A revolutionary way to quit smoking or a health hazard? Here’s what you need to know about e-cigs.
E-cigs are becoming more popular each year. In 2015 their usage increased by 24%, with 2.6million units sold in the UK alone. The e-cig industry is big business and sales are predicted to increase by 50% year on year for the next 10 years, with the industry predicted to be worth $50billion by 2025.
Yet research by the ecig review site has found that 39% of the British public feel electronic cigarettes are more harmful than cigarettes. Many people are still to make up their minds on whether e-cigs are beneficial to our health or not, so let’s delve into the facts and you can decide for yourself.
The benefits of e-cigs:
• Research by Public Health England states that e-cigs are 95% less harmful compared to traditional cigarettes.
• The chemicals in traditional cigarettes are completely absent from e-cigs, and it is these chemicals which are the primary cause of death and disease from smoking.
• Research by University College London states that for every one million smokers who switch to e-cigs, there are 6,000 less premature deaths each year.
• Second hand inhalation of the vapor that is produced by an e-cig is a lot safer than normal cigarettes, with the worst consequence being limited to minor throat irritation.
• E-cigs are an excellent tool to help you quit smoking regular cigarettes, with over 18,000 people in the UK alone quitting smoking using e-cigs.
Potential dangers of e-cigs:
• The University of California has raised concerns about the damage that cells exposed to e-cig vapour experienced.
• Research from the University of California stated that ‘based on early evidence, we believe that e-cigs are no better for you than smoking regular cigarettes are.’
• There is no evidence of any long-term health effects that could be caused by the use of e-cigs. The longest trial into e-cig health dangers is only a year and a half long.
• This means that there could potentially be harmful effects caused by e-cigs in the long term, but there is not enough scientific research at the moment to confirm or deny this.
It is clear that there is a big debate among scientists, the media and the public as to whether e-cigs are a harmful hype, or whether they’re a revolutionary way to help millions to quit smoking and save lives.
It is also clear that there needs to be much more scientific research into the long-term health effects of e-cigs if we are to be in the situation to make a balanced and educated decision ourselves as to whether e-cigs are a good thing or a bad thing.
