Cigarette smoking is one of the most common methods of tobacco consumption. Smoking cigarettes can lead to nicotine addiction and cause other health problems. An E cigarette, on the other hand is an electronic device that simulates tobacco smoking.
STRUCTURE:
A cigarette is a narrow cylinder that contains burnable tobacco which is rolled into a thin paper for smoking. It is ignited at one end that causes it to smolder that results into the smoke being orally inhaled through the opposite end.
An E cigarette may come in many shapes and sizes, mostly battery operated with a heating element and a place to hold its liquid. An E cigarette produces aerosol by heating the liquid that contains nicotine. It might contain other chemicals or flavors that help in making the aerosol. E cigarettes go by many names; vapes, pods, coco, tank systems, ENDS or E hookahs.
CIGARETTES OR E CIGARETTES?
The use of electronic cigarettes has increased in the past few years and now they are preferred as the new tobacco product for today’s young people diming the limelight of traditional cigarettes and cigars.
An E cigarette works by heating a liquid that produces a vapor inhaled by the person. The liquid burns at a lower temperature in comparison to a traditional cigarette. Where a traditional cigarette contains tar, an E cigarette does not but it does produce other toxic chemicals particularly hard or heavy metals like cadmium and other metals.
It was commonly believed that vaping was less harmful than smoking but recent studies and evidences show that there is not much of a difference between the two. For a lay man, smoking is thought to be more harmful because the burnt tobacco’s smoke is being directly inhaled. But it is found out that vaping would cause the similar damage from heating up the liquid solutions and inhaling the vapor into the lungs. So it does not make much of a difference in the harmfulness from either a traditional cigarette or an electronic cigarette, given the concern for the addiction and future risk of tobacco use.
Both, smoking and vaping have their own side effects and risks to a human body. Scientists have not fully laid out the risks on the long term use of E cigarettes but it has been indicated that they are nowhere near a safe alternative to smoking. Neither smoking, nor vaping is beneficial to human health.
VAPING:
E cigarettes might contain a larger dose of nicotine that leads to the slow development of brains in fetuses, children and teens. The vapor created by the liquid is dangerous to adults and children if swallowed, inhaled or gets to skin contact. Dangerous chemicals are delivered through vaping that may include diacetyl, cancer causing chemicals, heavy metals and/or volatile organic compounds. It may normalize smoking again as it becomes more popular and increases the risk of tobacco and nicotine addiction.
SMOKING:
Unlike vaping that is considered relatively new to traditional smoking, years of research have backed up the claim that smoking is damaging to the human health. It causes damage to every organ in the human body. 90% of lung cancer deaths have occurred due to smoking and about 80% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Smoking has increased the risk of death and the risk of developing health conditions that might include heart diseases and strokes.
LONG TERM EFFECTS OF SMOKING / VAPING:
- It increases the risk of pregnancy lost or congenital disabilities
- Reduces the sperm count
- Increases the risk of cataracts
- Impairs the immune system function
- Increases general inflammation
- Can cause cancer in nearly any part of the human body including the lungs, stomach and kidneys
- It triggers asthma
- Causes the veins and arteries to block
- Increase the risk of a stroke
- Vaping releases free radicals that promote cancer development into the body
- It delays the brain development.
Nicotine is highly addictive. It is stated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) that around half of all smokers try to quit every year while only 6% manage to do so. However, nicotine alone is relatively harmless and switching from daily smoking of tobacco to daily E cigarette use can be a useful step for people to discontinue smoking.
Both vaping and smoking share similar negative effects of the body as they damage the lungs and causes a higher risk of cancer. But through what researchers have found out, vaping products contain fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes and can be found effective in quitting smoking altogether. However, while a vape can reduces the amount of tar and other harmful chemicals that a person inhales, it can also increase a person’s nicotine dependency so it’s a two-way effort to quit smoking or vaping.
