Sometimes controversial, the electronic cigarette (e-cigarette or vapoteuse) can be useful to stop smoking. What is really its composition? Is there nicotine inside? What are its health benefits and dangers? Explanations with an addictologist and a tobacco specialist.
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SUMMARY
- Definition
- How it works ?
- Composition
- Benefits and efficiency
- Disadvantages
- Dangers and Risks
- Price
Definition: what is the electronic cigarette?
Appeared in the 2000s, the electronic cigarette is a device which has the appearance of a cigarette and which delivers to the smoker a flavored vapor , containing or not containing nicotine . Thus, it allows some smokers to gradually wean themselves off tobacco. ” Indeed, the doses of nicotines are lower, but the fact of vaping the electronic cigarette allows smokers who have trouble losing their gestural habits to wean themselves slowly “, explains addictologist Anita Diu. However, its use is highly controversial. Tobacco specialists do not all agree as to its usefulness: for Doctor Bernard Antoine, tobacco specialist, the electronic cigarette “does not necessarily prevent having cravings to smoke, and maintains behavioral addiction, since the smoker continues to do this and does not learn to do without it . “ Moreover, although it does not contain Strictly speaking tobacco, the electronic cigarette still contains toxic substances, in much less quantity, but whose effects on health are not yet known today.
How it works ?
The principle of the electronic cigarette is to produce an imitation of tobacco smoke in the form of an aerosol. If there are several kinds of electronic cigarettes, they all have the same components: an atomizer containing a resistance that will vaporize the liquid, a reservoir for the latter, a battery that powers the atomizer and a nozzle allowing the user to suck in the steam. Thus, the most common technique consists in heating the liquid (or e-liquid) thanks to the resistance forming part of the atomizer. This will vaporize the liquid and produce an aerosol that the vaper can inhale. Unlike conventional cigarette smoke, electronic cigarette smoke has a low odor and evaporates very quickly.
Composition
The electronic cigarette is more and more often offered to smokers to help them quit smoking . The liquid which will then be vaped is composed of nicotine, an artificial flavor, glycerol (glycerin) and propylene glycol . So that smokers can slowly wean themselves off nicotine, several dosages are available, more or less nicotine dosed. Note that there are also cartridges without nicotine. According to its inventor, the Chinese Hon Lik, ” this cigarette does not seem to produce any toxic products, neither tar, nor other carcinogenic products, does not emit any odor and could be used everywhere.. “. It nevertheless contains particles and carcinogenic or toxic substances, but in much smaller quantities than those of the real cigarette. ” Electronic cigarettes in France must meet standards: the nicotine level must not be too high, and the substances propelled in the gas are regulated “, specifies the addictologist.
The vaporette, less dangerous than cigarettes, helps to stop and reduce tobacco consumption. 700,000 smokers have quit thanks to it *.
Benefits and effectiveness for quitting smoking
“ The electronic cigarette is infinitely less toxic than cigarettes, assures Dr. Anita Diu. It is a good way to quit smoking for many people who are very attached to gestures (the fact of bringing the cigarette to his lips and to inspire the smoke) and do not manage to do without immediately. Nevertheless, for the electronic cigarette to have a real advantage for the smoker, this one must not smoke next to it: ” it is very important to knowing that smoking ‘just’ three cigarettes a day is enough to be at risk of cancer or disease. There is no such thing as a ‘little’ smoker “explains the specialist.the electronic cigarette can help a smoker to quit if he no longer touches a ‘real’ cigarette and gradually reduces the level of nicotine in the vapoteuse . Doctor Bernard Antoine is more skeptical about electronic cigarettes, but recognizes that , “in some people, vaping can reduce the risk of smoking… But only if they play the game: do not smoke on the side!” . Thus, it can be useful to follow a therapy with a tobacco specialist nearby, especially if one is dependent on the act of smoking: ” This will make it possible to understand all the mechanisms of addiction and not to be in pain when trying to stop , explains the doctor, and this will limit the risk of replacing one addiction with another .
Quitting smoking: methods, side effects, motivation
Tobacco causes a strong psychological and physical dependence. He would be responsible for 75,000 deaths in France. How to succeed in dropping out? Only ? Quickly? What effects can you expect? How to get there without putting on weight? Tour of really effective methods with Prof. Jean-Pol Tassin, Emeritus Research Director at Inserm.
Disadvantages
An electronic cigarette can be bulky and fragile, and needs to be recharged. As for the price, it represents a certain investment at the beginning: the cost of an electronic cigarette for “beginners” varies from around twenty euros to around sixty euros depending on the model and the type of generation. Once the kit is purchased, you must also equip yourself with e-liquid and resistance regularly.
The WHO describes electronic cigarettes as “unquestionably harmful “, but ” probably less toxic than cigarettes “.
Health hazards and risks
The electronic cigarette is quite controversial because of the ignorance of the dangers involved in vaping . Thus, in a report on the global tobacco epidemic of July 2019, the WHO (World Health Organization) qualifies electronic cigarettes as “undoubtedly harmful “, but ” probably less toxic than cigarettes “. To issue this opinion, it relied on around ten studies (including recent studies from 2018 and March and June 2019). ” It is difficult to say today what the effects of electronic cigarettes will be in the long term, but vaping is so much less toxic than smoking that it is worth going through it if, in the long term, it allows you to“, estimates for his part of Dr. Diu. Due to the presence of certain toxic substances such as propylene glycol, pregnant and breastfeeding women are advised to avoid these cigarettes, ” in the absence of data relating to their passage in breast milk “.
