Credit: Christopher Rywalt
IT'S RESTLESS NIGHT number three in a row. Four hours of counting the cracks in the ceiling, then an hour's sleep only to wake herself again with uncontrollable thrashing around. Most people's muscles are paralysed during dreams, but Sarah, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, physically acts hers out.
During the day she's exhausted and depressed about losing control of her muscles – and her life. But there is one consoling factor: if Sarah hadn't smoked before her diagnosis, it's likely her disease would be far worse by now.
A growing body of evidence suggests that smoking helps delay the progression of Parkinson's disease, and potentially other cognitive diseases as well. These are statistics that rarely see the light of day; they are hidden from the public by layers of anti-smoking campaigns and health warnings.
More than half of Parkinson's patients smoke, as do half of adolescents with severe Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The reasons why they smoke are uncertain, but research is finding some persuasive clues.
Marcus Munafo is a researcher who specialises in nicotine addiction at the University of Bristol in the southwest of England. He points to reams of irrefutable evidence against smoking a deadly cocktail of toxins (see Nicotine: why it's bad for you).
"Pure nicotine is a potentially lethal poison," he says, "and as a constituent of tobacco smoke contributes to the increased risk of heart disease associated with smoking. In particular, it is known to raise blood pressure."
But, he adds, it's important to remember that risk is relative and nicotine per se is not as damaging as it is often perceived to be.
In fact, cigarettes contain almost 3,000 other chemicals that are considered more dangerous than nicotine. "People equate smoking with nicotine, saying all nicotine is bad for you. However, most of the harm from smoking comes from other chemicals."
Munafo admits that the proposed use of nicotine as therapy raises ethical issues, but points out that the chemical's effects depend on how it is delivered to the body.
"The addiction potential of pharmaceutical nicotine products such as patches and gum is quite low, certainly much lower than cigarettes," he says. "With appropriate safeguards in place, there are no reasons to think that nicotine products could not be used safely for therapeutic purposes beyond their current approved use for smoking cessation."
