Methods To Quit Smoking

There is little reality in the efforts of big tobacco and big pharma to portray the use of propylene glycol as a danger ingredient in electronic cigarettes. In 1942, studies at the University of Chicago’s Billings Hospital seemed to show inhalation of vaporized propylene glycol might cause pneumonia and other respiratory diseases in mice. Later studies to follow up were conducted on monkeys and other animals in an attempt to understand long term effects. The results of the extended testing showed no ill effects or potential for accumulation of propylene glycol in the lungs.

Shouting “danger”, the FDA and tobacco companies point to an ingredient that has proven safe through many years of use. The misinformation about propylene glycol ignores one very important fact. We know e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco products when inhaled. We know smoking almost anything is safer than smoking tobacco.

Propylene glycol in e-cigarettes dilutes the nicotine in a solution that can be deliver to the smoker as a vapor. PG is commonly used as a food additive and is an ingredient in many products we buy. Propylene glycol is the substance that produces the fog generated by fog machines.

The warnings of the dangers of PG do not come from researchers, doctors or scientific journals. Online sites issuing warnings are full of anecdotal (and seemingly imaginary) stories and are blogs often devoted to conspiracy theories. Several comments contain the statement that “propylene glycol is antifreeze”. Well, no, it isn’t. That would be ethylene glycol. Natural healing sites and anti-smoking groups are also quick to talk about potential danger of the use of PG.

There is a vast array of information available on the internet. It’s important to remember that not all information is factual or backed by experience, research or knowledge. Baby wipes contain propylene glycol and it’s odd the FDA would allow a dangerous substance to be used in products for infants, isn’t it? Very little PG is ingested in the vapor inhaled by an e-smoker. There are some producers who sell e-liquid with a base of glycerol but PG is the most common ingredient in e-cig solutions.

Consumers are more conscious of food additives and harmful ingredients in the foods they eat than every before. Looking at the ingredients on products you buy is a smart thing to do. We know to look carefully at labels when buying products low in sugar. Ingredients such as sucrose and fructose and various types of “syrup” may be listed and each of those ingredients is sugar.

The saccharin scare thirty years ago is a valuable example of the folly of acting on incomplete information and drawing incorrect conclusions. The FDA banned saccharine which was a very popular sweetener used as an additive in many packaged foods and. The FDA stated saccharin had caused cancer in mice and panic ensued. Companies lost a lot of money in changing the ingredients in their products and the public tossed out boxes of Sweet and Low which was a popular saccharin product.

To induce cancer in mice who ingested saccharin researchers had provided extremely high doses of the ingredient. The scientific “proof” offered by the FDA was rejected by the scientific community. The affected mice were given a daily dose of saccharin that could only be ingested by a human drinking 400 cans of diet cola a day for many months. Saccharin is totally available to the marketplace today.

Propylene glycol is a necessary ingredient for delivery of e-cig vapor. There is no evidence ths PG causes any danger to electronic smokers despite the efforts of tobacco companies worried about the competition.

Mary Kay Rivers has become a true expert on all facets of electronic cigarettes. Her articles about the less harmful electronic cigarettes for COPD patients and about the best electronic cigarette are well-known.

An excellent smoking alternative is the new gadget for smokers today. First launched in 2003, the electronic cigarette provides an alternative solution for those addicted to tobacco. It’s a product welcomed by many smokers unable to quit the habit yet worried about health concerns.

You can smoke the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes for about $2 when using e-cigs. That’s quite a bit better than the five to ten dollar cost of a pack of tobacco cigarettes. The electronic cigarette is a nicotine delivery system providing smokers with the”fix” they want without the necessity of inhaling toxic chemicals of tobacco products. You can choose the best e-cigarette gadget available and still spend less than you will for tobacco products.

The two parts that make up a typical electronic cigarette were made possible by recent technological advances. The battery and atomizer are separate pieces that are screwed together. The atomizer is the mouthpiece and the design of the assembled e-cigarette may resemble a tobacco product or a ball point pen depending on the model chosen.

The mouthpiece may be round like a cigarette or may be shaped like the plastic tip on a small cigar. The small cup inside the mouthpiece is filled with absorbent material that is saturated with e-liquid. The liquid is a solution of nicotine and flavor, usually in a propylene glycol base, that may taste like regular or menthol tobacco products. Other flavors are available for those with adventurous tastes.

