Vaping or Smoking, which is better?

Smoking is the act of 'inhaling and emitting the smoke produced by the combustion of tobacco or another herbal substance prepared in the form of a cigar, cigarette, or pipe.' Unfortunately, this habit that is so widespread throughout the world does not have a negative image despite its numerous adverse effects.

One of the best alternatives, in addition to starting a treatment to stop smoking (such as Varenicline or Chantix), would be the use of electronic cigarettes. This product, invented by the pharmacist Hon Lik, appeared in 2004 in China as an option to quit tobacco. With vaping, the harmful combustion of conventional cigarettes does not occur. It has been the subject of controversy since its appearance due to the little information that exists about the effects of the product on health and the media that have damaged its image.

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But can you stop smoking using an electronic cigarette? Is it true that electronic cigarettes are very harmful? Why is vaping better than smoking? These are some of the questions that we are going to answer in this post in which we will talk about the differences between electronic cigarettes and tobacco.

What is it tobacco?

Tobacco is obtained from a perennial herbaceous plant, the nicotiana tabacum , specifically from its leaves. These require a preparation process involving drying and fermentation to be consumed in different ways. Some of the most widespread forms of consumption are the following:

Aspirated: Better known as snuff, it is a crushed and flavored tobacco preparation that is consumed by nasal aspiration.
Smoking: Most common form of consumption today. They can be cigars, cigarettes, cigars, etc.
Chewing: tobacco is placed between the cheek and gum and chewed to release the nicotine and its flavor.

Causes of smoking

Smoking is an addiction to tobacco use. This addiction, produced by the nicotine contained in the tobacco plant, causes both physical and psychological dependence, which in many cases is also social. The addiction to tobacco caused by nicotine is very difficult to cope with, so the consumer cannot quit easily and exposes themself to suffering from diseases.

But although it is widespread that nicotine is the cause of these diseases, that is not quite so. Nicotine is indirectly responsible for creating tobacco dependence, but it does not cause any disease. And it is that in tobacco we find hundreds of harmful chemical compounds that are inhaled when consumed. To better understand all of the negative effects that tobacco has, we must know the substances that we find in it.

Tobacco is made up of various substances in addition to the various additives that are added in the production process of cigarettes. Some of the harmful substances found in tobacco are:

Nicotine: This addictive substance is a component found in tobacco plant, but it can also be produced artificially (NRT). It is considered a drug for its addictive effect and produces euphoria and decreased appetite among other symptoms.
Tar: This is the substance that is produced when burning tobacco by combustion. This chemical compound is the main cause of cancer when smoked.
Carbon monoxide: Due to combustion, this poisonous gas is produced without odor or taste. This gas makes it impossible for red blood cells to carry enough oxygen for cells and tissues to live. It is as if you inhaled the smoke that comes out of the exhaust pipe of a car.
Additives: A series of additives are added to tobacco that can be to give smell or flavor, or simply to increase the effect of nicotine in the body as is the case with ammonia.

These are only four of the 4,000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful, and of those, 50 are carcinogenic. These are released the moment you light the cigarette, causing a number of life-threatening illnesses. Among them are 12 types of tumors: lung, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, stomach, cervix, bladder, intestine (colon and rectum), kidney, pancreas, and prostate, in addition to acute myeloid leukemia.

It also affects the predisposition to have breast cancer, causes cardiovascular problems such as the tendency to suffer from strokes and heart attacks, respiratory diseases such as emphysema, osteoporosis, loss of smell and taste, skin problems such as aging and dryness, myocardial infarction, sudden death, gum disease and tooth loss, dysfunction, etc.

On the other hand, smoking not only affects the smoker, but also people exposed to smoke by creating what is called “passive smokers”. Second-hand tobacco smoke (or HBP) has different harmful effects on both children (respiratory infections, decreased lung growth, etc.) and adults (pneumonia, bronchitis, etc.). A passive smoker inhales 85% of the smoke that the active smoker does not inhale.

What is an electronic cigarette?

An electronic cigarette is a portable electronic device that heats up to evaporate the liquids inside, allowing us to inhale the vapor produced and imitating the sensation of smoking.

Electronic cigarettes are simple devices that consist of: battery, power button clearomizer and mouthpiece. But how does a vaporizer work? The system works as follows: the battery heats the resistance, which is in charge of heating the liquid to vaporize until it evaporates and produces that vapor that we inhale from the mouthpiece.

There are different types of electronic cigarettes on the market with different shapes (cigarettes, pipes, etc.) and designs. These are the three types that are marketed:

Closed system: They use capsules previously filled with e-liquid to be vaporized that are disposable. They are the most comfortable and easy to use and therefore are the best alternative for smokers who want to take the step to electronic cigarettes. An example would be the
Myblu.eGo: They are an intermediate point between the closed system and mods. They are perfect for those who are just starting in the world of vaping and want to experiment with the infinite variety of liquids available on the market. They are not disposable and are filled with e-liquids.
Mods: They are more complex cigarettes to use, so they are recommended for people with experience in the world of vaporizers. These electronic cigarettes have a lot of configuration capacity and you can change things like the voltage or the temperature.

Depending on the electronic cigarette you use, you will have to buy capsules with the e-liquid or bottles of liquid to fill your tank. The components of e-cigarette liquids are: water, nicotine (choice), propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin (compounds found in many foods that are harmless) and flavorings. They can be purchased online or in specialized stores, and you can find them in different flavors, strengths, and with or without nicotine.

You can buy liquids with nicotine already integrated or buy nicotine separately. The level of nicotine contained in an e-liquid is indicated on the packaging. If you buy nicotine separately, it may contain 6, 12, 18, or 24mg of liquid nicotine.

Is vaping as harmful as they say?

There is some ignorance on the subject of vaping. It is established that smoking and vaping have the same harmful effects, but nothing is further from the truth.

Vaping is not as harmful as they say. In fact, using an e-cigarette is much better than smoking, although this does not remove the fact that there may be adverse effects from introducing external substances into your body.

Normally, the entire negative effect of e-cigarettes is attributed to the fact that liquids can contain nicotine, but as we have said before this is not entirely true. In the first place, whether or not a liquid contains nicotine is the user's choice, and obviously, if it is used as a therapy to stop smoking, it will have to carry a minimum content of nicotine for the treatment to work. On the other hand, nicotine is the cause of addiction, but the main problem with tobacco are chemical compounds such as tar that remain in our body due to combustion. An electronic cigarette does not burn to create vapor. For this reason, experts admit that not having combustion does not produce all those toxins that a conventional cigarette produces, but they maintain that it is still dangerous because it produces “other toxic substances.”

And that is where we find the main problem with the use of vaporizers: that there are not enough studies on the subject to conclusively affirm that these products are harmful to health and more in the long term. This is due to the fact that they are products that are barely 15 years old and a study of their effects over time cannot be made to demonstrate these theories. That is why we see that many doctors and researchers are cautious about its use.

Finally, for now it has not been shown that there are passive effects caused by the vapor produced by the vape. By not creating combustion and not having all of those chemical compounds such as carbon monoxide that we find in tobacco, it does not give off toxic smoke that can cause lung diseases like tobacco does.