Smoking vs Vaping – When it comes to smoking, we can’t really say that it is a healthy and good habit. It is proven that smoking is a risk to our health, on all of our organs, and it affects the people around us too.
But as technology evolved, we are given the option to change from an extremely unhealthy habit to a less harmful version.
To understand why vaping is better than traditional smoking, let’s discuss each practice individually.
Smoking
When you smoke a traditional cigarette, you burn the tobacco wrapped in a thin layer of paper. Then you breathe in and taste the smoke. The tobacco in these cigarettes is dried leaves from the tobacco plant.
The main chemical in tobacco is nicotine. However, nicotine is toxic, addictive, and a stimulant. Stimulant means that it speeds up the messages that travel between your brain and body.
There are 7000 chemicals in a regular cigarette, from which 250 are known to be harmful.
In the UK, smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illnesses. Every year around 78,000 people die from smoking. Usually, death is caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary heart disease, and lung cancer.
Both regular cigs and vapes have nicotine in them. The reason I am mentioning it here is that a large percentage of people misattribute the risk of health to nicotine. Four out of ten think that nicotine is the reason for lung cancer. This is not true. It does attribute, but the most danger is tobacco itself, which has around 70 cancer-causing chemicals.
Vaping
E cigarettes operate on batteries, and the device heats up e liquid by a small metal coil. E liquid is a mix of vegetable glycerin (VG) or propylene glycol (PG), flavourings, nicotine, and some water. Due to the heat, the liquid evaporates, creating vapor which you then inhale and breathe out.
In the UK and in all Europe, e cigarettes are regulated by the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). Having these rules set up, we can ensure that the highest quality and safest products and materials are on the market.
The TPD’s main rules restrict e liquids to a nicotine strength of no more than 20mg/ml. E cigarette tanks have a maximum capacity of 2mls. And the maximum volume of nicotine-containing e liquid for sale in one refill container is 10 ml.
As you can see, it is all very much controlled, which is a pro on the side of vaping. With regular cigs, you cannot regulate how much smoke you put in your own paper unless you buy the ready cigarettes. But those 7000 chemicals are still there.
As vaping is still quite a new thing, there aren’t as many researches about the topic and chemicals as about smoking. But it is definitely known that there are way fewer chemicals in e liquids.
Studies show
The VESUVIUS study by Professor Jacob George from the Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Therapeutics at Dundee University in 2019 was about e cigarettes and their effect on vascular health.
This two-year trial recruited 114 heavy smokers, and he separated them into three groups. One group continued smoking tobacco, the other switched to e cigarettes with nicotine while members of the third group changed to e cigarettes without nicotine content. The trial showed that those who changed to e-cigarettes significantly improved their cardiovascular health within four weeks.
I have to outline that this doesn’t mean that e cigarettes are healthy or harmful. But they prove to be less dangerous than traditional tobacco cigarettes.
As Professor Jacob George says, “They should not be seen as harmless devices for non-smokers or young people to try. However, for chronic tobacco smokers, there were significant vascular function improvements within a month of switching from a tobacco cigarette to an e-cigarette.”
I believe this is a reassurance for vapers to definitely not revert back to smoking. In fact, if someone wants to quit smoking, completely changing to e-cigarettes could be the first step.
Make sure you don’t use any black market products or modify your e cig
To make sure e cigarettes are kept at the lowest risk in terms of our health, it is also important not to modify our vaping devices or use the black market changed e liquids. As of Jan 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 60 deaths caused by lunge injury named EVALI.
The deaths were associated with e cigarette or vaping product use mainly because they modified their e cigs. And these contained tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). IN THC –and this is where we get a bit chemical – Vitamin E acetate can be found. This is a thickening agent often used in THC vaping products. It was found in all lung fluid samples of EVALI patients.
Interestingly Vitamin E acetate is okay when you swallow it or apply it on your skin. Yes… they add this to skincare products. But when you inhale it, it lingers on in your lungs, causing harm to it.
Overall, we can say that smoking is much worth for your and other people’s health. Why? Because vaping could have less harmful effects. It is also essential to keep in mind to buy your products from an authentical supplier like https://vapestorm.co.uk/.
