The Acute Effect of Nicotine Intake on Anaerobic Exercise Performance
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: IntroductionIn recent years, studies have investigated whether nicotine intake can improve athletic performance. Some recent studies show an increase in the number of athletes consuming nicotine found in cigarettes or chewing tobacco. For example, the prevalance of nicotine consumption in the form of cigarettes and smokeless nicotine products before and during the the 2009 Ice Hockey World Championships games suggested that about half of the ice hockey players were active users (Marclay & Saugy, 2010).An extensive study collected 2,185 urine samples from 2010 to 2011 from athletes participating in 43 different sports and found that nicotine was consumed regularly by 15.3% of the athletes tested. These values are lower than in the general population, but athletes tend to smoke significantly less. Data showing the cumulative exposure to nicotine, nicotine metabolites and tobacco alkaloids were in some sports very high. Nicotine was found in 55.6% of American football players, 45.4% of ice hockey players, while for football players, basketball players and wrestlers the values ranged from 28.8% to 55.6% (Marclay, Grata, Perrenoud, & Saugy, 2011).Increased regular intake of nicotine may contribute to enhanced athletic performance. Nicotine belongs to the group of simple alkaloids, which mainly affect the autonomous nervous system. Nicotine has long been reported to significantly improve attention, learning and memory function (Heishman, Kleykamp, & Singleton, 2010; Levin, 2013; Levin, McClernon, & Rezvani, 2006; Poltavski, Petros, & Holm, 2012). We also need to mention that a desireable effect of nicotine for some athletes might be the reduction of body fat, especially when consumed together with caffeine (Davis & Green, 2009; Jessen, Toubro, & Astrup, 2003).Nicotine also probably has an effect on physical stress. It affects the release of catecholamines, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine, which have metabolic and hemodynamic effects (Metz, 2004). Besides increasing heart rate and blood pressure, nicotine has also been proven to increase myocardial contractility in animals and human subjects, with a subsequent increase in cardiac output (Behr, Leong, & Jones, 1981; Grassi et al., 1994; Hoyt, 2013; Okusaga & Postolache, 2013). Intake of nicotine from cigarette smoking is not suitable for aerobic performance because carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin and reduces the transport capacity of the blood for oxygen transfer (Hoyt, 2013; Rotstein & Sagiv, 1986; Turner & McNicol, 1993). Like other stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine consumption in other forms probably increases an individual's aerobic power (Bridge et al., 2000; Hodgson, Randell, & Jeukendrup, 2013; McLellan & Bell, 2004; Stadheim et al., 2013). In a unique study, scientists Mundel and Jones (2006) demonstrated that transdermal nicotine application (7 mg) significantly increased the endurance performance on non-smoking men.Also, studies evaluating the effects of nicotine on short-term maximum power using the Wingate test are rare. Weisman found no differences in anaerobic capacity in smokers, short-term abstinent smokers or non-smoking men (Williams, 2009). Other experiments showed nicotine's effect (via nicotine gum) on peak anaerobic power, anaerobic capacity and anaerobic fatigue in percentages. The results were not statistically significant (Meier, 2006).Our study evaluates whether nicotine, received in the form of sublingual tablets (4 mg), increases any of the parameters of the 30-second Wingate anaerobic test, which is used for evaluating short-term maximum athletic power in a group of non-smokers. Findings are based on:a) A number of urine samples demonstrating exposure to nicotine, nicotine metabolites and tobacco alkaloids in athletes where the sport they practice requires rapid power capabilities (Marclay & Saugy, 2010; Marclay et al., 2011).b) The possible effects of nicotine on 30-second maximum power. …
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W810541230