Why is it Necessary to Conduct Nicotine Test at Home? (Drugteststrips)

Nicotine, alcohol and illegal drug abuse is found to be more causative factor for deaths than any other problem in the United States. Nicotine is a nervous system stimulant and is addictive both physically and psychologically. With increase in tobacco consumption, there has been a necessity to detect the abusing individuals. Earlier, Nicotine testing was possible only in sophisticated hospitals and commercial laboratories. However, these days there are special home drug test kits that help you to detect nicotine abuse at home. Here is some information which helps you know the importance of Nicotine testing at home.

Tobacco-leading preventable cause of premature death
Tobacco abuse causes health problems such as bronchitis, pneumonia, brain and heart strokes, and other cardiovascular diseases. It is also responsible for mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, pancreas and stomach cancers that may lead to death and hence is considered a leading preventable cause of premature death. Tobacco smoking results in more than 400,000 deaths in the United States every year. It is hence important to prevent Nicotine abuse among people. Conducting Nicotine test at home regularly can help reduce tobacco abuse.

Millions of smokers in US
Nicotine abuse in US has become common. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health states stated that there were about 58.7 million cigarette smokers aged 12 or above in 2009. This contributed to about 23.3 percent of the population. Cigarette smoking was found to be more common among unemployed adults aged 18 or older and constituted about 41.9%.

Effects of Tobacco abuse

Nicotine
The chief component of tobacco, activates adrenaline that in turn stimulates the central nervous system. This increases blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate. Nicotine also affects brain pathways that control pleasure and reward.

Tobacco smoking causes lung diseases such as pneumonia, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It also increases the risk of heart diseases. Different hazardous chemicals including carcinogens in the smoke cause mouth, liver, and stomach cancers. Increased risk of diseases at earlier stages of life due to the abuse leads to premature deaths. Nicotine abuse also affects the personal and social life of the individuals. It is hence important to identify the abusers at primitive stages.

How to identify the abusers?
Tobacco abuse among your family members can be identified by certain signs and symptoms. Some of them include:

Smell of tobacco
Stained teeth or fingers
Shortness of breaths
Dizziness
Headache
Irritability
Loss of appetite
Frequent cough
Nausea
Sleep disturbances

Once you identify these signs, conduct a nicotine test at home to confirm the abuse.

How to conduct the test?
It is very easy to conduct a Nicotine test at home. Different types of kits are available for conducting urine, saliva and hair tests that detect the presence of Cotinine
a metabolite of Nicotine.

Urine test
Urine test is the most common method for testing Nicotine. It can detect cotinine for two to four days after tobacco use. The concentration of cotinine is higher in urine compared to saliva or blood. So, many home test kits are designed to detect cotinine in urine. The testing materials of the kit react with cotinine of the sample and give a positive or negative result.

Saliva test
It is a cheap and non-invasive method. A saliva sample is taken from the individual through a mouth swab. The saliva test kit checks for the presence of nicotine and cotinine. They can be detected for up to two to four days after use. As it is difficult to cheat the test by adulteration, it is considered to be ideal test that can be conducted at home.

Hair test
In this method, hair taken from any part of the body is checked for the presence of cotinine. The detection time for cotinine using hair test is more when compared to the fluid tests. The test is capable of detecting nicotine use for up to 90 days.

How reliable are drug test kits?
Home Nicotine test kits provide quick and accurate results. Some of them are sold in the market only after the approval of Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hence, they are found to be more reliable and can be used safely at home.

It is most important for parents to detect tobacco abuse in their children. Nicotine test kits serve this purpose well by enabling them to conduct the test in privacy and comfort.

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