Professor touts nicotine as next wonder drug

Imagine a wonder drug that can relieve depression, dull pain and alleviate the symptoms of neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Tourette’s syndrome. Could such a miracle drug exist?

According to Dr. John Rosecrans, professor of pharmacology, toxicology and rehabilitation counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University, it not only does but it can be obtained simply by taking a puff on a cigarette! Most of us think of smoking as a habit begun for a variety of reasons but continued largely because of the addictive effects of nicotine.

Rosecrans, writing in a recent issue of the British journal Chemistry and Industry, says that there may be another reason, self-medication. He makes the extraordinary statement that, “It has become evident nicotine may have beneficial effects that are `therapeutic’ rather than addictive.” He goes on to say, “Humans may learn that, when they smoke, they get something good from it and this may explain why they continue to smoke in spite of possible health consequences.”

Rosecrans reviews a number of studies to substantiate his controversial contention. Ovide Pmerleau of the University of Michigan has shown that nicotine acts as an analgesic in rats and mice by some, as yet unknown, effect on their opiate receptors. He believes that nicotine likely acts the same way in humans, although there are no data available to prove it. Abbot Laboratories has developed a nicotine analogue that is an extremely strong painkiller, which they hope to soon test in humans.

According to Naomi Breslau of Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital, smokers who claim they smoke to relieve stress and depression may not be too far off the mark. Her research team studied the levels of depression in members of a large HMO and found a close correlation between smoking and underlying depression. This seemed to suggest that people smoke to relieve anxiety and depression.

Preliminary research has suggested that nicotine acts on brain neurochemicals, such as serotonin and dopamine, that are involved in psychiatric disorders ranging from mild depression to schizophrenia. Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder whose symptoms include uncontrolled speech and muscle movements. Often the victims are stigmaticized because of unrestrained cursing. The cause is unknown but is thought to involve overproduction of the neurotransmitting chemical dopamine.

Paul Sanberg of the University of South Florida found he could quickly reduce the symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome in an adolescent sufferer with the application of a nicotine patch. The symptom reduction took place within minutes and lasted several days.

The application of nicotine patches had a similar beneficial effect in people with Parkinson’s disease, a condition that is characterized by exaggerated muscle movements and thought to be caused by the degeneration of the dopamine nerve cell system. Nearly 20 years ago, researchers noticed that heavy smokers were less likely to develop Parkinson’s. In 1994, Karl Fagerstrom of Pharmacia Research Laboratories reported that the symptoms could alleviated by use of the nicotine patch.

In the case of Tourette’s syndrome, nicotine is thought to block a set of nerve receptor cells activated by a chemical called acetylcholine. They are also activated by nicotine but, where acetylcholine leads to normal transmission, nicotine blocks transmission and gives a reduction of the Tourette’s syndrome symptoms.

In Parkinson’s disease, the opposite effect may be occurring. The disease results from the loss of nerve cells involved with the neurotransmitter dopamine. Nicotine may be increasing the brain’s levels of dopamine or, less likely, somehow regenerating damaged nerve cells. Nicotine may even play a role in the severe dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Paul Newhouse of the University of Vermont believes he has detected increased cognitive awareness in patients given nicotine patches.

It is not surprising that nicotine should have a strong effect on the human brain. It is, after all, chemically akin to many of the strongest opiates. Rosecrans’ contention that people smoke because of the possible benefits seems specious at best, however, for symptom alleviation is subtle and most of the sufferers would not be in a position to recognize it. Test the beneficial neurological effects of nicotine by all means, but do not use this as an apology for tobacco use.