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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lycanthrope" data-source="post: 472705" data-attributes="member: 562"><p>Here are some genuinely unexpected (and reasonably well-supported) benefits of nicotine — especially when used in low, controlled doses by non-smokers or light users — that most people have never heard about:</p><table style='width: 100%'><tr><th>Benefit</th><th>What the evidence says</th><th>Typical effective dose/route</th></tr><tr><td>Strong protection against ulcerative colitis</td><td>Smokers have 1/5th to 1/10th the risk of developing UC compared to never-smokers. When smokers quit, risk shoots back up. Multiple trials show nicotine patches or enemas can put active UC into remission almost as well as corticosteroids.</td><td>5–15 mg transdermal or 2–6 mg enemas</td></tr><tr><td>Reduced risk and slower progression of Parkinson’s disease</td><td>50+ years of epidemiology: smokers have ~50–70 % lower lifetime risk of PD. Nicotine activates nicotinic receptors on dopamine neurons and appears neuroprotective. Ongoing trials with nicotine patches in early PD show slower motor decline.</td><td>7–21 mg patches (continuous)</td></tr><tr><td>Dramatic weight loss / appetite suppression</td><td>Smokers weigh on average 4–10 kg less than non-smokers at the same caloric intake. When people quit, they gain ~5 kg in the first year. Low-dose nicotine reliably suppresses appetite and increases resting metabolic rate by 5–10 %. Used off-label by models, bodybuilders, and some eating-disorder clinics.</td><td>1–4 mg gum/lozenge as needed</td></tr><tr><td>Possible delay of Alzheimer’s onset</td><td>Large longitudinal studies (e.g., Rotterdam Study, Honolulu-Asia Aging Study) show smokers have later onset of Alzheimer’s by several years. Animal models are extremely promising: nicotine reduces amyloid plaques and tau pathology. Human trials are mixed, but the epidemiological signal is strong.</td><td>Chronic low-dose (patch or gum)</td></tr><tr><td>Tourette syndrome & tic reduction</td><td>Multiple double-blind trials show 7–21 mg nicotine patches reduce tic frequency and severity by 30–50 % in children and adults with Tourette’s, often used as an adjunct to antipsychotics.</td><td>7–21 mg patches</td></tr><tr><td>Better fine-motor control and reaction time in non-smokers</td><td>Low-dose nicotine improves finger-tapping speed, tremor reduction, and archery/golf performance in studies on healthy non-smokers.</td><td>2–6 mg gum or lozenge</td></tr><tr><td>Mild antidepressant effect (especially in non-smokers)</td><td>Acute nicotine activates reward pathways and can lift mood quickly. Several trials show nicotine patches outperform placebo for clinical depression in non-smokers.</td><td>7–15 mg patch</td></tr><tr><td>Reduced risk of endometriosis and uterine fibroids</td><td>Epidemiological data consistently show smokers have ~50 % lower rates of both conditions (likely via anti-estrogenic effects of nicotine).</td><td>Chronic smoking or nicotine replacement</td></tr></table><p>Ones that are still “maybe” but interesting</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lower rates of preeclampsia in pregnant smokers (nicotine is vasoconstrictive, counter-intuitive but replicated).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Possible protection against some forms of thyroid cancer and sarcoidosis.</li> </ul><p>Bottom line: Outside of its well-known cognitive effects, nicotine has some of the strangest and most disease-specific protective profiles of any common substance — which is why researchers keep calling it “the most misunderstood drug.” Most of these benefits show up with slow, steady delivery (patches, gum, lozenges) rather than smoking or vaping.</p></blockquote><p></p>

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