Smoking

[misslyx]

I started smoking when I was fourteen, I guess to fit in with my friends, and pretty quickly became dependent on them. It's been, dear god, almost six years now of smoking, and I'd love to be able to quit.
As silly as it might sound, I think a lot of it for me had to do with trying to self-medicate. I've always been extremely anxious and I think even my personality type probably plays a bit of a role.
Interesting topic, though. I've often wondered the same thing.

 

[alcyone]

LMAO! How about making pizzas with one half olive, one without?

Yeah I will admit it, I smoke also. Have done since around 18 or 19. I really want to stop, for health reasons. Ive been putting it off for months now. If there is one good thing about being sick with the flu or a cold its is the fact that I find myself truly tasting the disgusting burnt rubber smell of the tobacco, as the storm of mucus clears out through my nasal passages.

Im planning on quitting in the next couple of weeks...Somehow!

Nope! No special treatments. And its not just pizzas...I've made tapenades with olives, bruschettas, enchilada casseroles, breads with black olives, Mozzarella Spagetti (family recipe), I have a whole slew of recipes with black olives as main ingredients!

He can't bitch about it though, there is always the option of picking out the olives one by one, and bit by bit.....

 

[Pristinegirl]

The big problem for me would probably be the thought of never ever doing it again xD

 

[Motor Jax]

I did really well until Jax came down ... and no I am not at all blaming him ... he smokes and we used to relax together and watch movies, drink beer and smoke. He never even offered me one, but I would ask and he is not the type to put his foot down on anyone's choices ...

pretty much...

... and i haven't been smoking that much since i haven't really had beer for about 3 months...



ah ha... sounds like blame too...

 

[alcyone]

Yeah right...blame it on the beer! Its ALWAYS the beer's fault!

 

[Motor Jax]

yea, we have to blame something...

 

[Pristinegirl]

Stop poisoning your beautiful lungs <3

 

[IndigoSensor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzopyrene#Interaction_with_DNA

Among other things.

 

[Pristinegirl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzopyrene#Interaction_with_DNA

Among other things.

OH INDIGO HI I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO FIND YOU haha. Well I'm making a design and well maybe this is hard for you to answer but.

how does the pH level affect enzyme activity?

I need a hypothesis for this question and have no idea what to write.

Something like: The pH level will cause the enzyme activity to ....?!?!?!?! hahah =)

(SORRY I know it's off topic) xD

 

[IndigoSensor]

OH INDIGO HI I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO FIND YOU haha. Well I'm making a design and well maybe this is hard for you to answer but.

how does the pH level affect enzyme activity?

I need a hypothesis for this question and have no idea what to write.

Something like: The pH level will cause the enzyme activity to ....?!?!?!?! hahah =)

(SORRY I know it's off topic) xD

FUN!!!!!

pH refers to the presence of hydronium ions and hydroxide ions (it goes into more detail, but that is the jist of it). These ions cause changes in other molecules based on there localised pKa (akin to pH) values.

Protiens are constructed of amino acids in a peptide chain via peptide bonds. The order of these amino acids determines the overall structure of the protien. There are primary (the order of the amino acids), secondary (weather or not these orders form alpha helix or beta pleated sheet or non-form strands), tertiary (how the secondary structres interact and form shapes of the protiens), and quatranary (how the lumps of tertiary structrues fit together) stuctrues of all protiens.

All of these protiens (with the exception of cystine, which forms a disulfide bond) form hydrogen bonds with all of the end groups on the amino acids in the protien chain. pH will effect these interactions quite drasicly. pH allows the presence of H3O+ or OH- ions in solution, which can very easily overide hydrogen bonding, and change bonds themselves. Going outside of a protiens "active pH range" will cause it usually to denature. Denaturing of a protein means that it unwinds and just forms a squiggly spagetti noodle of a strand that largely does nothing. pH can can also cause the conformational change of a protien as well, changing the charge of ionic amino acids such as histidine. I could go on but I think I am getting long-winded

In a nutshell pH changes the protien stucture and can render it active or inactive. I am going to run to dinner, but if you have any more questions, ask away!

 

[Pristinegirl]

FUN!!!!!

pH refers to the presence of hydronium ions and hydroxide ions (it goes into more detail, but that is the jist of it). These ions cause changes in other molecules based on there localised pKa (akin to pH) values.

Protiens are constructed of amino acids in a peptide chain via peptide bonds. The order of these amino acids determines the overall structure of the protien. There are primary (the order of the amino acids), secondary (weather or not these orders form alpha helix or beta pleated sheet or non-form strands), tertiary (how the secondary structres interact and form shapes of the protiens), and quatranary (how the lumps of tertiary structrues fit together) stuctrues of all protiens.

All of these protiens (with the exception of cystine, which forms a disulfide bond) form hydrogen bonds with all of the end groups on the amino acids in the protien chain. pH will effect these interactions quite drasicly. pH allows the presence of H3O+ or OH- ions in solution, which can very easily overide hydrogen bonding, and change bonds themselves. Going outside of a protiens "active pH range" will cause it usually to denature. Denaturing of a protein means that it unwinds and just forms a squiggly spagetti noodle of a strand that largely does nothing. pH can can also cause the conformational change of a protien as well, changing the charge of ionic amino acids such as histidine. I could go on but I think I am getting long-winded

In a nutshell pH changes the protien stucture and can render it active or inactive. I am going to run to dinner, but if you have any more questions, ask away!

Thank you so much, you really know how to explain A quick reply as well I assume you were eager haha
I read on the 10 things about you and you really shouldnt put yourself down. I think it sounds as if you are a great chemist and most important of all you do it because you love it! I have a clear picture on the two variables now, pH activity and enzyme activity. Honestly I needed this info because it is due till tomorrow so I really appreciate it. So if I got it right it will denature. Does this go for i.e. when a strong base or acid is added to an enzyme (catalyst (?))