E-liquid is used to refill the cup in the mouthpiece by dripping the liquid from a small bottle. The bottle of solution is only two inches high yet one bottle is roughly equivalent to the nicotine in five cartons of tobacco cigarettes.

The battery is the second component of the electronic cigarette gadget. It is the lower section of the product and has an LED light that glows at the tip when the e-cig is in use. Although the original versions consistently used red LED lights to simulate a burning cigarette, consumers now can choose from almost any color they like.

Starter kits for this gadget for smokers include a battery charger and usually are sold with two battery sections. That allows the smoker to use one battery while the other is being charged. Manual designs are not the most popular as they require the smoker to press a small button to activate the heating element to provide vapor. The best electronic gadgets are automatic and operate when the smoker draws air through the mouthpiece.

When the smoker draws on the mouthpiece, this gadget for smokers activates a small heating element that vaporizes the nicotine solution into a mist the user inhales. Better electronic cigarettes complete this process quickly and automatically to provide a realistic smoking experience.

The cartridge model is the best electronic cigarette gadget according to many users. No liquid is needed as the small mouthpiece is a disposable cartridge equivalent to one pack of standard cigarettes. Maintenance and cleaning are not necessary with an e-cigarette using replaceable cartridges. Occasionally removing an old cartridge and adding a fresh one is a simple task.

Mary Kay Rivers has become an acclaimed expert on all facets of e-cigs. Her publications such as a review of the Green Smoke e-cigarette or about the freedom to smoke anywhere you want with electronic cigarettes are well-known.

The debate swirling around the subject of safety of electronic cigarettes has not abated since the products were first introduced. In fact, the flow of misinformation has increased in the past two years fueled by big tobacco companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and even the FDA.

In response to the heated debate, electronic cigarette suppliers recently formed a trade association to provide factual information about e-cigs to the buying public. Tobacco companies want to eliminate competition from electronic cigarettes and have followed an agenda of issuing warnings about e-cig dangers that have no basis in fact. The FDA conducted a very limited test of a few hand chosen e-cigarettes and then pronounced the products were not safe because trace amounts of a dangerous chemical were found in some of the products tested.

The FDA did not conduct followup testing or test to see if the same chemical was present in tobacco product. Although the statements made by the FDA were not factually incorrect they were also not scientifically proven but were conclusions based on a flawed example.

Consumers who ask “are electronic cigarettes safe” will find e-cigarettes contain only 20 ingredients compared to 599 ingredients in tobacco cigarettes. Tobacco smokers inhale over 4000 different chemical compounds and additives. Although tobacco companies state additives used were judged safe by the FDA that is not quite the full truth. Many additives in cigarettes were not tested for compounds released when the additive is burned. Chemical elements can change when exposed to high levels of heat.

Tars and additives in tobacco are known to be harmful to smokers but nicotine suffers guilt by association. The smoke from tobacco can cause various forms of cancer of the mouth, throat and lungs. Heart disease can result from smoking tobacco and use of tobacco has been associated with a lowered immune system that may lead to an increase in colds, bronchitis and pneumonia in some users.

When separated from tobacco, nicotine does not promote cancer in healthy tissues and shows no mutagenic properties. Nicotine is the reason we become addicted to tobacco and is the fix we crave when we want a cigarette.

You can buy nicotine stop smoking patches and gums at your local Walmart. Initially, the patches were only available with a doctor’s prescription but years of wide usage with negligible side effects resulted in nicotine replacement products being freely available..

Nicotine provided in a safe form is the antidote to the risks taken when smoking tobacco. The Royal College of Physicians concluded there is no suspicion of adverse health effects posed by long term use of nicotine in controlled doses. The safety of e-cigarettes is more apparent with every passing year the products are available for public consumption.

Mary Kay Rivers has become an acclaimed expert on all aspects of e-cigarettes. Her articles “How do Electronic Cigarettes Work?” or about the best electronic cigarette have become very famous.

Accusations that the FDA was being influenced by big tobacco began to circulate with the first FDA statement questioning the safety of electronic cigarettes. The statement was based on an extremely small non-scientific test and claims made were that various problems “might” be encountered by users of e-cigarettes.

