E-cigarette: Health risk or alternative to tobacco cigarette?

Do electronic-cigarettes help you quit smoking?

“If I’m going to quit smoking, I would quit. Why would I try to quit smoking by smoking an e-cigarette?” AB tells Emirates 24|7.

AB has been smoking for some time. It seems she has no intention to quit smoking any time soon. And, if she does, she doesn’t seem to think much of e-cigarettes as a helpful method to quit smoking.

What is e-cigarette?

E-cigarette is a cigarette-shaped device containing a nicotine-based liquid vaporises when inhaled. It is used to create the experience of smoking tobacco.

Originally known as electronic nicotine delivery systems, it was first created in China in 2003. There have been claims that e-cigarette aids smokers to quit smoking. But how true is that claim?

There is also speculation as to whether e-cigarette is healthier than tobacco cigarettes.

E-cigarette does contain nicotine, which creates an addiction to the substance and that alone is a health risk.

There are many flavours for e-cigarettes, although that removes the smell of tobacco, some refills have been found to contain harmful chemicals. According to the Wall Street Journal, e-cigarettes have been marketed in almost 8,000 different flavours.

Some flavours like fruit and candy could encourage young people to start smoking, which may eventually lead to tobacco smoking.

More harmful than tobacco?

According to the Metro, a vip refill in a butterscotch flavour can cause serious lung damage. That seems like the same effect tobacco has on lungs.

According to the Telegraph UK, the e-cigarette requires chemicals to vaporize the nicotine, chemicals such as propylene glycol formaldehyde which is linked to cancer, and silicate particles which cause lung disease.

These are just some of the chemicals that are found in e-cigarette vapors. E-cigarette is a product that is still being studied, and there is not much evidence yet of what the exact health risks are.

A report which was conducted by the WHO<https://www.who.int/nmh/events/2014/backgrounder-e-cigarettes/en/> states that ‘the existing evidence shows that E-cigarette aerosol is not merely "water vapour" as is often claimed in the marketing of these products’.

According to the FDA website, E-cigarette is still being studied. There is no certain answer of what the health risks are and whether  there are other chemicals that are inhaled other than nicotine

Why is e-cigarette banned in the UAE?

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) says the UAE banned e-cigarette because it sees it as a health risk. It is a product that is still under study and no one knows of the harmful effects.

Aside from the health factors that E-cigarettes potentially have, they also have been banned for their safety risk.

There have been incidents in which E-cigarettes have exploded while charging or while smokers were using them, causing burns and fires.

UAE is not the only country to ban e-cigarettes. Some of the other countries that have banned the product.

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