In recent years, the evidence suggests that e-cigarettes may be a safer alternative to traditional smoking. The 2 practices both deliver nicotine to users–but in completely different ways and with different risks. In order to make choices about their healthcare people need to understand the science behind both kinds of smoke. Although at this stage nicotine is released a multitude of carcinogenic agents and bad chemicals also accompany it. What a Science column in Discover last November said is pure nonsense! In the long run, smoking is linked directly to many chronic diseases, such as lung cancer and heart disease from one bad habit that can never take its turn.
Tobacco Smoke
At present, the major damage from smoking comes mostly by the process of the cigarette being burned. This creates tar in two forms and carbon monoxide. The lungs and cardiovascular systems are both seriously injured by those substances .E-Cigarettes, The Alternative However, because e-cigarettes or vapes work differently. They employ a battery to heat an aerosol that contains nicotine and other chemicals. Then you breathe in this aerosol. The result of not having combustion is that harmful products like tar and carbon monoxide are also avoided. However, e-cigarettes have their risks, too. The aerosol may contain harmful substances, like heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and ultrafine particles which can deeply penetrate the lungs, as well as certain flavoring agents (e.g., diacetyl) have been linked to respiratory diseases such as popcorn lung.A Shared Cause: NicotineBoth traditional smoking and e-cigarettes give nicotine to the user, a very addictive chemical indeed. Nicotine itself is not a major cause of smoking-related diseases yet it does increase addiction. And in both forms of it can raise somebody’s chances for cardiovascular disease, in terms not just the physical effects on an addicted person–increased heart rate and blood pressure–but also the psychological dependence.
This is bad news for non-smokers, because vaping delivers those nicotine packets straight to their faces as well and creates a second generation of addicts. For smokers, the argument could still be that they are risking a bit less cancer–or none at all. But if e-cigarettes are smoked regularly, then all it does is prolong your addiction?
Assembling E-Cig Dangers
Cancer risk: In the UK, there are over three dozen different cancers caused by smoking combustion cigarettes. Longitudinal e-cigarette outcome research has yet to arrive, but the disease potential that e-cigarettes inject into your body remains uncertain–not unlike certain ingredients in e-liquids which may be carcinogenic.
Lung problems: Traditional, combustible cigarettes harm the lungs over time, resulting in illnesses such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. E-cigarettes may cause less damage but research also reports that inhaling, especially over a period of years, can still do harm from aerosolized substances.
Second-Hop Danger: The smoke from a regular cigarette is highly toxic. E-cigarette aerosol, while less harmful than conventional smoking, still contains nicotine and particulates (which are derived from tobacco ash) that might be dangerous.
Increasing the Odds of Addiction
Both e-cigs and normal cigarettes efficiently deliver nicotine, and can nourish habit. For those who smoke today, e-cigarettes offer a way to reduce harm (if used in moderation) but still leave behind an extensive dependence on nicotine.
Public Health 101
The public health implications of e-cigarettes are complex. On the one hand, they offer a less harmful alternative for current smokers who are trying to quit traditional cigarettes. However, on the other hand youth use of e-cigarette has garnered furor with flavors and encouraged kids–a group that never smoked before anyway.
Governments and health organizations are now contending over how best to regulate e-cigarettes. In some cases, e-cigarettes are recommended in smoking cessation programmes, while in others, restrictions aim at preventing their attraction among non-smokers and the young.
The Verdict: What’s Safer?
E-cigarettes might well be a less harmful way to take in nicotine. But they are not in every respect safe. For time they can be a very important interim step toward ultimately reducing harm to cigarette smokers that stick with them and especially if it means people going cold turkeys from their addiction entirely. On the other hand, for people who have never smoked before — particularly young people starting a new life where they think for themselves — there are big dangers in taking up e-cigarettes. This article identifies some of them and provides information on how to shield yourself from harm caused by them in daily life.
Most judicious, of course, where there is no hypocrisy in words and deeds, is to quit both traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. People addicted to nicotine should attend intensive, treatment-based cessation programs and take medication to stop smoking.