“It is not known whether e-cigarettes may lead young people to try other tobacco products…which are known to cause disease and lead to premature death.” – United States Food and Drug Administration
“Testing of some e-cigarette products found the vapor to contain known carcinogens and toxic chemicals.” – National Institute on Drug Abuse
“E-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than tobacco and could be prescribed on the NHS (National Health Service) in future to help smokers quit.” – BBC News
Who’s right and who’s wrong? Who should you really trust? Let’s find out more about this electronic device and the health community’s response to it.
E-cigarette is an electric “smoke machine” composed of a cartridge, a heating device (vaporizer) and a battery (some are rechargeable, others aren’t).
The liquid contained in the cartridge is liquid nicotine, which is heated upon inhaling, and then transformed into vapor that is inhaled by the user. The liquid is normally composed of nicotine and propylene glycol (a synthetic liquid substance) or nicotine and vegetable glycerin (a carbohydrate derived from plant oil). With this mixture, some type of synthetic flavoring is usually added (chocolate, bubble gum, watermelon, etc.). Vaping is commonly used to define those using this device as compared to smoking regular cigarettes.
Nicotine is a Psychomotor stimulantwhich acts on both neurones in the brain and the muscles in your body. At low doses, nicotine is almost similar to caffeine, it acts as an excitatory chemical; however at high doses, it can cause seizures and even death. It is more likely for a person to overdose on nicotine than coffee (True story!)
E-cigarettes were produced for the purpose of helping heavy smokers quit smoking but according to some doctors and researchers, this electric cigarette contains toxic and carcinogenic compounds that make it in no way better than a regular cigarette. Whether that is true or not remains unknown.
While some health professionals are encouraging the use of e-cigarettes, others are worried and constantly asking questions such as “Are these devices delivering nicotine only, or are they delivering other toxic and harmful compounds?”, “could vaping lead teens to smoking?” and most importantly “How will that surface on the long run, after many months and years of heavy use?”
As part of the health community, we encourage you to discuss the matter with your doctor or another option would be to resort to other, more-established quitting options such as counselling and medication, up until more promising and reassuring results are delivered to the public.
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