Although in recent years tobacco consumption has been reduced overall, smoking is still common today and a habit that, although harmful and dangerous to health in the long term, is still carried out by a large number of people. .
For the most part, smokers find a certain pleasure and sense of tranquility in the consumption of this substance, which is also something socially accepted and traditionally associated with maturity or virility/femininity. However, it is an exogenous substance to our body that will have different effects on the body. For example, many people have reported at some point that they have reached feeling dizzy when smoking Is this normal? Why happens? In this article we are going to try to answer these questions.
Nicotine: type of substance and effects on the body
One of the main substances that make up tobacco (although a large amount of other substances can be found in a cigarette, many of them toxic) is nicotine.
This substance has psychoactive properties, and is the main reason why tobacco generates physical addiction. It is considered a psychostimulant substance, despite the fact that continued consumption ends up causing depressive effects. That is why most regular smokers feel feelings of relaxation when consuming it and tend to smoke more frequently when they feel nervous.
The mechanism of action of nicotine is based on its action on acetylcholine receptors, specifically nicotinic drugs. It acts as an agonist of this substance, having an effect on the central nervous system (in the cortex, limbic system and basal ganglia, among others) and peripheral, as well as on the cardiovascular and adrenal systems. However, with long-term consumption it ends up having a blocking action on this neurotransmitter.
At low doses, it initially generates an increase in cholinergic activity, causing an increase in arousal level and alertness. Higher doses generate sensations of pleasure by helping to activate the limbic system through the synthesis of dopamine. It also has an effect on increasing cortisol levels, ACTH, prolactin, vasopressin and growth hormone. At the cardiovascular level, nicotine causes vasoconstriction, so that blood passes at a faster speed and with greater pressure. This causes the heart’s functioning to accelerate, and at the same time it carries less oxygen, also increasing the inhalation frequency.
In the adrenal cortex, nicotine acts by generating a stimulation that results in the release of adrenaline. Finally, it hinders the action of the pancreas, causing the release of insulin (which allows us to break down blood sugar) to be reduced.
Dizziness when smoking: is it normal?
Smoking, as the different advertising campaigns that we see today indicate, can have serious long-term harmful effects, especially at the respiratory level. Emphysema, lung injuries and diseases or different types of cancer (such as lung or trachea) have been significantly associated with continued tobacco consumption
But in addition to these effects, it can also cause various discomforts and unpleasant effects during the act of doing it or after it. Among them are the presence of nausea, vomiting and dizziness, the latter being relatively common.
Why do we feel dizzy when smoking?
Generally, the presence of dizziness is more common in people who begin to smoke for the first time or in people who return to smoking after a long time without doing so, as well as in those people who quit tobacco abruptly. These dizziness can occur due to various circumstances.
First of all, we must take into account the fact that smoking is, mainly, repeatedly inhaling a substance that will enter the lungs, this substance being irritating and making it difficult for the respiratory system to integrate a sufficient level of oxygen into the brain. In addition, the vasoconstrictive effect of nicotine causes blood vessels to compress, passing the blood at much higher speed than usual and can generate hypertension. All of these effects are some of the reasons why, during the first consumption or after spending long periods without smoking, the body reacts by producing dizziness.
Another reason can be found in intoxication if the amount consumed is excessive, or when other substances such as alcohol have been consumed that could interact with the effects of tobacco. The internal balance you are used to Our body suffers an alteration that can cause various symptoms to manifest
In addition, dizziness due to lack of oxygen It does not have to occur only in smokers who have just started. Taking into account that this substance damages the respiratory system, if you suffer from lung disease for this or other reasons, tobacco consumption can generate these effects more commonly.
Another time when dizziness usually appears is when a person who has acquired tolerance and dependence on nicotine stop drinking abruptly And the body has become accustomed to a certain balance that suddenly undergoes a change. In this case we would find ourselves facing a symptom of withdrawal syndrome.
The blockade of the cholinergic action generated by long-term exposure to nicotine and the increase in the number of nicotinic receptors generated by habituation would in this case be responsible for the body not being balanced and generating symptoms.
