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Comment by DivestTrump | Hacker News Reader

Absolutely. Oreos are vegan and nobody would argue they're healthy. As processed as some "meat alternatives" may be, it's still a better path than meat for health.

Objectively, nicorette is unhealthy, but doctors will recommend it all day if it helps you quit smoking.

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How is Nicorette unhealthy?

It contains nicotene -- a well known carcinogenic.

I'm not so sure that's the case: https://cancer-code-europe.iarc.fr/index.php/en/ecac-12-ways...

Nicotine does not cause cancer.

Nicotine is not, in any way, a "well known carcinogen".

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4553893/

From the abstract of your paper:

Recent studies have shown that nicotine can affect several important steps in the development of cancer

Also from the paper

>At present, it is not possible to draw a conclusion whether nicotine itself may act as a complete carcinogen

If you're going to quote it, include the bits that don't agree with you as well. The paper basically says "it may affect the role of other cancer causing agents, but we're not sure yet. We cannot say that nicotine is, in and of itself, a carcinogen"

Also reach back in time 30 minutes and remember that you claimed nicotine is, by itself, a "well known carcinogen", which is false.

Nicotine is NOT a carcinogenic. Lots of things in a cigarette are, but not the one thing that people want from it.

https://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2018/07/nicotine-cause-...

The local news and hospitals were citing a recent upward trend in the numbers of teens with a certain lung symptom. They linked it to vaping in teens. At the very end of the segment they said the lung issue could be caused by nicotine alone being inhaled, didn’t matter it if was vape or smoke.

Which would be a ridiculous use case. Everything is deadly at a high enough dose. No one in their right mind is vaping pure nicotine. It could kill you via skin absorption alone.

It's an immunosuppressant. Which can be useful at times, but the immune system has an important function and you probably don't want it suppressed except as a specific measured response to a particular problem.

Nicotine is a stimulant, and stimulants are not without side-effects. There isn't a stimulant known that doesn't put stress on the cardiovascular system. Nicotine increases blood pressure, heart rate and vasoconstriction.

Reminder that a low-grade stimulant like caffeine is considered to have deleterious effects.

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