Nicotine's Potential to Protect Brain Cells: The Influence of Nicotine on Alzheimer's Disease Risk in the United States: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Nicotine consumption increases brain excitability in a dispersed system of brain areas, such as the frontal cortex, amygdala, cingulate, and frontal lobes, in a dose-dependent manner. Stimulation in these areas is compatible with nicotine's ability to arouse and reinforce behaviour in humans. However, the effects of nicotine consumption on brain cells and the way it modifies them to either inhibit AD or facilitate AD is still unknown, therefore, the current scientific article aimed to address this research gap through analysing prior but latest research studies in this domain. Since there was a need to establish and explore more research regarding the positive impacts of Nicotine on patients with AD, a qualitative research design using secondary data was used to conduct the present scientific evidence. Four published papers within the year range 2017 to 2023 were acquired and thematically evaluated. Mixed findings regarding the impact of nicotine on brain cells and probability of getting AD were found however, there has been no clinical trials or enough empirical studies to support this assumption. Therefore, more research will be needed in the prospective to obtain credible and supporting results.

Keywords: Nicotine, Brain cells, nicotinic receptors, Alzheimer’s disease.