Smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products have long been established to be harmful to the health. Not only does this cause various serious illnesses like lung and throat cancer to the smoker, it could also be detrimental to the health of non-smokers through the so-called ‘side-stream’ smoke or the smoke that non-smokers inhale from smokers.
That sounds quite unfair for the non-smokers who get sick, right? But there had also been a lot of smokers who died not just of cancer but also of other serious medical conditions.
What’s difficult to understand is that despite all the warnings and news against smoking, people still do it, anyway. Even as a lot of people die from smoking, many new ones take up smoking and develop the hard-to-shake habit!
In recent years, vaping is being advocated as the ‘better’ alternative to smoking. Because it no longer produces the usual smoke associated with cigarettes, many were led to believe that it was, indeed, far better and safer than smoking.
While that might be true on some aspects, it does not hold true for all! In fact, some experts believe that vaping is more dangerous than smoking, mostly because there is not enough data to prove that it is safer than smoking; thus, smokers tend to use the product more and are lulled by the false idea that they are taking the better option.
On VapeBuzz, over 60 experts weigh in on whether vaping is really better and safer than smoking. While there were some who said that that vaping is definitely better than smoking, most explained that it is actually just the ‘lesser evil’ and does not mean that it is really safe to do.
“The toxins and carcinogens have been found in the vapor of vaping devices; even though it is not burned like traditional devices, the heating of tobacco still creates toxins and carcinogens. While we do not know precisely yet the long-term safety of vaping, we do know the same types of toxins and carcinogens are released,” explained Dr. Sachin Gupta.
It is, of course, difficult right now to make conclusions because there is not enough data to support the stands of those advocating vaping and those against it.
“I believe that vaping may be more harmful than cigarette smoking because of the general lack of education surrounding vaping. The prevalent belief seems to be that there are no long-term negative health outcomes associated with vaping, but this view isn’t supported by research. The research actually suggests that vaping, like smoking tobacco, may change your DNA and increase your risk for cancer. Unfortunately, not many people know this and many who would not have tried smoking tobacco are trying e-cigarettes because they are completely unaware of the negative health outcomes,” Janelle Louis ND explained.
What are the Side Effects of Vaping?
Just like smoking, vaping can also cause a lot of harmful side effects to the body.
According to Vaping Daily, side effects include the following:
- Dry eyes
- Dry mouth
- Dry skin
- Dizziness
- Itchiness
- Nosebleeds
- Insomnia
- Chest pains
- Breathing problems
But because there is no data on the long-term effects of vaping in the body, it is really not safe to assume that it does not cause cancer and other serious illnesses related to smoking.
Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine and the director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, said that while vaping appears to be safer because less nicotine is delivered to the body than when the substance is burned through smoking, there is evidence that it has a substantial effect on blood vessels.
According to Live Science, this means that it can potentially worsen heart disease but it is currently unknown whether it can cause heart disease in otherwise healthy users.
But Prof. Glantz was more alarmed with the increase in the number of younger vapers because vaping is perceived as ‘cooler and safer’ by the younger generations.
What’s worse is that there had also been a number of reports pertaining to the explosion of vaping devices, more popularly known as e-cigarettes, due to the lithium-ion batteries.
Many experts including Dr. Michael Siegel, a tobacco researcher, and professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, admitted that because vaping is not more toxic than traditional smoking, it is a good alternative to those who are trying to quit smoking. But if you haven’t tried smoking yet, don’t take up vaping – it might be relatively ‘safer’ than smoking but it is not entirely safe.
This is a collaborative post.