Rather than burning the herb, which produces potentially irritating, toxic, or carcinogenic by-products; a vaporizer heats the material in a partial vacuum so that the active compounds contained in the plant boil off into a vapor. This method is often preferable when medically administrating the smoke substance, as opposed to directly pyrolyzing the plant material. Physiology
The active substances in tobacco, especially cigarettes, are administered by burning the leaves and inhaling the vaporized gas that results. This quickly and effectively delivers substances into the bloodstream by absorption through the alveoli in the lungs. The lungs contain some 300 million alveoli, which amounts to a surface area of over 70 m2 (about the size of a tennis court). This method is not completely efficient as not all of the smoke will be inhaled, and some amount of the active substances will be lost in the process of combustion, pyrolysis. Pipe and Cigar smoke are not inhaled because of its high alkalinity, which are irritating to the trachea and lungs. However, because of its higher alkalinity (pH 8.5) compared to cigarette smoke (pH 5.3), non-ionized nicotine is more readily absorbed through the mucous membranes in the mouth. Nicotine absorption from cigar and pipe, however, is much less than that from cigarette smoke. Nicotine and cocaine activate similar patterns of neurons, which supports the existence of common substrates among these drugs.The absorbed nicotine mimics nicotinic acetylcholine which when bound to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors prevents the reuptake of acetylcholine thereby increasing that neurotransmitter in those areas of the body.
Fucosidosis is a rare lysosomal storage disorder in which the FUCA1 gene experiences mutations that severely reduce or stop the activity of the alpha-L-fucosidase enzyme. The result is a buildup of complex sugars in parts of the body, which leads to death. Fucosidosis is one of nine identified glycoprotein storage diseases. The gene encoding the alpha-fucosidase, FUCA 1, was found to be located to the short arm of chromosome 1p36 - p34, by Carrit and co-workers, in 1982. Cause
Fucosidosis is an autosomal recessive disorder that affects many areas of the body. Mutations in the FUCA1 gene causes fucosidosis. The FUCA1 gene provides instructions for making an enzyme called alpha-L-fucosidase. The enzyme plays a role in the breakdown of complex sugars in the body. The disorder is characterized by lysosomal accumulation of a variety of glycoproteins, glycolipids, and oligosaccharides that contain fucose moieties. The deficiency of the enzyme alpha-L-fucosidase, which is used to metabolize complex compounds in the body (fucose-containing glycolipids and fucose-containing glycoproteins). With the lack of this enzyme activity, the result is incomplete breakdown of glycolipids and glycoproteins. These partially broken down compounds accumulate in various parts of the body and begin to cause malfunction in cells,  and can eventually cause cell death. Brain cells are especially sensitive to this buildup. Other results are progressive neurological deterioration, skin abnormalities, growth retardation, skeletal disease, and coarsening of facial features. Fucosidosis is the consequence of faulty degradation of both sphingolipids and polysaccharides.