Go on, vape! Many people still believe that vaping is as bad as smoking ordinary cigarettes

MANY people still believe that vaping is as bad for you as smoking regular cigarettes.

But this is not the case.

They also think that because you inhale nicotine into the steam of electronic cigarettes, you are just as likely to get lung cancer as you are to smoke tobacco.

You are not.

There is also concern that vaping will serve as a gateway for youth who have never smoked, allowing them to become traditional cigarettes and harm their health.

They are also concerned about "normalizing" smoking just as public health campaigns are helping more and more people quit smoking.

All the evidence, however, indicates that this is simply not the case.

Do not misunderstand me, as a doctor, I would prefer it if nobody smokes or evaporates.

Years ago, as medical students, who should have known better, many of us smoked a bit – often to conceal the terrible and lingering smell of corpses we had to dissect. in the room of anatomy.

But we quickly stopped to see for ourselves the long-term effects of smoking on the human body.

At the Museum of Pathology, we would see a beautiful healthy pink lung, sitting in a jar of formaldehyde, right next to another lung, black with tar and soot from smoking, in the center of which was a hard cancer seal the size of a white grapefruit with tentacles reaching other adjacent organs, including the liver and brain.

Smoking kills.

Later, as qualified physicians in services, we saw the terrible consequences.

People who could not breathe without an oxygen tank, people suffering from heart attacks or strokes, amputations or removal of the voice box for throat cancer.

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We have seen – and are still seeing – the damage done to the unborn children of pregnant women, who remain addicted, and the increased risk of chest and ear infections caused by passive smoking, as well as meningitis and of leukemia in children who live in smoking households.

The medical evidence is irrefutable. Smoking tobacco is bad news.

But vaping is different.

You heat up a solution called e-liquid, which usually contains nicotine, a propellant called propylene glycol and / or vegetable glycerin and flavors.

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What you do not do is burn tobacco or produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements of tobacco smoke.

Of course, some vapes may contain a fraction of the harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke, but they are present at much lower levels, if they are detectable.

So are they safe? According to all the international testimonials of medical experts from public organizations such as Public Health England, the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Practitioners, the British Medical Association and Cancer Research UK, electronic cigarettes are at least 95% safer than traditional cigarettes.

The American Cancer Society and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine are in agreement with them.

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Yes, nicotine, of course, is addictive. But what? Caffeine is so, even eat.

Contrary to popular belief, nicotine does not give you cancer and is relatively harmless in general.

Apparently, only 17% of the population knows it.

Fortunately, there is no evidence that the vapors caused damage to other people and, if used instead of gum or nicotine replacement patches, they can even help expectant mothers stay smoke-free. long-term.

As a doctor, I do not want young people or non-users of nicotine to try to get out of breath. Already. Period.

In this case, regular use of e-cigs in "never" smokers is still very rare, barely 0.5%.

But look what they did to help smokers quit.

In the United Kingdom, 1.7 million vapers completely stopped smoking and more than 900,000 gave up smoking and vaping.

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In fact, it is the most popular method in Britain to stop smoking, with two-thirds stopping successfully when used with NHS professional support to stop smoking.

In this country, we apply some of the most stringent regulations in the world.

Electronic cigarettes are subject to minimum standards of quality and safety, as well as clear requirements for packaging and labeling.

All the ingredients must be notified, advertising is banned in the media such as television, newspapers and magazines, it is illegal to sell them to people under 18 and to adults who intend to pass them on. under 18 years old.

It's responsible regulation, no matter how you look at it.

This month's national Stoptober campaign recommends using e-cigarettes as an aid to the fight against smoking. If it helps some of the 9 million British smokers to permanently quit this habit, doctors like me may see fewer people in our surgeries having trouble breathing or being devastated by a cancer diagnosis.

And if I see one of my former patients smoking quietly outside the door of my office, I give them a warm pat on the back and cherish the fact that there will be a less nasty end that pollutes the street.

Is steaming bad for you, what are the e-cigarette laws, and are they safer than regular tobacco?

Too new for long-term effects

By Abbas Kanani, Pharmacist Click Pharmacist

NICOTINE contained in e-liquids is a highly addictive substance that raises blood pressure and raises adrenaline, thus increasing the risk of heart attack.

This is particularly worrisome, as we are seeing a number of people who are constantly out of breath, especially since it is considered more convenient and less expensive than lighting a cigarette, while being considered more socially acceptable to vape on the inside.

Although vaping seems to be safer than cigarettes, the truth is that it is not long enough for us to know the potential damage it can cause to our health.

The long-term effects of chemicals in e-liquids have not been examined.

However, I have reviewed various research that has been done on some e-liquids containing substances that can cause immune system damage and related to other health issues such as cancer.

Vaping is not good either for your oral health.

Vaping often causes dryness of the mouth and I have met a number of people who have developed oral thrush, probably caused by vaping.

Although nicotine does not have any color, it turns yellow when combined with oxygen, which may cause discoloration of teeth.

Since nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, it restricts blood flow to the oral tissues, which can lead to gum disease and bad breath.

Over time, I read new research that proves that vaping has a negative effect on health.

To what extent, only time will tell.