Electronic Cigarettes and Lung cancer

Lung cancer is the cause of over 116,750 deaths among men and 105,770 deaths among women in the United States. This disease is ranked as second in the list of the leading types of cancers causing death and suffering among people worldwide. This staggering number causes a definite alarm amongst people in our society. The occurrence of this disease is primarily attributed to smoking cigarettes. A cigarette is a roll of thin paper with fine cut leaves of tobacco inside. Tobacco, the potent ingredient of a cigarette, contains pesticide chemical called nicotine. Yes, you heard that right! A pesticide chemical, the one you use to kill the creepy crawlers in your house! Nicotine, together with the other cocktail of chemicals found in a single stick of cigarette such as benzopyrene cause or contribute to the emergence of this deadly disease.
The government and health officials scramble to control the increasing number of deaths attributed to smoking cigarettes. And more recently, another intervention added to control the detrimental effects of this tobacco craze emerged: Ecigarettes or Electronic cigarettes. In this age of Email, Ebanking, Ebusiness and the like, another E is added to the bunch, Electronic cigarettes or the more hip term Ecigarettes.

So what is an Electronic cigarette, the concept is expressed loudly by the name itself. Derived from the term electronic, this is a small, battery powered device that resembles the appearance of your good old’ cigar. It is more futuristic and metallic in appearance. Manufacturers’ claim that they look and feel like real cigarettes, except for the fact that the device is able to produce a mist or vapor that usually contains certain amounts nicotine and propylene glycol. This chemical, propylene glycol is often the content of Electronic cigarettes, but it is important to note that this is not the case always. Some electronic cigarettes contain a light emitting diode, to imitate the image of a real burning cigarette. An electronic cigarette also contains a cartridge; the cartridge is placed inside and may contain differing amounts of nicotine, chemical additives and flavors (such as different tobacco brands, chocolate, mint, coffee or fruit). The cartridges are refillable and refill bottles are provided by the manufacturers.

The next question popping in your minds would be “So what now? What benefits are there in using Electronic cigarettes?” Certain studies have suggested that the use of Ecigarettes is probably less harmful than tobacco smoking. A single stick of cigarette contains over 4,000 chemicals that are carcinogenic (cancer causing), toxic, mutagenic and in one word dreadful. Smoking a single stick of this causes the chemicals to be distributed in the blood stream and be lodged in the lungs in a fast rate. This is where the advantage of an Ecigarette takes center stage. This device contains chemicals, however the kind of chemical and its amount can be controlled by the manufacturer, nicotine can be placed and its amount can be controlled to a lesser one, enough not to cause detrimental damage as compared to smoking a tobacco with a full blown amount of the said chemical. The chemicals are also in vapor or mist form. This precise presentation prevents the chemicals from lodging into your lungs causing significant damage. The opposite happens when a person smokes cigar, and this is one reason for the emergence of cancer and other lung diseases. Though using it may prove some advantage, replacing it for real and proven treatments for smoke addiction is still not evident. The status of its benefit to health remains at the neutral side. As what studies have suggested, the use of Ecigarettes is less dangerous than smoking tobacco, but it does not qualify to the benefits of medicinal treatments for nicotine addiction.