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Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

in.reuters.com

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Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#61

Post by mistercow »

QAPereo wrote: post #59
j0rd wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Clinical trials of NRT in patients with underlying, stable coronary disease suggest that nicotine does not increase cardiovascular risk. At worst, the risks of NRT are no more than those of cigarette smoking. The risks of NRT for smokers, even for those with underlying cardiovascular disease, are small and are substantially outweighed by the potential benefits of smoking cessation." NRT: nicotine replacement therapy

I’m not arguing that vaping isn’t massively better than smoking, but harmless? That’s a high bar. Edit: you’re correct about my irresponsibility, I apologize and have edited my post.

But you were replying to my comment questioning the outrageous claim that smoking's chief risk is cardiovascular disease caused by nicotine. You replied with only a link to a journal article, which could easily, at a glance, appear to back up that claim, although upon further reading, it certainly does not.

Do you see how that's kind of irresponsible?

Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#62

Post by wolfgang42 »

excalibur wrote: post #20
melq wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is vaping unhealthy because nicotine is inherently unhealthy or are there other harms associated with vaping itself? Need to quit smoking cigarettes myself.

Both. Even vaping 0mg nicotine is bad for you, but not nearly as bad as smoking.

What are the health risks of vaping with non-nicotine-containing fluid? I thought that it was just atomized vegetable glycerin with a bit of flavoring, but I've not done much research into the matter.

Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#63

Post by vanadium »

gozur88 wrote: post #46
justin66 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One does not just quit smoking. Plenty of people do.

It used to be most people who quit permanently did so by going cold turkey. That was true even after patches and gums, but I'm not sure if it's still true with vaping. Though I have a theory cold turkey quitting normally happens after a health scare of some variety. My father was a 45 year smoker and quit the day of his heart attack.

My mother smoked for around 45-50 years herself and quit immediately after her heart attack last year. As a former 17-year smoker myself who started vaping almost 6 years ago when my kid was born, I'd been trying to get her to replace the cigarettes years ago. Didn't work.

Another spot of anecdata, when I was a smoker I couldn't go a few hours without a cigarette. After 6 years of vaping, I can pretty much go 8-10 hours with no real craving.

It's unreal how much less of a hold vaping has on me versus cigarettes when that nicotine isn't coming along with a few thousand other chemical compounds.

Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#64

Post by tlb »

alexanderstears wrote: post #36

Our society's tendency to moralize or rationalize issues has made it tough to talk about harm reduction. Moralizers focus on the corrosive elements of addiction and rationalizers say that e-cigs are still harmful but they miss the point that many people who smoke e-cigs are better off than they would be if they used cigs to get their nicotine. E-cigs offer a better path to cessation through better control of the nico…

I didn't think the regulations were heavy-handed. Such devices should be tested and certified to make sure they aren't, for example, leaching heavy metals into the liquid and vaporizing it. Devices sold with cadmium-plated heating coils or lead solder joints could easily poison millions of people, so I think it's reasonable to require safety testing.

Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#65

Post by KekDemaga »

EpicEng wrote: post #11
nickjj wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can do this without smoking anything too. I smoked a pack a day for over 10 years and quit cold turkey without any patches or vaping. The mental break thing is definitely real. I highly recommend just going outside. Maybe do a couple of laps around the block.

"I did it, it should work for everyone!" We have decades of data showing that isn't the case.

"Some people make an attempt and fail, thus it must be impossible."

Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#66

Post by wutbrodo »

aphextron wrote: post #57
mistercow wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a source on that claim? I'm pretty sure you're thinking of the cardiovascular effects of smoking , and attributing all of those effects to nicotine, which is incorrect. Everything I've read on the subject indicates that nicotine's role in cardiovascular disease is quite minor.

http://jaha.ahajournals.org/content/6/9/e006579 "Acute exposure to electronic cigarettes with nicotine increases cardiac sympathetic nerve activity in a pattern of heart rate variability that recapitulates the same heart rate variability pattern associated with increased cardiac risk in multiple populations with and without known cardiac disease." I'm not arguing that e-cigs may not be healthier than smoking tobacco…

Your claim above is much stronger than what the study suggests (though it does at least point in the same direction).

> Most people don't realize that it's not really the smoke and lung cancer that leads to a majority of smoking deaths. It's the cardiovascular effects of nicotine leading to heart disease.

As described downthread, they keep finding associations that indicate that nicotine/heart disease associations may occur. But when they actually study the association, the association consistently fails to materialize.

I'm quite sure that your claim is flat wrong as stated.

Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#67

Post by 11235813213455 »

j0rd wrote: post #60

I quit smoking a while ago for 4 months using a vape, then Thailand's military junta banned them and most shops closed. It's been a couple years now and tonnes of online shops started to sell and I'd see lots of local vapers while having coffee, so decided to give that a go. It's been a month since I've had a cigarette now since I've started vaping. Energy is up and sense of smell is coming back. Used to smoke a pack…

vaping for health reasons?

Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#68

Post by j0rd »

josefresco wrote: post #40
Ascetik wrote: post #19

I use nasal snuff, the least damaging and least intrusive form of tobacco use. I vaped pretty hardcore for 3 or 4 years, it definitely has an effect on your lungs, especially if you're into dual-coil sub-ohm builds and all that jazz. Nasal snuff has been a God-send and is much more enjoyable, at least to me. I still smoke a nice briar pipe with a few different pipe tobacco blends on occasion, but nasal snuff has defi…

TIL ... about Nasal Snuff. Didn't even know this was a thing - do you get weird looks in public?

Called Snus. Banned in EU, but supposedly one of the healthiest nicotine injestion methods. Most people would puke if they tried it :)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus

Re: Switching to e-cigarettes could save 6.6M American smokers

#69

Post by gnaritas »

grecy wrote: post #21
melq wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is vaping unhealthy because nicotine is inherently unhealthy or are there other harms associated with vaping itself? Need to quit smoking cigarettes myself.

Lean over an open fire and take a deep breath of the smoke. I don't think it takes a huge leap to realize inhaling smoke is not good for you.

Vapor is not smoke.
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