Do e-cigarettes help you quit smoking?

(Baonghean.vn) - An electronic cigarette is a device that runs on batteries and tobacco essential oils. This device does not produce smoke like a regular cigarette, but only produces a stream of vapor.

Typical structure of an electronic cigarette. Photo: Internet.

E-cigarettes can be made to look like regular cigarettes, pipes or cigars, or even everyday objects like pens or USB sticks. There are more than 250 brands of e-cigarettes on the market today.

Although advertised as safer than regular cigarettes, the harmful effects of e-cigarettes are still not widely known.

How do e-cigarettes work?

Most electronic cigarette devices consist of three parts:

- A chamber containing tobacco essential oil including nicotine along with flavors and some other chemicals;

- A heat supply unit;

- Power source (usually battery).

In many devices, simply blowing into the device activates a heating element that ignites the essential oil in the reservoir. This creates a stream of air that the smoker inhales.

Are e-cigarettes safer than regular cigarettes?

This is a very difficult question to answer because we do not have enough information about the new devices that appear on the market.

Smoking inevitably leads to many diseases and death is inevitable. In the United States, more than 400,000 people die from smoking each year. Smokers often get cancer or heart disease because they inhale tar and other chemicals. Tobacco is addictive mainly because of nicotine.

E-cigarettes are designed to mimic the experience of smoking by producing a vapor that tastes like a regular cigarette and contains nicotine, but with fewer harmful chemicals from tobacco. So compared to regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes are less harmful.

Many young people use e-cigarettes as a solution to quit smoking. Photo: Internet.

Although e-cigarettes do not produce smoke, they still contain nicotine and other potentially harmful chemicals. Nicotine is highly addictive and can affect the brain and make people more addicted to other substances.

E-cigarette vapor has been found to contain carcinogens and other harmful substances, but the specific health effects of these substances are unknown.

Do e-cigarettes help you quit smoking?

Some people believe that e-cigarettes can reduce nicotine cravings when they are trying to quit smoking. However, the jury is still out on whether e-cigarettes do this. It is also possible that e-cigarettes may simply prolong nicotine addiction and hinder the process of quitting.

To date, there has been no specific research on e-cigarettes. There is no confirmation of their safety or health effects compared to regular cigarettes.

Thanh Hien

(According to Drugabuse.gov)