Vaping Myths: Uncovering the Truth

Centuries ago, many people considered cigarette smoking as a part of their daily routine. They would just light up a cigarette whenever they feel stressed, anxious, or hungry. It was not until the 1950s that researchers gathered enough medical evidence to confirm the relationship between smoking and cancer as well as other diseases.

Given the dangers associated with smoking, a lot of smokers now turn to vaping, giving birth to many new vaping myths.

Unlike smoking conventional cigarettes, vaping does not involve burning tobacco. Instead, it maximizes vape devices that heat or vaporize e-liquids until they become aerosols that can be inhaled and exhaled by the vape users. As long as they have enough power and e-liquid, vapes are expected to provide hundreds of puffs.

5 Myths About Vaping

The convenience vaping brings has allowed it to gain traction for the past couple of years. As more companies release new vaping products and even promote them as a safer alternative to smoking, regular smokers and newcomers now try them out and use them regularly.

The effectiveness of vaping as an alternative to smoking, however, is not yet confirmed as researchers need more time to gather evidence and come to a conclusion. But as early as now, the use of vapes is already considered to be as harmful as smoking, contrary to what many vape users believe. It also refutes what most vape manufacturers advertise. 

Before you turn to vaping, here are 5 myths about it that you must know about.

Myth #1: Nicotine-Free E-cigarettes Are Harmless

E-cigarettes do not possess any tobacco products. Instead, they maximize e-liquid with nicotine content. However, those who want to gradually decrease and cut their nicotine consumption can opt for nicotine-free vapes and vaping juices. One nic-free vape you can try is the Caffeine Styx Vape.

Nicotine is a stimulant that makes smoking and even vaping addictive. By going for nic-free vapes, users may curb their cravings for the substance until they eventually stop vaping and smoking altogether.

Many smokers and vapers switch to nicotine-free e-cigarettes as they are perceived to be non-addictive. However, using these electronic cigarettes can still be harmful to one’s health. 

A new study by Anglia Ruskin University’s Biomedical Research Group has found out that nic-free e-liquids can cause oxidative stress in the lung, as well as increased inflammation and the breakdown of blood vessels. These damages often occur in patients struck with lung injuries.

Older studies have also found that nic-free vapes can trigger some side effects.

One of these side effects is irritation. Vape juice is composed of propylene glycol and glycerol. When these substances are heated, they may not only irritate the mouth and airways but can also form cancer-causing compounds.

Nicotine-free vapes can also trigger an immune system response. Studies have shown that these vapes can activate an inflammatory response in certain white blood cells and throughout the body, which affects how they generally function.

Lastly, vaping nicotine-free e-liquids can be toxic to your cells. Numerous in-vitro studies in 2018 found that e-cigarette vapor and its flavoring additives can cause cell death despite the absence of nicotine. Their absence of these cells may only lead to vascular conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Myth #2: Vaping Isn’t Addictive

Vapes and e-liquids consist of a variety of ingredients to make sure they provide the same hit traditional cigarettes can provide. One of these ingredients is nicotine.

Known as a highly addictive stimulant, nicotine in vaping juices makes vaping addictive, contrary to popular belief. 

When you inhale aerosol from your vape, the nicotine is absorbed quickly by your blood vessels lining your lungs. Upon reaching your brain, this chemical compound can increase your dopamine levels, raise your blood pressure, and spike your adrenaline. It then leads you to crave more of the stimulant that you can only get by vaping.

Ignoring your nicotine cravings to curb vaping addiction can be difficult at first as you may suffer from withdrawal symptoms. You might initially feel irritable, restless, or jittery. You may even feel sad, anxious, and tired. Your concentration and hunger will also be all over the place. 

To manage your nicotine withdrawal, you must first ask for help from a doctor. You must also stay hydrated, catch enough hours of sleep, switch to healthy snacks, and get your needed support from family and friends.

Myth #3: Vapes Are Less Harmful to Your Lungs Than Cigarettes

Most conventional cigarettes are made from tobacco, chemical additives, a filter, and paper wrapping. Once burned, the combination of these ingredients generates a smoke filled with compounds like tar, ammonia, and carbon monoxide that are harmful to your lungs.

Some compounds from cigarette smoke are known to cause cancer, while others are toxic, contributing to other types of illnesses and diseases.

Compared to traditional cigarettes, vapes do not require combustion of tobacco and other cigarette ingredients. Instead, they vaporize the content of e-liquids, turning them into aerosols. Runfree Vape offers a plethora of disposable vapes for you to use.

So far, the compounds found in vape aerosols are less than the 7,000 toxins found in cigarette smoke. Some of them, however, are toxic, which makes vaping also harmful to your lungs. 

Aldehydes like acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde, for instance, are chemicals found in electronic cigarettes that can cause cardiovascular disease and lung disease. Nicotine is another substance found in vapes that can change the way the brain works, affecting the memory, learning, and attention abilities of young vape users.

Some more health effects associated with vaping are increased risk of asthma exacerbations, acute lung injury, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Myth #4: Vapes Help You Quit Smoking

Many e-cigarette companies advertise vaping as a great way to quit smoking. Medical experts advise otherwise. Instead of switching to vapes, they want smokers to quit using tobacco products for good without thinking about trying vaping products.

