Vaping and Health: A Guide to Understanding the Risks

Smoking has been one of the single most significant preventable causes of death for far too long now. It’s a habit that can cause cancer and heart disease, and it’s a notoriously difficult habit to quit.

Vaping has increased in popularity as an alternative to smoking in recent years, and naturally, people want to know about the health risks. That’s why we produced this brief guide, to help you to make an informed decision.

What’s Actually in Vapes?

When you vape, you use a device to heat up a liquid (known as e-liquid, nicotine salts or vape juice) to a certain temperature so that it becomes a vapour. The main ingredients tend to be vegetable glycerin (VG) and propylene glycol (PG).

Flavours will then typically be added to this base liquid, and a certain amount of nicotine in most cases. Compared to the toxins found in cigarette smoke, most studies and public health groups consider the risks posed by vaping to be much lower, so much lower that it’s promoted as a tool to help people quit.

Nicotine

Of course, while you can find nicotine-free options if you want, most vapes from popular and trusted stores still contain nicotine, the highly addictive substance in tobacco.

However, while it’s highly addictive, despite what a lot of people think, nicotine doesn’t actually pose a significant risk to most people’s health, with some researchers comparing it to the common stimulant caffeine. While it’s not great to get addicted to nicotine if you aren’t already, if you’re currently a smoker, vaping is a much safer source to get your hit from than a ‘normal’ cigarette.

Effect on the Lungs

While the short-term risks of vaping are relatively low, we’re still not sure about the long-term risks. It’s likely that people with already sensitive lungs may find that vaping irritates their lungs, and people with conditions such as asthma may be at a higher risk.

However, if you’re smoking and considering vaping as an alternative, then it will likely be a lot better for you, as long as your long-term goal is to stop both smoking and vaping altogether.

The Effects on Children

While a number of studies have been done on healthy adults, not many studies have been done on the effects of vaping on children and other young individuals. It’s likely that nicotine and the other potentially harmful chemicals found in vapes might have a much more negative effect on younger people, whose bodies and brains are still developing. Vaping as a child also increases the chance that you’ll smoke as an adult. As a result, it’s strongly advisable that children do not use vaping products.

While this article tackles some of the more commonly talked about health risks, vaping is still relatively new. As a result, we know very little about the long-term health implications; it’s unlikely that anything dramatic will pop up, but it’s something to be aware of. It’s important to get your vaping materials from reputable sources, to ensure that everything has been tested and that it’s of a very high quality.