Nicotine and Alzheimer’s Disease: Can It Really Help?

It’s no huge secret that smoking cigarettes is extremely bad for you. Over the last few decades, society has come a long way in embracing (or admitting) that smoking will almost certainly shorten your life through a whole host of potential diseases and afflictions. Lung cancer. Heart disease. COPD. More than 50 ‘serious’ diseases, in fact, as a direct cause of the 6000 plus chemicals inhaled with each life-shortening puff.

That is without even considering the awful smell, increasingly expensive price, and growing social stigma attached to smoking cigarettes. 

But it turns out there is an interesting flipside to that well-established narrative: it turns out that nicotine itself isn’t actually bad for you. Quite the opposite, in fact. There is strong evidence – most of which is a result of actual scientific study – that nicotine has genuine health benefits. The problem is not with the actual nicotine but more that people have been consuming it the wrong way for all of these years.

In its raw, natural form and not burnt into tar through the use of a cigarette, research indicates that nicotine enhances cognitive function, potentially improving attention, memory, and processing speed. More interestingly, nicotine is also being studied for its role in neuroprotection, offering potential benefits in Alzheimer’s disease.

What’s the Science Behind Nicotine and Alzheimer’s Research?

So, what is the actual medical science behind nicotine and Alzheimer’s sudden, intriguing, and wildly unexpected connection? To explain, we need to venture into the hidden world of our trusted gray matter. More specifically, cerebrum proteins, neurotransmitters, and nerve cells.

You might be surprised to learn that nicotine receptors play a useful role in the nervous system of humans, affecting the brain, heart, stomach, and skeletal muscles. These receptors regulate neurotransmitters such as ‘acetylcholine,’ which is important for memory retention, focus, and learning. In Alzheimer’s, there is a decrease in acetylcholine production (among other things), which is a large contributing factor to the illness. 

In layman’s terms, nicotine helps by slowing down or partially blocking the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, thereby indirectly increasing its levels and potentially slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s.

Additionally, nicotine has also shown promise in preventing the formation of ‘beta-amyloid protein clumps,’ which is another indicator of Alzheimer’s disease. These clumps contribute to the formation of plaques that directly disrupt brain function in Alzheimer’s patients. 

Nicotine & Brain Health

Nicotine’s apparent influence on brain health becomes even more interesting when considering its interaction with specific brain receptors: It’s the way in which nicotine modulates brain activity that has sparked the interest of researchers. Acting on the central nervous system, nicotine has been observed to alter brain wave patterns, suggesting a more complex role in cognitive processes than previously thought.

So, is nicotine a cognitive enhancer? The mounting evidence indeed points in that direction. One rather intriguing aspect of this evidence is nicotine’s apparent ability to affect neuroplasticity, the brain’s remarkably clever ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. This characteristic is essential for learning and memory, and its potential enhancement through the use of nicotine opens up new doors in terms of cognitive therapy research. In particular, scientists are investigating how this can be leveraged where neuroplasticity is compromised, such as with Alzheimer’s.

In many ways, nicotine’s potential to improve cognitive function has striking similarities to another substance that was once viewed with common disdain: cannabis. It transpires that both Nicotine and THC, the active compound found in marijuana, provide cognitive improvements on some level. 

Mood Regulation

But it certainly doesn’t end there. Nicotine’s influence on brain chemistry also seems to help with mood regulation and stress response, as it directly impacts serotonin and dopamine pathways. So, not only does nicotine potentially enhance cognitive functions, but it also might improve mood and reduce stress. Given that major illnesses such as Alzheimer’s can be incredibly stressful (to say the least), this combined effect could be hugely beneficial in managing the psychological aspects of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Smoking and Alzheimer’s

Many people reading this will be aware that there is a link between smoking cigarettes and Alzheimer’s, but we need to emphasize the distinction: in this context, nicotine and smoking are almost two separate things. While the act of smoking significantly elevates the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other dementias, it would seem, according to the latest research, that nicotine on its own has the exact opposite effect.

