[WARNING: As a health care professional, I am EXTREMELY biased against ALL nicotine use. The following is representative of my bias on the subject. If that will offend you, read no further. I'm posting it to help add information to the topic of nicotine and phytoestrogen use.]
It amazes me that anyone using nicotine products considers themselves in great health, but to each his own. Even a cursory search for the effects and side effects of nicotine use yields some pretty scary stuff:
It is a highly addictive, psychoactive drug that crosses the blood brain barrier in 10 to 20 seconds after inhalation (smoking.) I would imagine it is similar with chewing.
It is highly toxic, more toxic than other alkaloids such as cocaine!!!. From wikipedia (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine):
Quote:The LD50 of nicotine is 50 mg/kg for rats and 3 mg/kg for mice. 30–60 mg (0.5–1.0 mg/kg) can be a lethal dosage for adult humans.[6][70] Nicotine therefore has a high toxicity in comparison to many other alkaloids such as cocaine, which has an LD50 of 95.1 mg/kg when administered to mice. It is unlikely that a person would overdose on nicotine through smoking alone, although overdose can occur through combined use of nicotine patches or nicotine gum and cigarettes at the same time.[7] Spilling a high concentration of nicotine onto the skin can cause intoxication or even death, since nicotine readily passes into the bloodstream following dermal contact.[71]
In the same article the side effects are listed as:
Quote:Nicotine increases blood pressure and heart rate in humans.[57] Nicotine can stimulate abnormal proliferation of vascular endothelial cells, similar to that seen in atherosclerosis.[58] Nicotine induces potentially atherogenic genes in human coronary artery endothelial cells.[59] Nicotine could cause microvascular injury through its action on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs),[60] however other mechanisms are also likely at play.
A study on rats showed that nicotine exposure abolishes the beneficial and protective effects of estrogen on the hippocampus,[61] an estrogen-sensitive region of the brain involved in memory formation and retention.
In an article on drugs.com another of the hematological side effects is (
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/nicotine-side-effects.html):
Quote:Hematologic
Hematologic side effects have included increases in platelet aggregation and enhanced thrombus formation.
On the drugs.com website the list of nasty side effects is long and includes most of the body systems. And that's not even considering the tumor growth promoting aspects of nicotine.
I think it is HIGHLY likely that the OP's nicotine use contributed to his embolic event. As I said in previous posts, he dodged a bullet that time and hopefully will take that incident as a wake-up call. Anyone taking exogenous estrogen and continuing to use nicotine is basically playing russian roulette, in my opinion.
As to the OP's question about whether phytoestrogen use in combination with nicotine use has been noted in men, very little research (none?) regarding phytoestrogen use, especially to induce feminization, has been done in men. I have read nothing that looked at risk factors such as nicotine use in combination with phytoestrogens. Nicotine in combination with phytoestrogens may or may not have the same risks as estrogen in combination with nicotine. No one knows. I know surgeons that refuse to do non-emergent surgery on smokers if they have not stopped smoking for at least 4 weeks prior to surgery because of delayed healing time and poor outcomes overall for smokers.
I have an early patient this morning so it's probably just as well I stop there. Hope this helps.
