Combined Toxicity of Ethanol and Tobacco

Ethanol consumption and tobacco use are corelated. Ethanol consumers smoke more than nonsmokers, and smokers are more likely than non-smokers to consume ethanol.I25,66 Cardiovascular, immunological, and 

Human volunteers who were pretreated with nicotine via a transdermal patch and then consumed ethanol reported that ethanol s effects (feeling drunk and euphoria) were enhanced relative to those not pretreated with nicotine. It was found that heart rates were increased by nicotine and that ethanol-induced heart rates were further increased by nicotine. The authors conclude that the results of this study may help explain the high prevalence of the combined use of ethanol and tobacco J66  

A canine study showed that cardiovascular excitatory effects were syn-ergistically increased by a combination of ethanol and nicotine relative to nicotine alone. Ethanol alone had minimal cardiovascular effects under the conditions of the study.  

In an in vitro study involving human lymphocytes, it was demonstrated that ethanol and nicotine, at noninhibitory levels when added alone, showed significant suppression of natural killer cell activity when added combined. Natural killer cell activity is crucial to good health. The authors conclude that the immunological suppression effects of the ethanol/nico-tine mix may have clinical implicationsJ68l 

Ethanol and tobacco are used recreationally worldwide by millions of people. Ethanol is a single compound with well-known toxic effects. It, however, combines with other environmental toxicants to produce toxic effects that are often not predictable. 

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