When electronic cigarettes in 2004 only appeared on the market, their manufacturers positioned this product as a harmless alternative to conventional smoking, as well as one of the ways to get rid of the addiction. Ten years have passed, and not a trace remains from the former euphoria. Moreover, skeptics claim that e-cigarettes pose a health threat by exposing smokers to carcinogens. Is it so? What do these unusual smoking objects bring - benefit or harm? There is no definite answer yet.
At the present time, by order of the US Food and Drug Administration, several studies are being conducted to determine the long-term effects of the use of electronic cigarettes. What do we know about them?
What are electronic cigarettes made of?
Electronic cigarettes are devices that in the process of heating nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals are converted into vapor that is inhaled by a smoker, a kind of inhalation. Nicotine is released without burning tobacco, so these cigarettes were positioned as safer and less toxic than traditional ones.
Despite the fact that many years have passed since the appearance of the products described on the shelves, there are still no real data on the side effects of these cigarettes (with the exception of marketing campaigns that, as is well known, disseminate extremely positive information ).
The flow of e-cigarette praises is not so much confidence as questions. Here are the main ones:
- How much nicotine and other harmful substances enters the body when tightening?
- Do e-cigarettes really help to quit smoking?
- Could they cause young people to start smoking tobacco products?
Those 48 research projects to which the US Food and Drug Administration sent 270 million dollars do not promise quick answers to these questions. Perhaps the uncertainty in the assessment of electronic cigarettes will continue until 2018. Waiting for so long self-respecting organization can not afford. Therefore, several proposals of US officials are already being implemented.
- prohibition of sales of electronic cigarettes to persons under the age of 18;
- sticking warning signs on packages;
- state licensing of current and future manufacturers.
In Russia, since June 1, 2013, smoking of electronic cigarettes in public places is prohibited, and their advertising is not allowed. However, manufacturers are still challenging the use of anti-tobacco legislation to "high-tech nicotine products."
Which cigarettes are more harmful - electronic or regular?
Experts of the American Cancer Society argue that the safety of electronic cigarettes, not to mention their effectiveness as substitutes, is not scientifically proven. And since security is not guaranteed, people who prefer electronic cigarettes may simply acquire a new addiction. Experts are also worried about the idea that young people, starting with an electronic counterpart, will want to try ordinary smoking.
Photo: electronic-cigarette-review.biz
The results of current research on electronic cigarettes are extremely mixed.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found out that the number of calls to poison control centers increased as a result of adverse reactions to e-cigarettes.If in 2010 there was an average of one call per month, then by 2014 their monthly quantity had increased to 215 (even for ordinary tobacco products nothing like this was observed). The most common side effects that callers complained about were nausea, vomiting, and eye irritation.
Another study, which was aimed at studying the short-term effects of electronic cigarettes in different people, revealed an increase in body resistance some time after the first puff of an electronic cigarette. According to many researchers, these results show the actual harm done. But in order to determine whether the negative effects are long-lasting, such conclusions are few.
There is another controversial issue:
Do e-cigarettes help quit smoking?
One study found that participants who smoked e-cigarettes dropped their habit by 60% more often than those who used nicotine patches, or those who tried to quit. Other tests did not confirm such optimism: electronic devices gave the same effect as ordinary willpower or nicotine patches. Here, scientists still do not have enough statistics to isolate from the total number of cases of farewell to addiction after the use of electronic cigarettes.
So are electronic cigarettes harmful?
The final version has not yet been expressed, but the cheap popular picture that semi-underground advertising gives us clearly does not fully reflect reality. Electronic cigarettes are not so harmless. It remains to wait for the results of the research launched and hope that as a result they will not reveal something more terrible than the ineffectiveness as an anti-smoking measure. In the meantime, it may be worthwhile to try alternative ways to curb cravings for smoking in the bud.