Research reveals that one-third of smokers are more likely to develop dementia, and specifically, two in five are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s when compared to non-smokers. Heavy smokers in midlife face over double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other dementias two decades later, indicating a dose-response relationship: the more one smokes, the greater the risk.

The exact mechanisms are not fully understood, but smoking is known to cause an imbalance leading to cell damage, which is linked to dementia onset. Additionally, smoking also exacerbates other Alzheimer’s risk factors like stroke and high blood pressure by damaging blood vessels and reducing blood oxygen levels. Since the brain requires about 20% of the body’s oxygen supply, impaired blood flow can significantly affect brain cell health and functionality.

Nicotine on its own, however, does not carry these harmful effects in even the slightest way.

Further Research Needed?

We are not quite there yet, however. There is still a great deal of research and scientific study required, as none of these revelations are entirely conclusive. There is still some work to do. Also, as research progresses, the focus outside of the scientific community lies in understanding the optimal nicotine dosage and delivery methods for therapeutic purposes. 

Either way, there is huge, credible, and quite exciting potential here. Given that nicotine has been lambasted for so many years as a direct result of its most common ingestion method – smoking cigarettes – the possibility of nicotine contributing to brain health is delightfully encouraging, maybe even revolutionary.

In the same way that certain types of alcohol have become more accepted as beneficial for the heart (red wine, for example, but only in small amounts), it looks like nicotine might offer equivalent hope for anyone in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. 

Smoking Remains a Terrible Choice

We need to reiterate a very important point: none of this means you should rush out and buy a pack of cigarettes in the hope of avoiding Alzheimer’s (of course!). In doing so, you will experience the benefits of nicotine, but you will also expose yourself to possibly the most dangerous common vice known to mankind.

Smoking cigarettes is probably one of the worst addictions in which you could ever indulge in, for a whole range of quite obvious reasons. There is no question that when it comes to ingesting nicotine through traditional smoking, the bad greatly outweighs the good.

So, how do you reap the potential benefits of nicotine without exposing yourself to the grim prospect of lung cancer, heart disease, or stroke, as afforded by smoking cigarettes?

Nicotine patches are probably the first things that spring to your mind, but that is actually far from ideal. When nicotine is ingested through a patch, the effects do not target the central nervous system specifically. Nicotine patches will disperse the nicotine too generally throughout the body, reducing its potential effectiveness for such specific conditions as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s’.

The Smokeless Solution

On the other hand, when nicotine is ingested through a smoke-free alternative such as our very own groundbreaking NEAFS, it is delivered more directly to the central nervous system, allowing a more focused impact on the brain, potentially making it more effective in addressing the specific neurological pathways involved in conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. 

Smoke-free alternatives like NEAFS offer a cleaner way of consuming nicotine, avoiding the harmful tar and carcinogens found in cigarette smoke. All the potential benefits of nicotine without the awful consequences of traditional smoking. This is a far purer form of nicotine absorption, minimizing health risks and maximizing the substance’s potential therapeutic benefits, particularly for cognitive health.

Final Thoughts

Make no mistake about it: the only available treatment for Alzheimer’s is the current crop of doctor-prescribed medications and therapies. Nicotine is not yet an approved, medically recognised treatment. As mentioned earlier, we still have some way to go before this could be described as conclusive. 

Having said that, the research conducted so far reveals incredibly encouraging signs. Everything seems to indicate that nicotine can actually help fight diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. While more time is needed to arrive at firm, conclusive facts, it looks like a question of time before that happens.

Either way, nicotine has come a long way from the dark perceptions of old and is becoming far less stigmatized because of these findings. Will it ever be an officially recognized treatment for Alzheimer’s? Is nicotine a cognitive enhancer or not? 

Unfortunately, there are no concrete answers, but even the most skeptical of scientists would have to admit the research indicates that it certainly appears so. Whichever way you view it, as the focus on nicotine and Alzheimer’s continues to grow, the outlook seems promising indeed.