For forty years the public has been informed about the dangers of smoking tobacco. That is when the first warnings were placed on cigarette packs yet our current pack warnings are among the weakest in the world. Only last year was the FDA sufficiently concerned about tobacco to move to regulate the products. In a magnanimous statement, big tobacco said they welcomed regulation and oversight by the FDA. Of course they did. It was a smart move by a company that could influence the regulations and make it more difficult for competing products to reach the public.

After hinting about banning electronic cigarettes several times, the FDA established a ban on e-cigarettes and electronic smoking supplies imported from China. The reasons offered by the FDA for this ban seemed to vary but then coalesced into a “fear” that e-liquids used to refill electronic cigarettes would lure underage people into smoking and addict them to nicotine.

The ban ended up in federal court on January 15, 2010 where a federal judge ruled the FDA could not ban the importation of electronic cigarettes. The judge strongly criticized the federal agency for aggressive tactics that seemed aimed at designating a particular recreational product as a drug or device in an attempt to make the product unavailable to the public.

Pointing to the newly established tobacco division created within the FDA to regulate tobacco, the judge stated that the same regulations could be applied to electronic cigarettes and supplies.

Responding to the court decision, the FDA seemed to change it’s reasoning about an import ban claiming concern over potential “health issues”. The previous concerns of underage smokers seemed to be forgotten. If the FDA appeals the court decision the agency will have full support of big tobacco.

The costs of electronic cigarettes would increase greatly should the FDA be allow to set standards and restrictions on the products. Big tobacco currently cannot compete with the lower cost of e-cigarettes.

The court decision defined a need to scrutinize the relationships that exist between tobacco companies, pharmaceutical concerns and the FDA. Taxes from the sales of tobacco products put billions of dollars in federal and state government coffers annually. Many of the attempts to create fear of electronic smoking alternatives seem to be more concerned with the financial bottom line than with the protection of public health the FDA is charged with. Had big tobacco been the industry that introduced and promoted electronic cigarettes it is doubtful a controversy would exist.

Why has a ban on the use of tobacco never been a topic of conversation within the FDA? Why would a government agency designated to determine the safety of products sold to the public focus on attempts to ban a product before conducting scientific research? Where are plans for testing to provide facts about the safety of electronic cigarettes? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Mary Kay Rivers is an acclaimed expert on all facets of e-cigarettes. Her articles history of e-cigarettes and about the best electronic cigarette have become well-known.

Could the time come when allowing electronic cigarettes in the office becomes commonplace? Only two decades ago many employee desks prominently featured an ashtray. Employees and visitors alike could “light up” without the scornful looks that would be common today. Even when non smoking signs appeared it was not unusual for a business person to pull an ashtray from his desk drawer for a customer to use. These days it’s not even safe to ask if you can smoke inside a building.

You may still find some break rooms offered by large company where smoking and non-smoking sections coexist. Government employees have long been required to leave the building before lighting up. A small group of employees getting a nicotine “fix” is often noticed by those entering a building. Workplaces that are not polluted with second hand smoke are cleaner and smell better. Another benefit is the reduction in fire hazard when burning tobacco products aren’t permitted.

Most smokers no longer complain when they are required to leave the building to smoke. They often find the need to defend themselves against non-smokers who complain even when workers are smoking out of doors. This has led businesses to establish outdoor smoking areas with seating and protection from the sun. These areas are often a feature of businesses with sufficient outdoor space to permit separating the smoking area from the business entrance.

There is a financial downside for business where employees frequently leave their work stations to smoke. There is no one to answer the phone or answer a question, no work is being done and additional work time is lost when the worker returns to his desk and has to refocus on where he was on a project before going for a smoke. Business leaders have offered clinics, free nicotine replacement products and even cash awards to those employees who quit smoking. More dictatorial bosses have refused to hire smokers and have made non-smoking a condition of continued employment.

The tens of thousands of dollars spend by businesses to help employees stop smoking was effective in the beginning. Workers jumped at the chance for free counseling and free nicotine replacement products to help them quit. As time went on, the only smokers left were those who were highly addicted or who had no desire to quit their tobacco habit. Allowing the use of electronic cigarettes at the workplace could be an answer to the problems posed for employers by determined cigarette smokers.

