Addiction to Cigarettes

The addiction to cigarettes is a problem which affects a significant number of people around the world. This problem does not respect social class, anyone could have it. The addiction to cigarettes dates back to the time when the first Europeans came to America. They observed that the American natives smoked tobacco leaves in pipes. Therefore, the Europeans decided to copy this practice and bring it to Europe. At the beginning, people thought smoking cigarettes was just to relax and it did not have any harmful effect. However, a few years later, scientific studies showed that it had adverse effects. Over the years, this problem has been spread worldwide and every time more people are involved in it. Experts believe that the cause of the addiction to cigarettes is due to nicotine containing.
The main cause of why people become addicted to cigarettes is because it contains nicotine. Scientifics holds the opinion that nicotine is addictive because it alters brain functioning and people use it compulsively. This substance acts as a stimulant in mammals. The stimulant effect causes chemicals and biological changes in the brain. Moreover, nicotine attaches to neurons that release dopamine. It stimulates the brain’s pleasure. As a result, the smokers feel a lot of pleasure while they are smoking cigarettes. However, in 40 minutes the effects of nicotine are gone. Therefore, the smoker has to light up another cigarette. After repeated doses of nicotine, the brain begins to change. There is too much dopamine in the brain so it starts to cut the production of dopamine. As a consequence, now, the smoker needs nicotine just to create normal levels of dopamine. Without the nicotine, the smoker feels irritable and depressed.
One of the effects of the addiction to cigarettes is the diseases it produces. Every year a large percentage of people around the world die from diseases caused by smoking cigarettes. One of them is lung cancer. Cigarette smoke contains over 60 known