E-cigarettes or vaping; it’s not as safe as you think!

Jul 03, 2022 News

Health Facts

Kaieteur News – The additive allure of tobacco products is evident as nearly seven out of 10 smokers say they want to stop but can’t seem to kick the unhealthy habit. A research paper released by the US-based John Hopkins School of Medicine seeks to explain why this is so.

E-cigarettes or vaping; it’s not as safe as you think!

Both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes contain nicotine, which research suggests may be as addictive as heroin and cocaine. What’s worse, Michael Blaha, M.D., M.P.H., director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease says many e-cigarette users get even more nicotine than they would from a combustible tobacco product: Users can buy extra-strength cartridges, which have a higher concentration of nicotine, or increase the e-cigarette’s voltage to get a greater hit of the substance.
And although they’ve been promoted as an aid to help you quit smoking, a recent study found that most people who intended to use e-cigarettes to kick the nicotine habit ended up continuing to use traditional e-cigarettes.

ENTICING A NEW GENERATION
Among youth, e-cigarettes, especially the disposable kind, are more popular than any traditional tobacco product. According to the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than two million U.S. middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes in 2021, with more than eight in 10 of those youth using flavoured e-cigarettes.

According to Blaha, there are three reasons e-cigarettes may be particularly enticing to young people. First, many teens believe vaping is less harmful than smoking. Second, e-cigarettes have a lower per-user cost than traditional cigarettes. Finally, youths and adults find the lack of smoke appealing. With no smell, e-cigarettes reduce some of the stigmas of smoking.

“What I find most concerning about the rise of vaping is that people who would’ve never smoked otherwise, especially youth, are taking up the habit,” says Blaha. “It’s one thing if you convert from cigarette smoking to vaping. It’s quite another thing to start up nicotine use with vaping. And, getting hooked on nicotine often leads to using traditional tobacco products down the road.”
Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it’s still not safe.

E-cigarettes heat nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavourings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic. While we don’t know exactly what chemicals are in e-cigarettes, Blaha says, “There’s almost no doubt that vaping exposes you to fewer toxic chemicals than smoking traditional cigarettes.”

Research from The Johns Hopkins University on vape ingredients published in October 2021 reveals thousands of chemical ingredients in vape products, most of which are not yet identified. Among those the team could identify were several potentially harmful substances, including caffeine, three chemicals never previously found in e-cigarettes, a pesticide, and two flavourings linked with possible toxic effects and respiratory irritation.

Research suggests vaping is bad for your heart and lungs.
Nicotine is the primary agent in regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and it is highly addictive. It causes you to crave a smoke and suffer withdrawal symptoms if you ignore the craving. Nicotine is a toxic substance. It raises your blood pressure and spikes your adrenaline, which increases your heart rate and the likelihood of having a heart attack.

Is vaping bad for you? There are many unknowns about vaping, including what chemicals make up the vapour and how they affect physical health over the long term. “People need to understand that e-cigarettes are potentially dangerous to your health,” says Blaha.

“Emerging data suggests links to chronic lung disease and asthma, as well as associations between dual use of e-cigarettes and smoking with cardiovascular disease. So chances are, you’re exposing yourself to all kinds of chemicals that we don’t yet understand and that are probably not safe,” Blaha said. (Source: John Hopkins School of Medicine)

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