Be wary of E-Cigs. They are NOT safer then tobacco cigarettes.
The E-cig market was new and exciting. I remember the first commercials that advertised them as a cleaner way to smoke. Everyone I knew who smoked ran out to buy the kit. Now it has grown to a huge market worth billions.
They started out shaped like plastic cigarettes and have now grown to large electronic devices. Some even have an electronic display where you can adjust harshness and nicotine levels.
It has become unavoidable. You can almost always see someone blowing a giant thick cloud of smoke, often times indoors. You walk by and you smell the pleasant scent that comes along with this giant cloud and you forget that you are breathing in harsh chemicals that this person has just blown into the air.
Almost everywhere you go you can find a new shop that has popped up to sell "Vape Pens" or E-cigs. They are promoted often as a safer alternative to smoking or as a means of quiting. They emit large clouds of vapor that doesn't produce the harsh smell cigarettes do and often times even smell nice, as they come in flavors like strawberry or vanilla.
A recent study also discovered that the use of E-Cigs are affecting genes involved in upper airway immune defense.
Smoking alters dozens of genes important in your immune defenses in the epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract. These changes are likely to increase the risk of bacterial infections, viruses and inflammation.
Vaping has been found to alter the same exact genes plus hundreds more that are important in immune defense. Inhaling the flavored vapor in the e-cigs seriously effects epithelial cell gene expression. This is a critical process where genes give rise to important proteins in the body.
The Vape market is swaying young people with a false sense of being a safe alternative to smoking and using flavors to make them even more appealing to a younger crowd.
Using the vape pens are also not a healthy way to quit smoking. Often times the person will end up smoking the vape pen where cigarettes are prohibitted, continuing to smoke when and where they normally would. Becoming dependent on the vape pen is NOT a safe way of quiting.
