The E-Cigarette: Benefits And Drawbacks

Cigarette consumption around the world

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 6 million people are killed as a consequence of tobacco, either directly, by smoking it or just by being exposed to second hand smoke. By 2030, almost 8 million people, mainly from low and middle-income countries, would have died as a consequence of cigarette smoking. The tobacco addiction is now considered as one of the most important epidemics that our society faces and several strategies have been developed by governments to lower smoking rates among the population.

Cigarettes, nicotine and disease

All tobacco products contain nicotine, which is a stimulant drug that causes addiction and makes it very hard for smokers to quit this habit.

In order to help smokers in the process of quitting this habit, several approaches have been developed to reduce tobacco consumption, such as taxes on tobacco products and bans on tobacco advertisements. A different alternative is the substitution of tobacco with other products that contain nicotine.

The e – cigarette: How does it work?

Electronic cigarettes were invented in China and have been in the U.S. market since 2007. Despite this, e-cigarettes are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to this organism, there is a pending modification on the current rule that regulates tobacco products in order to include e-cigarettes, but this is still in revision.

In other words, they are battery-operated devices that are designed to deliver nicotine, flavor and other chemicals in the form of aerosol. The aerosols that e-cigarettes produce are inhaled by the user, just as if it was a regular cigarette.  Where does the nicotine and chemicals come from? 

See Also: Exposing Ten Little-Known Facts About E-Cigarettes

The e-solution is constituted by nicotine, propylene glycol and glycerol, that work as solvents and humidifiers respectively, flavoring agents and other chemical compounds that are known to be toxic, such as aldehydes, phenols and metals. 

Benefits And Risks Of Electronic Cigarettes

Since its introduction as an alternative to tobacco, e-cigarettes effect on nicotine addiction and in the development of tobacco smoking related diseases has been studied. Until now, research has not been able to determine to which extent this product might help or harm its consumers. However, some evidence has been gathered and is presented here.

Advantages of using e-cigarettes

One of the most significant benefits of e-cigarettes is that they could help smokers reduce their normal cigarette consumption or even stop smoking.

In 2010, an Internet survey was conducted to evaluate the use and the level of satisfaction among electronic cigarette users.

In a different study, the effect of the use of the e-cigarette was evaluated in 40 regular smokers. After 24 weeks of having used the device, almost half of them showed a reduction in the number of cigarettes they consumed per day, from 25 to 6.  

This data suggests that the use of the e-cigarette does help in the process of quitting tobacco cigarettes, in dealing with the withdrawal symptoms that are characteristic of this process and in avoiding relapse. 

Another benefit of e-cigarettes is their cost. They are certainly much cheaper than tobacco cigarettes. Maybe in the beginning, the expense is a bit high, since the whole kit can cost from $40 to $100; but the monthly cost of e-cartridges can be half of what a smoker spends on regular cigarettes, depending on how frequent the device is used.

Disadvantages and potential health risks

An important issue to take into account about e-cigarettes is that their marketing and sale are not controlled by any organization. 

Moreover, e-cartridges are prepared without any standardized protocol or quality control measure, which puts at risk both the safety of the consumer and the seller.

If not handled with care, it could cause severe consequences. An example of this is that after the introduction of e-cigarette, cases of intoxication with e-cartridges solution have been reported, especially in children.

But are they as bad as tobacco cigarettes? This is still not known.

See Also: Why Some Health Experts Believe E-Cigarettes May Actually Be A Good Thing

There are reports of respiratory tract irritation as a consequence of the propylene glycol effects. However, much more evidence is needed in order to establish if the use of this device is safe or not.

Several organizations, including the FDA, are working on determining the health risks of electronic cigarettes and its proper control, in order to give the consumers reliable information that would help them on their choice of using e-cigarettes or not.