E-cigarettes, after all, still contain chemicals that pose some health risks to users. These health risks are often irreversible, which means permanent change is expected to the function or structure of the affected organs or body systems. They also normally involve the lungs and the heart, the same organs that cigarette smoke also targets and damages in the long run.

The presence of nicotine in vapes also makes it difficult for smokers to quit smoking cigarettes fully.

While vapes and e-liquids come in various nicotine strengths, they still provide the addictive sensation that cigarettes normally provide. Depending on their vaping habits, some smokers may intend to puff heavily every day just to satisfy their nicotine cravings. If they are not yet satisfied with the nicotine hit their vaping devices provide, they may end up adding traditional cigarettes to their mix of nicotine consumption, which leads to dual use.

A Cochrane review recently confirmed that smokers who try to abandon cigarettes by using vapes only end up using these two concurrently. It stated that around 82% of vape users are still smoking cigarettes after following them up six or more months later.

But while vaping cannot entirely help adults quit smoking, some research has found that e-cigarettes with nicotine may help in increasing smoking cessation. The effectiveness of vapes as a smoking cessation tool, however, can only be achieved if smokers switch to these devices and abandon tobacco products fully.

Nonetheless, experts highly recommend people who want to quit smoking talk to their doctors regarding proven methods to cut cigarettes from their lives. These methods include regular counseling and proper medication.

Myth #5: Vaping Doesn’t Have Secondhand Smoke

Cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products release smoke whenever they are lit and puffed by smokers. As they exhale the smoke from these products, people near them may accidentally inhale them. The smoke you may accidentally inhale from nearby smokers is known as secondhand smoke. 

Passive smoking, which is the act of inhaling secondhand smoke, poses dangers to your health since it contains toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. By inhaling secondhand smoke regularly, you may be at risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease, respiratory infections, and asthma.

To make things worse, passive smoking has led to more than 41,000 deaths per year.

Fortunately, vaping does not release any smoke. But it does release some aerosols into the air, which people nearby can inhale unintentionally.

Secondhand vape exposure is common among people who hang around with vape users. According to the American Cancer Society, aerosols contain nicotine, diacetyl, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and ultrafine particles. If they are inhaled by non-vape users, some of these particles may enter their lungs and bloodstream, leading to health issues or worsening existing health conditions.

A recent study found that exposure to secondhand vape aerosols may worsen asthma symptoms and asthma attacks in young people. Another study has noted that exposure to secondhand aerosols can also pose dangers to pregnant women, causing preterm delivery, low birth weight, stillbirth, impaired lung and brain development, and sudden infant death syndrome. 

Vaping does not have secondhand smoke, but it still has secondhand aerosol that can be harmful to those who may inhale it accidentally. Therefore, the World Health Organization highly recommends vapes be banned from being used indoors, similar to places where smoking is prohibited.

Vaping Myths Debunked

Vape manufacturers often promote vaping as a way to quit smoking cigarettes. This statement, however, is not entirely true as vaping only serves as an additional source of nicotine. Smokers then just use vapes and cigarettes concurrently, leading to nicotine addiction.

Another vaping myth is that nicotine-free e-cigarettes are harmless. While they do not contain nicotine, research suggests that these vaping devices can still pose some health risks to users. These risks also make vaping still harmful to your lungs.

Lastly, vaping and smoking both release compounds into the air through aerosols and smoke, respectively. Once people around vapers and smokers unknowingly inhale these elements, they are at risk of developing diseases due to harmful substances that their bodies absorb.

Want to understand vapes better? Go here to learn 10 facts about vaping.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are 5 Interesting Facts About Tobacco?

One interesting fact about tobacco is it kills more than 8 million people yearly, with 1.3 million being exposed to secondhand smoke. Despite its death rate, tobacco is likewise picked up by kids for the first time each day. Another fact about tobacco is that 80% of its users around the world live in low- and middle-income countries. One more fact about tobacco is that its consumption has decreased tremendously by raising its taxes.

What Is the Scariest Fact About Vaping?

The scariest fact about vaping is it can still be harmful to your body despite being advertised as safe. Vaping only exposes your body to damaging chemicals, leading to severe health problems like lung disease, heart disease, and nicotine addiction. 

What Are Three Facts About Vaping?

One fact about vaping is it is dangerous to your heart and lungs. The chemicals found in e-liquids can be harmful to your body when inhaled in huge amounts. Another fact about vaping is it can be addicting. Vapes are known to boost your cravings towards nicotine, making you use them more than you should. One more fact about vaping is it releases secondhand vape aerosols that can be harmful to the people nearby.

Why Are There So Many Myths About Vaping?

There are many common myths about vaping due to the quick spread of misinformation about vapes and their supposed advantages over cigarettes. The lack of long-term studies can also contribute to the existence of vaping myths since there is no concrete evidence that could counter the arguments presented by vaping promoters.

Summary

The proliferation of vaping myths around the world has led young people and non-smokers to try out vapes, believing that they will be safe from the health risks often associated with smoking traditional cigarettes. Many regular and long-term smokers have also believed these myths, pushing them to replace cigarettes with vapes, only to go back to the tobacco products later on.

Knowing the truth behind vaping helps you understand its risks and other vital information related to vape use. If you want to know more, here are some scientific vaping facts.