On February 17, a paper published in the internationally renowned academic journal Nature Communications pointed out that nicotine has a systemic anti-aging effect and that long-term intake of low doses of nicotine can effectively slow down aging.

　　The study, led by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, focused on the effects of nicotine on the body’s anti-aging substance NAD+ (an oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), which plays a key role in maintaining cellular viability. NMN, the world’s most popular anti-aging product, is designed to reverse aging by increasing intracellular NAD+ levels.

　　The higher the NAMPT activity, the more stable the NAD+ level and the more “anti-aging” it is. In animal studies, NAMPT activity in mice decreased with age. However, after 6-12 months of nicotine intake, NAMPT activity was significantly restored in the hippocampus, heart, muscle, kidney and all other tissues, especially the heart.

　　“We found that nicotine has a surprisingly direct effect in increasing NAD+ levels.” The authors write in the paper. This means that nicotine has a systemic anti-aging effect, significantly reducing aging symptoms in the brain, heart and other tissues.

　　Of particular note are the beneficial effects of nicotine on the brain. In several tests, the researchers found that long-term intake of trace amounts of nicotine helped older mice effectively relieve anxiety, protect memory and improve cognitive impairment. Nicotine also increased NMN levels in the brains of older mice, which in turn reduced their risk of brain cancer.

　　But for nicotine to have an anti-aging effect, both “long term” and “small amounts” are necessary. The mice in the experiment consumed nicotine for a minimum of 6 months, which is a long enough duration of use based on their average lifespan (2 years). The evidence for “trace” is more straightforward: the data show that long-term nicotine intake of 10ng/mL significantly increases NAD+ levels.

　　Taking specific products as examples, e-cigarettes with lower nicotine content may help users delay aging, while cigarettes with higher nicotine content may not be effective, or may even have the opposite effect. Even without considering the anti-aging problem, the harm of cigarettes is much greater than the harm of e-cigarettes. A number of global research data show that cigarettes contain nitrosamines, formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons benzene (A) pyrene and other 69 carcinogens, most of which are present in the tar and smoke produced by their combustion. In contrast, e-cigarettes without the process of burning tobacco can subtract 95% of the harm of cigarettes.

　　Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) subjournal JAMA Network Open in February 2021 noted that e-cigarettes have a harm-reducing effect and that health improves when smokers completely switch to e-cigarettes. Conversely, when e-cigarette users became smokers, their urine concentrations of several carcinogenic metabolites increased significantly, up to 621%.