E-Cigarettes: Helpful or Harmful?
Electronic Cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, are a battery powered vaporizer that simulates the feeling of smoking. They look like the real thing, they perform similar to the real thing and they are marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes; as well as a way to manage nicotine cravings if you’re trying to quit.
All e-cigarettes work in a similar fashion. When you take a puff, a battery heats up the liquid which contains flavoring (such as tobacco, menthol, coffee, candy, fruit and alcohol flavors). Once the liquid boils, it becomes a vapor you can inhale; because of this, using an e-cigarette is often called “vaping”. Features and costs of e-cigarettes vary. Some are disposable while others have rechargeable batteries and refillable cartridges.
E-cigarettes were developed to help provide tobacco users a smoke-free source of nicotine. The logic behind it was simple: if no smoke is released, merely a harmless water vapor, they must be healthier for you. So the big question is: Are e-cigarettes helpful or harmful?
In a major scientific review of research on e-cigarettes, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that industry claims about the devices are unsupported by evidence to date.*
While the data is still limited, we are learning that e-cigarette emissions are not merely a harmless water vapor as previously claimed, and can be a source of indoor air pollution. Since e-cigarettes do not burn or smolder the way conventional cigarettes do, they do not emit side-stream smoke; however, bystanders are exposed to aerosol exhaled by the user. In the studies, low levels of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, isoprene, acetic acid, nicotine and other toxins were measured in that aerosol.
Kaiser Permanente recently provided 3 good reasons to give e-cigarettes a thumbs down.
1. Safety concerns - After analyzing e-cigarette samples, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that some products contain cancer-causing agents and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze.
2. No convincing evidence they will help you quit - In fact, there is evidence suggesting the opposite: A 2014 study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, revealed that smokers who use e-cigarettes are a third less likely to quit than those who don’t use them.
3. What’s proven to work still works - Evidence shows the most effective way to quit is to use a combination of FDA-approved medications (like the nicotine patch, gum, lozenge, or bupropion) and counseling support.**
*CDA Journal, June 2015, Vol 43, pg. 287
**http://partnersinhealth.kaiserpermanente.org/june-2015/roseville-sacramento-south-sacramento/3-reasons-to-say-no-to-e-cigarettes-nat-june2015
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