Nicotine Ingestion Reduces Heart Rate Variability in Young Healthy Adults

Abstract

Around the whole world, smoking is considered harmful to human health, such as increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD, such as coronary heart disease and stroke) and lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore whether nicotine, the main component of tobacco, has adverse effects on heart rate variability (HRV) in adolescents, so as to remind adolescents not to smoke and not to take pleasure in abusing nicotine. In this study, 40 male and 40 female young healthy nonsmoking subjects were selected to analyze the changes of HRV after taking 4 mg nicotine orally. We found that nicotine reduced HRV in young healthy male and female subjects, and there was no gender difference in this effect (P>0.05). In conclusion, smoking is harmful to the cardiac system of young people, especially when nicotine content ≥4 mg dosage.