Electronic cigarettes produce a vapor that quickly dissipates like steam and is not harmful to anyone in the smoker’s vicinity. Walls and ceilings do not become dark with the tar from tobacco smoke in a room where e-cigs are used. Nasty odors released by the chemical compounds of burning tobacco are totally absent with e-cigarettes. The use of e-cigs in an office environment would seem a logical way to meet the needs of smokers without any effects to other workers. Unlike other nicotine replacement products, e-cigarettes are not invisible. The use of electronic cigarettes in the office may be an acceptable practice in the future.

E-cigarettes often look like the tobacco version. Just the appearance of a cigarette is enough to cause a negative reaction in non-smokers even though no tobacco is involved. Some e-cigs are shaped like a ball point pen and many are now chosen because they don’t look like a standard cigarette but have unusual and interesting logos and colors. Proposals to add electronic cigarettes in the workplace will need to overcome negative attitudes of committed non-smokers.

E-cigarette popularity and use continues to grow with consumers looking for a safer alternative to tobacco. Electronic cigarettes at the workplace could be a common sight five years from now as the true facts and benefits of e-cigs become more widely known and accepted.

Mary Kay Rivers is an expert on all facets of electronic cigarettes. Her publications about a future with all smokers switching to electronic cigarettes and about the best e-cigarette are very popular.

Many smokers have chosen electronic cigarettes as a new lifestyle product that is both healthier and environmentally responsible. Streamlined and easy to use, the best e-cigarettes are rapidly gaining acceptance by the smoking public. The lack of odor and messy ashtrays and the ability to ingest nicotine without offending those around you are prime benefits. The health benefits to non-smokers who have been exposed to second hand smoke for decades is huge.

David Hammond of the University of Waterloo U.S. reminds us the warnings on tobacco products are among the weakest in the world. There have been few changes to the warnings since they first appear in 1984 on cigarette packs. The warnings point to the most debilitating diseases smoking is known to cause but nothing has been done by the surgeon general or the FDA to require warnings to reflect new evidence of the past 25 years.

Smoking used to carry an aura of sophistication and style but is now recognized as a danger to health through research about the chemicals inhaled with every cigarette puff. In addition to serious disease the side effects of deterioration in overall health and the wrinkled skin associated with smokers have become unacceptable to us.

E-smoking provides the same nicotine boost craved by smokers of tobacco yet avoids the foul odor of burning cigarettes and cigars that spreads to hair, clothing and furniture. Without the necessity of inhaling hundreds of substances that are potentially toxic, smokers can enjoy the taste of tobacco or choose from a variety of flavors available by electronic cigarette suppliers.

A list resulting from reports by the major cigarette manufacturers such as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Philip Morris reveals the U.S. Department of Health lists 599 additives present in cigarettes. It’s true that many of the additives have been well tested and approved as food additives. However, they were tested and approved as additives ingested orally. They have not been tested for changes or risks that occur when the additive is burned and inhaled. Chemical properties change during the burning process and 4,000 chemical compounds are released from one burning cigarette.

Our society is now focusing on healthy lifestyles and a massive change in public attitude toward tobacco is also fueled by our goal of environmental protection. There is little health benefit to exercising regularly if the exercise is followed by inhaling hundreds or thousands of damaging chemical additives. What is the point of an organic, healthy diet and eating unprocessed foods if the meal is followed by a tobacco cigarette?

Big tobacco and big pharma were quick to attack electronic cigarettes when they were introduced in 2003. Lobbyists for the powerful firms spent millions pressuring Congress and the FDA to ban or strictly regulate e-cigs. The strength of the tobacco and pharma lobbies led to the FDA bowing to pressure and issuing a statement regarding potential yet vague hazards of e-cigarettes.

Tobacco smokers are arriving at their own conclusions. The weight of evidence pointing to serious health risks combined with the high cost of the products due to recent tax increases has led many dedicated tobacco smokers to choose the alternative of e-cigs. For the first time smokers have found a new lifestyle product that will provide the pleasure of smoking without the risks and costs of tobacco.

Mary Kay Rivers is a true expert on all facets of e-cigarettes. Her articles about a leading e-cig info source, the electronic cigarette association (ECA) or “What is the Best Electronic Cigarette?” have become well-known.