E-Cigarettes have steadily been gaining in popularity, but are people just inhaling another set of deadly chemicals in a cigarettes place?
I came across this article in Forbes while trying to find out more information on E-cigarettes. My mother quit smoking traditional cigarettes last year and has switched to E-cigarettes. I am happy that she has stopped smoking because she had smoked about a half a pack a day for 35 years. I am still really concerned though about her health now that she is “vaping” , which is what people who smoke E- cigarettes call their new form of smoking. I am hoping that she is not just switching one deadly habit for another.
There is not enough research being done to see what the long term effects are going to be for the customer. The idea behind them is a good one, a product that will eliminate the poisonous tar from entering into the smoker’s lungs. E-Cigarettes have been marketed as product to help people who are currently smoking find an alternative to the deadly addiction. There are a lot of headlines in the news now that are giving mixed findings on the studies being done.
The New England Journal of Medicine published an article that gave some interesting facts. They stated “the vapor can cause cancer up to 15 times more than a regular cigarette.” One of the chemicals used in the vapor is formaldehyde. This same chemical is also used in embalming fluid which is what funeral homes use to preserve the deceased.
The American Vaping Associating quickly came back with a statement and said that the findings are not accurate because the smoker would have to turn up the level of heat on the E-cigarette to a point that would burn the smoker’s lungs and would not be something that the smoker would be able to tolerate. The study did find out that the higher the heat the more toxins are released by the product.
Dr. Farsalinos published an article called The deception of measuring formaldehyde in e-cigarette aerosol: the difference between laboratory measurements and true exposure. In the article he explains the “dry puff phenomenon” which means that the smoker gets a horrible taste from the E-cigarette that is a direct result of the temperature being too hot. He went on to write about how the findings from the prior study did not reflect actual use of the product and should not be considered a likely effect for the daily user.
I have looked through the different links that where part of this article and I have not been able to find an solid answer that leads me to believe that the E-cigarettes are definitely going to do more harm than good for my mother. I do know that she has not had a traditional cigarette since she switched to “vaping”. There has to be some good from the fact that she is no longer breathing in all that tar. I hope that there will be more research done by someone who will give us a straight answer on the effects of the product. Currently I do know what to believe. Always do your own research and get informed before you become part of the next trend. I have attached the links to the articles I read below.
http://www.ecigarette-research.com/web/index.php/2013-04-07-09-50-07/2015/191-form-nejm
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1413069