad that there is finally some evidence to explain your observations, and be hopeful that it results in new treatments.

(Also: Pawning off laziness onto others is a cop out. You could've pushed the research forward by doing more than just telling your doctor. But you didn't, I presume. Why is that...?)

Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#94

Post by flubert »

hondo77 wrote: post #87
samx18 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO Vaping is a far safer alternative to smoking for getting nicotine.

Based on what?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4110871/

"Currently available evidence indicates that electronic cigarettes are by far a less harmful alternative to smoking and significant health benefits are expected in smokers who switch from tobacco to electronic cigarettes."

Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#95

Post by tcj_phx »

anigbrowl wrote: post #48

“This defines a completely novel strategy for medication development,” says lead author As someone with schizoaffective problems and raging ADHD, I find quotes like this acutely annoying. I've told every psychiatrist I'eve ever dealt with about the experiential costs/benefits of smoking (and consuming various other recreational drugs). They all nod sagely and say things like 'but smoking is bad' (no shit Sherlock!) w…

> Edited to add that I quit tobacco ~7 years ago using chantix, which I totally recommend. Unfortunately my mental ilnesses have become harder to deal with over the same period.

I learned from someone here (about 4 months ago [1]) that nicotine is not so addictive by itself. It is the combination of MAOI-like chemicals in tobacco that makes it hard for smokers to quit. MAOI's were the "first generation" anti-depressants. They were reasonably effective, but caused high blood pressure when combined with fine aged cheese.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12527585

No new drugs are needed to help "schizophrenics", the industry just needs to implement what's already known. For example, niacinamide [2] is a form of Vitamin B-3 that many people find helps reduce their need for tobacco. It is structurally similar to nicotine.

[2] https://purebulk.com/niacinamide-powder/

Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#96

Post by lucasmullens »

bencollier49 wrote: post #67
qrybam wrote: post #38

Tangential self experimentation anecdote: I was intrigued by reports that nicotine can improve cognition in otherwise healthy people so I read through as many studies/articles I could find online. After deciding that I'd done enough research I took the plunge and began self experimenting with 2mg gum. I took it daily throughout the day at regular-ish intervals for around 2-3 months. The affects I experienced were as…

And this is why vaping should be banned in enclosed public spaces, especially offices.

Because someone who chewed nicotine gum got a cyst we should ban vaping in offices? I'm not sure I follow.

Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#97

Post by brianpgordon »

samx18 wrote: post #79
anigbrowl wrote: post #48

“This defines a completely novel strategy for medication development,” says lead author As someone with schizoaffective problems and raging ADHD, I find quotes like this acutely annoying. I've told every psychiatrist I'eve ever dealt with about the experiential costs/benefits of smoking (and consuming various other recreational drugs). They all nod sagely and say things like 'but smoking is bad' (no shit Sherlock!) w…

IMO Vaping is a far safer alternative to smoking for getting nicotine.

True, but being healthier than smoking is not exactly a high bar.

If you must take nicotine as a nootropic, take it orally. Vaping is much more addictive than letting a 2mg lozenge slowly dissolve. Relative addictiveness of different ROAs is directly correlated with how quickly the drug takes effect, and when you vape the nicotine hits your bloodstream within seconds.

Also I can't mention enough that if you take an MAOI you should stay far away from nicotine.

Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#98

Post by thatswrong0 »

hfourm wrote: post #93
drcross wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Common sense

Common sense tells me that inhaling any foreign chemical in high concentrations and habitually is not a good idea.

We're comparing vaping to smoking, not vaping to being sober.

Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#99

Post by iak8god »

DanBC wrote: post #81
iak8god wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of 480,317 deaths attributed to cigarette smoking, 160K were due to cardiovascular diseases and metabolic diseases. 160/480 = .3333 This calculation makes the charitable assumption that none of the deaths categorized as Cancer were due to the nicotine itself. The categories are Cancer, Cardiovascular Diseases and Metabolic Diseases, Respiratory Diseases, Perinatal Conditions, Residential Fires, Secondhand Smoke.

Why are you assuming all the cardiovascular disease was caused by nicotine? That doesn't seem to be what the full report is saying, although maybe I missed it. Why are you assuming the nicotine is solely to blame, and not for example the carbon monoxide? Page 419: > The 2010 Surgeon General’s report reviewed in great detail the mechanisms by which cigarette smoking leads to CHD; Figure 8.3 provides an overview of the…

> Why are you assuming the nicotine is solely to blame, and not for example the carbon monoxide?

Good point, thanks.

I will relax my assumption to "some of the cardiovascular disease is caused by nicotine," and admit that I don't have enough information to know what percentage of smoking deaths are attributable to just the nicotine.

Do you happen to know if they've figured this out?

Re: Nicotine Normalizes Brain Activity Deficits That Are Key to Schizophrenia

#100

Post by DanBC »

iak8god wrote: post #99
DanBC wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you assuming all the cardiovascular disease was caused by nicotine? That doesn't seem to be what the full report is saying, although maybe I missed it. Why are you assuming the nicotine is solely to blame, and not for example the carbon monoxide? Page 419: > The 2010 Surgeon General’s report reviewed in great detail the mechanisms by which cigarette smoking leads to CHD; Figure 8.3 provides an overview of the…

> Why are you assuming the nicotine is solely to blame, and not for example the carbon monoxide? Good point, thanks. I will relax my assumption to "some of the cardiovascular disease is caused by nicotine," and admit that I don't have enough information to know what percentage of smoking deaths are attributable to just the nicotine. Do you happen to know if they've figured this out?

I don't know.

I am uncomfortable with some of the other comments in this thread saying that nicotine is harmless. :-/

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