 

[IndigoSensor]

Thank you so much, you really know how to explain A quick reply as well I assume you were eager haha
I read on the 10 things about you and you really shouldnt put yourself down. I think it sounds as if you are a great chemist and most important of all you do it because you love it! I have a clear picture on the two variables now, pH activity and enzyme activity. Honestly I needed this info because it is due till tomorrow so I really appreciate it. So if I got it right it will denature. Does this go for i.e. when a strong base or acid is added to an enzyme (catalyst (?))

All enzymes are protiens and behave as such, enzymes are catylsits because they change the energy barrier for the reaction to be initated. A strong base or strong acid will almost always denature or flat out destroy an enzyme because they form such extreme environments. The olny time it wont denature or be destroyed is when the active pH range is within it.

For example, the protien pepsin (which is found in the stomach and is repsonsible for much of digestion) is most active between the pH range 1.5 -2 (this is memory so i might be off), outside of that window, the enzyme wont be as active as it could be due to minor conformational changes. If you exceed a pH value of 5, then it denatures. If you go below .3 then it also denatures (but your stomach would turn to soup before you got to that point :tongue1. It does not matter what kind of acid or base you use to change the pH, they all do the same thing. Say another protien has a active window of pH 8-10 If you used a very very strong acid such as HClO4 to denature the protien, it would do the same thing if you used a weak acid such as HC2H3O2. The olny difference is you would just need much much less of the perchloric acid.

 

[NephilimAzrael]

Indigo, Do you think it would be possible to create a synthesised compound or enzyme that could be used to inhibit mutations? Or perhaps even control/determine how the mutation effects DNA?

Or am I mistaken as to how carcinogens act on DNA?

 

[IndigoSensor]

Indigo, Do you think it would be possible to create a synthesised compound or enzyme that could be used to inhibit mutations? Or perhaps even control/determine how the mutation effects DNA?

Or am I mistaken as to how carcinogens act on DNA?

To my knowlage, that would be really really hard (if not impossible) to do. Our body already has protiens, compounds, ect. that do just that, and they usually do a pretty good job at it to begin with.

I would imagine there would be a way to make these fixing reactions more efficent and specefic, the problem is they could also become over-zealous easily and cause mutations themselves.

To stop carcionogens from being carcinogens you would have to either chemically change the carcionogen into something else, or use something to block it from doing any damage, but if you do that then you could stop good things from getting to where it needs to.

 

[NephilimAzrael]

It seems like a beautiful challenge though.
Think of the benefits of being able to develop a prototype to carcinogen inhibitors.

 

[just me]

Read what smoking does to DNA.
Smoked. Quit cold turkey. To make it short, a friend was feeling bad and went to the doctor who sent him to the hospital where he died in three weeks from cancer. The doctor told me to "think pink". I did what he asked me to do and looked deep inside my throat in the mirror with a light. He told me that is where cancer grows. I wanted pink again so I quit.

 

[PsilocinProject]

I smoke a pack a day. I hate the habit but I haven't had the willpower to stop. I actually enjoy it. Gives me a chance to go outside, stretch my legs and admire the weather for five minutes. Plus, the seldom nicotine rush helps out.

I didn't start until right before I turned nineteen and I've been smoking about a year and a half now. It's a personal choice and I'm completely aware of all the shitty adverse effects.

To quote Mark Twain: "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I've done it thousands of times."

 

[acd]

I didn't start smoking til I was older..
I started out bumming out of curiousity when I was stressed out, and really enjoyed the little nic buzz and the feeling like my head was pounding like an overloaded washing machine.
Then I just started smoking after a stressful period, bought my first pack.. and, this is sick-- but believe I do it out of an anger that I cannot express, and so it is internalized by doing myself fashionable harm...

 

[Milon]

Never smoked. Never like the look, the smell, the cost, the side-effects... Plus I'd hate having to break the addiction!

I smoke a pack a day. I hate the habit but I haven't had the willpower to stop. I actually enjoy it. Gives me a chance to go outside, stretch my legs and admire the weather for five minutes. Plus, the seldom nicotine rush helps out.

I didn't start until right before I turned nineteen and I've been smoking about a year and a half now. It's a personal choice and I'm completely aware of all the shitty adverse effects.

To quote Mark Twain: "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I've done it thousands of times."

One of my co-workers used to smoke 4-5 a day. She tried to quit several times, no dice. Then one day, when she really wanted a smoke, she said to herself: "Sure, you can have one. Really. You can have a smoke. But ask yourself this - do you want to be a smoker? Or do you want to be a non-smoker?" She really wanted to be a non-smoker, so she opted to not have the smoke. After repeating that enough times, she realized she'd quit cold-turkey.

 

[amethyst]

I didn't start smoking til I was older..
I started out bumming out of curiousity when I was stressed out, and really enjoyed the little nic buzz and the feeling like my head was pounding like an overloaded washing machine.
Then I just started smoking after a stressful period, bought my first pack.. and, this is sick-- but believe I do it out of an anger that I cannot express, and so it is internalized by doing myself fashionable harm...

i always thought that in order to be a smoker you had to have a certain amount of a self destructive tendancy.... i quit smoking on monday, so i'm a bit cranky i do miss them because they are kinda lovely but my motivation for quitting is rooted in trying to look after myself. i dream of waking up every morning and jumping enthusiastically out of bed and feeling great. we'll see.
i quit about 3 years ago & lasted for 2 and a half. then that stressful period came along and i caved. it's much easier this time though cause i wasn't as dependant on them.