Every cigarette poisons our body - but e-cigarettes can be beneficial in weaning

English health authorities recommend e-cigarettes for smoking cessation

Through a large-scale campaign, UK health authorities want to motivate people to quit smoking by demonstrating the drastic health effects that each individual cigarette emits. To stop the experts recommend a switch to the e-cigarette.

Public Health England (PHE) has released several short films showing the devastating damage caused by smoking. The message of the films is: "If you could see the damage, you would stop immediately!" An additional experiment shows how much chemicals and tar accumulate in the veins and lungs of smokers in just one month. The same experiment with e-cigarettes showed that over the same period more than 95 percent fewer pollutants are deposited.

The result of the comparison between tobacco smoke and e-cigarette vapor. Left: Wadding after an average smoke exposure that a smoker inhales within a month. Right: The same load of e-cigarette vapor. (Image: Helena Dudley / Freuds)

English health experts warn against false security concerns

As the experts of the PHE report, about 44 percent of smokers believe that the vapor of the e-cigarette is just as harmful as tobacco smoke. "It would be tragic if thousands of smokers who could stop using e-cigarettes were deterred because of false safety concerns," said Professor John Newton of Public Health England in a press release on the new campaign. The aim of the campaign is to assure smokers that switching to an e-cigarette is much less harmful than smoking a cigarette.

Long-term use of e-cigarettes relatively safe

"Research that we and others have done shows that e-cigarette vapor is less harmful than tobacco smoke and that the long-term use of e-cigarettes is relatively safe," adds Dr. Lion Shahab, a leading smoking cessation scientist at University College London. The use of e-cigarettes or nicotine substitutes such as patches or gum would significantly increase the chances of a successful smoking cessation.

Smoking - the worst thing you can do to your health

"Smoking increases the risk of over 50 serious illnesses, including cancer and many heart diseases, and it doubles the risk of stroke death," warns. Shahab. On average, 6 out of 10 smokers want to stop. Most try it with sheer willpower, although according to Shahab this is the least effective method.

Smoking versus e-cigarette

Dr Lion Shahab and Dr Rosemary Leonard use an experiment to show how many pollutants accumulate in the bodies of smokers and e-cigarette users within a month. They led the smoke of cigarettes into a bell jar filled with cotton wool. In a second bell, the steam was passed by e-cigarettes. According to the average amount that smokers inhale within a month, the cotton in the bell was dark brown due to the tobacco smoke and stuck together with a viscous tar mucus. In the bell with the e-cigarette vapor, the cotton wool remained white (see picture above).

It is never too late to stop

Dr. Rosemary Leonard: "I regularly give patients advice on stopping, and when I recommend e-cigarettes, I often wonder that many people have misconceptions." The results of the experiment clearly showed that every cigarette causes tar gets into the body and spreads poison in the bloodstream. By contrast, e-cigarette vapor is much less harmful. Dr. Leonard hopes this experiment will help motivate more smokers to transfer and then get off the bus. It is never too late to stop, so the expert's conclusion.

For more information, see the article: "Stop Smoking." (Vb)