Long Term Effects of Nicotine Gum

Nicotine gum provides small doses of nicotine, which is absorbed through mucous membranes in the mouth, and helps you do away with the harmful habit of smoking tobacco. Its use as a part of nicotine replacement therapy has become quite popular over the last few years, and a large part of the credit for this goes to the fact that its harmful effects are much less as compared to the effects of smoking tobacco and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Though a nicotine gum is less harmful as compared to a cigarette, its prolonged use is known to result in some adverse effects on your body.

Harmful Effects of Prolonged Use of Nicotine Gum

Other than the short term effects, like headache, jaw ache and indigestion, there also exist some long term effects of chewing nicotine gum which start surfacing when the person uses it as a nicotine replacement therapy for a long period. Nicotine causes structural and chemical changes in the human brain. Even though these changes may give the momentary feeling of relaxation, in a long term they can cause severe damage to the functions of brain. Irrespective of whether you resort to smoking or nicotine gum, the long term effects of nicotine on the brain and body tend to be much more severe than the short term effects we know.

A study on the health risks of nicotine gum at the University of London revealed that it tends to increase the person's chances of contracting oral cancer by a significant extent when used for extended period. Being a vasoconstrictor, nicotine tends to constrict the arteries and makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood to various parts of the body. This, in turn, results in a number of health problems including hypertension and coronary artery disease. Prolonged use of nicotine gum increases the chances of a person contracting gum disease as nicotine constricts the blood vessels in the gums as well. Similarly, it is also known to result in constriction of throat muscles.

Those who use nicotine gum as a smoking cessation tool also suffer from mouth ulcers. Hair loss is yet another common problem in men, as well as women, who resort to this nicotine replacement product on a regular basis. Its long term use is also known to result in insulin resistance, a condition wherein the ability of insulin to regulate glucose levels in blood is seriously hampered. This prompts the pancreas to release more insulin, which, in turn, results in hyperinsulinemia - a condition characterized by excess levels of circulating insulin in the blood. There also exist studies which reveal that the addiction to nicotine gum hampers our body's healing mechanism, as a result of which wounds take time to heal.

A 2006 study involving around 77,000 pregnant women revealed that the use of nicotine gum during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy increases the chances of giving birth to a child with birth defects by 60 percent. Some studies also associate nicotine with health issues like stroke and esophageal reflux. Though many people believe that nicotine gum keeps a check on weight gain, researchers claim that its use actually results in weight gain in the long run - the short term weight loss that is observed is actually attributed to smoking cessation.

When a person resorts to nicotine gum as a smoking cessation aid for a long time, the chances of him getting addicted to nicotine gum itself exist in plenty. In such circumstances, abruptly stopping the use of the same can trigger severe withdrawal symptoms on the body. Manufacturers claim that you are less likely to face these long term effects if you use it as directed. While that may be true, the idea of choosing one evil on another doesn't really hold ground in the long run - after all, it's nicotine that we are talking about irrespective of whether it is smoking or gum.