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Electronic cigarettes...
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Forgive me if someone already posted a thread about this (I've not seen one but this subject is topical so someone may have). I used to smoke between 7-10 normal cigarettes a day and a couple of weeks ago I moved onto e-cigs. I like them and am confident I won't go back to the normal combusting cigarettes. My question is: are these really a lot better for you? Most of what I read and watch online say they are, a few things on the internet tell you they are not very good for you though. What can't be denied is that normal **** have tar, carbon monoxide, over 4,000 chemicals in them (all harmful), and nicotine. E-cigs have no tar, no carbon monoxide, none of the 4,000 chemicals, and it does have nicotine. Normal cigarettes are, of course, on fire so you breath in actual smoke. There is no smoke with the e-cig. The e-cig has coloured air (coloured by the same things that go into food additives and toothpaste - things we've all consumed) and the coloured air comes from an atomiser, which I imagine is no more harmful than breathing processed air that we breath when on aeroplanes and through air-conditioning units. On the downside it does give me a dry throat and mouth, the day after an evening where I've been using the e-cig more than on other days, but standard use does not give me a dry throat or mouth. What are people's views on the e-cig, are they harmful or not. They certainly have a lot less stuff in them and they are not on fire (so no smoke). The way they are marketed seems to imply there is nothing harmful in using them. People's views and advice please. Thanks in advance.
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I've never really looked into it, but it seems to be step in the right direction, health wise.
http://www.vipelectroniccigarette.co.uk/
About £30. To include probably about two weeks supply of cartomizers depending upon how heavily you smoke.
Nice one, thank you
I think i'm gunna 'make the change' at the weekend (well at least give it a try)
To get the Skycig, go to their website and follow it from there. The charger pack, which includes the charging unit (same size as a normal **** packet), a sample pack of 5 cartridges in asssorted flavours, a USB charging lead, instructions, etc, costs about £50.00 - but if you put in the Sky promotional code you pay about £11.00, so you save £39.00. The code you can find on the Skycig website and also Google it to try and find another code that might be applicable. When you are at the checkout on the site it tells you how much the product has been reduced by.
http://www.skycig.co.uk/
This tends to be the reason why some doctors/nurses/health officials are against them.
But on the plus side apart from nicotine being addictive, it tends not to have any harmful side effects, so really worst case scenario is that you get addicted to the e-cig and it's nicotine, but will generally suffer no ill health in relation to this. Also they should work out cheaper than a packet of **** (until the government see a rise in e-cig sales and decrease in normal cigs, then tax the hell out of them).
And you can have them anywhere as well.
Would be strange if the professionals had that view, because if people switch to these (and they are harmless) then I don't know why medical people would be against people using them.
"They contain dry ice, and a few of the chemicals found in aerosol deoderant."
I wasn't aware of that, I've read lots in recent times about e-cigs and I've never heard that mentioned.
"What is propylene glycol and is it safe?
Propylene glycol is an organic compound that is both colorless and odorless. It has been rated as GRAS (generally recognized as safe) by the FDA for use in food, cosmetics, and medicines. It is absorbed and metabolized by your body therefore, does not stick to your lungs like tar.
How do the ingredients in a Electronic Cigarette compare to a traditional tobacco cigarette?
The Electronic Cigarette contains: water, propylene glycol, a scent to emulate flavour and a membrane to contain all the ingredients. Nicotine is an option where legally available. Health Canada currently does not allow the sale of nicotine for electronic cigarettes in Canada. The complete list of chemicals added to your traditional cigarettes is too long to list here. To name a few: Ammonia, Arsenic, Benzene, Butane, Carbon monoxide, Cadmium, Cyanide DDT, Lead, Formaldehiyde...the list goes on! Further, there are more than 4,000 chemicals generally found in tobacco smoke. Many of these are known to cause cancer."
It's funny because people who want to smoke these things, as I do, will be glad to read something which chimes with their thinking on the issue - namely they are not harmful. You do wonder though whether the people putting a lot of this stuff out there have a vested interest in it all, so they spin the thing to make it sound positive.
