Nicotine May Accelerate Atherosclerosis

Smoking cigarettes raises the risk of health problems from cancer to heart disease, but a U.S. study found smoking also increases hardening of the arteries.

Researchers at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City compared reduced-nicotine cigarettes with regular cigarettes and discovered that the extent of cigarette-smoke induced atherosclerosis in mice correlated with the levels of nicotine — the higher the nicotine, the more disease.

Right now, the general consensus is that the problem with cigarettes is tar and that nicotine is safe. That’s why you can buy nicotine gum or patches to help you stop smoking, study leader Dr. Daniel F. Catanzaro, of Weill Cornell Medical College, said in a statement.

Our study presents new evidence that nicotine may not be safe at all, especially for your heart.

The study looked at two so-called potentially reduced exposure products, or PREPs.

The study, published in the journal Cardiovascular Toxicology, found that mice exposed to smoke from low-nicotine cigarettes had significantly smaller atherosclerotic lesions, compared to those exposed to regular cigarettes but still larger than lesions in control mice not exposed to cigarette smoke, which showed the least evidence of atherosclerosis.