There was a brief news report concerning this on BBC's Breakfast a couple of weeks ago. Basically, although nicotine itself is addictive it is not harmful as is the other chemicals and additives contained within tobacco. "Experts" were asking for more research to be done on e-cig product. Also, warnings were given about buying from unreliable sources because ingredients were unknown. Our local market sells them and they are an imitation version of e-health cigarette or something. The spelling on packaging and instructions is atrocious.
Only because the professionals want you to give up completely, they want to get you off the addiction, and not promote another form of addiction, plus they also are asking for more research to be done as well.
Has anybody used them in public places, on public transport, on a plane?
If so what reactions did you get from any non smokers.
Just awaiting delivery of my first mod, a VV VW Vamo V2!!!
It takes time to find the right set up I think, though many are happy with a disposable, I can recommend the I-mist, it's a good starter e-cig and you can reload with any flavour juices you want
I personally use the Skycig, I posted a link above, and I would never use just any product as it could be imitation and no one knows what's in it. Skycig are a large company therefore reputable, but they certainly blow their own trumpet on their website about how healthy and how high-quality their product is. Inevitable I suppose.
I remember years ago when everyone was going on about how 'healthy' low-tar **** were, in those days LOW TAR was emblazened across the packets. They discovered 10 years later they were killing just as many people, so the words were removed from the packets. The same with "Lights", everyone banging on about how they were healthy. Ten years on, just as many deaths, and the word "Lights" had to be removed from packs. Everything 'good' with smoking always turns out 10 years later to have been bad. I just hope this doesn't happen with the e-cig. I think it's unlikely though because all the things I've just mentioned involved combusting (ie on fire) cigarettes. The e-cig is not on fire, so no smoke, and it omits so many things that are included in traditionial ciggy's.
Regarding using them in public places I 'smoke' in my local pub regularly and have done in cafes and other indoor public places. No one says anything.
Was having a sly vape in a corner table in a Wetherspoons(I have one that doesn't look like a cigarette),just as the manager was passing!
He just said "Great those things aren't they"
Well they advocate niccotine patches
I teach adult literacy and one of the students 'lit up' an e cig in class.
Have to admit I was a bit taken aback, and inspite of his insistance that it was ok, I had to tell him that if he wanted to 'smoke' he would have to go outside as usual. It was just too out of context to have him sitting there blowing 'smoke' , and some of the other students were a bit put out by it.
I have encouraged him to keep on the e-cigs though, as it has clearly imroved his health and his mood ( and his smell)
2) The Skycig has only limited flavours so you'll soon be off to Totally Wicked to buy juice to refill the empties with, (Yes, you can refill Skycig cartomizers. Go look on Google for info) for a fraction of the price Skycig charge.
3) Whilst the e-cig itself doesn't smell your breath and the vapour does! Using them in a No Smoking area is asking for trouble as they do smell in use.
4) http://which-electronic-cigarette.org.uk/ is a good place to start.
I always looked at them as an alternative to smoking rather than a way of quitting.
The problem at the moment is no-one really knows exactly what the long term effects are and it would clearly be wrong for your doc to suggest using them without evidence.
Pharma has no interest in funding research - they've got the smoking cessation products to protect. If its going to come it will probably come from Tobacco.
Only other thing to add would be to consider Egos rather than things like Skycigs. Much cheaper, much better choice of juice, batteries last way longer, bit bigger and don't look like a cig (which you forget about very quickly).
Someone, I think from the US equivalent of ASH, once described them as 1 on a scale of 0-100 where not smoking was 0 and smoking was 100.
But again, see my post above. We don't really know. We know we feel better but that doesn't really cut it as evidence.
Every chance that the EU will ban them in the next few years (at least the nicotine). Pharma is a powerful lobby.
They are not illegal in public places but some bars and restaurants don't allow them as they can be disconcerting to other customers. Airlines also don't allow them as seeing someone "smoking" on board may cause alarm among other passengers.