The hazards linked with the popular habit are far lower than those associated with smoking cigarettes, according to two Australian physicians who are attempting to educate Australians about what is truly inside vapes.
One physician, Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, claims that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking and is working to debunk the idea that it is bad for your health.
Some individuals mistakenly believe that vapour is more hazardous than smoke, according to Dr. Mendelsohn.
Vapor contains several compounds that may cause cancer, but only in extremely tiny concentrations.
According to Public Health England and the UK Royal College of Physicians, “This estimate [that it is 95% less harmful] is based on rigorous, independent evaluations of the scientific evidence.”
It provides a fair indication of the overall risk associated with vaping as opposed to smoking.
Although the precise percentage is irrelevant, stating that the danger of vaping is probably less than 5% of that of smoking gives smokers enough information to make an educated decision.
Simply stating that vaping is “least dangerous” is overly general.
He continued by saying that the majority of the dangerous chemicals in smoke are entirely absent from vapour.
“Those [toxins] that are there are at considerably lower amounts, often below 1% of what they are in smoke,” says the study.
The threats to your health will be significantly reduced if the contaminants are substantially lower.
According to independent estimates, vaping has a cancer risk that is less than 0.5% of smoking’s.
According to Dr. Mendelsohn, the best strategy for vaping should strike a compromise between providing adult smokers with easy access to high-quality vaping goods while restricting access for children.
Dr. Alex Wodak, a board member of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association, told Daily Mail Australia that there are a number of reasons why vaping has a negative image, and that this is mirrored in the fact that GPs are reluctant to give prescriptions for nicotine liquid.
“Only 240 of Australia’s 31,000 general practitioners are willing to draught a prescription for nicotine liquid,” Why is this the case, you inquire? stated Dr. Wodak.
“First, authorities have not made an effort to encourage doctors of medicine to do this or to outline the steps required to create a script for them.
Second, a number of news stories and opinions in the mainstream media have vilified nicotine, exaggerated its negligible hazards while ignoring the enormous advantages of smokers moving from lethal cigarettes to far safer vaping.
Many medical professionals are concerned about what may transpire if they wrote a script and then encountered problems.
According to him, “almost 90% of Australian vaporizers get their supply from the unregulated black market, which has grown to match rising demand.”
Dr. Wodak said that people looking to stop smoking have had a tough time locating pharmacists willing to write prescriptions for nicotine liquid, in large part due to Health Minister Greg Hunt tightening regulations in October.
Dr. Wodak said, “Despite 82 million individuals vaping nicotine in dozens of countries, there have been no definite fatalities linked to vaping nicotine anywhere in the globe, whereas over 21,000 Australians die each year from smoking-related conditions.”
E-cigarettes “carry considerable hazards,” according to Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly, making them even riskier than conventional tobacco.
We need this dialogue to happen, so ‘please share this evidence with your children, your nieces and nephews, students, participants in your football or netball team, your brothers and sisters,’ he urged.
We need these issues to serve as conversation starters.
In June, the National Health and Medical Research Council issued a study on e-cigarettes, warning the more than two million Australians who had experimented with the smoking substitute.
According to the study, 5% of Australians between the ages of 18 and 24 who have tried e-cigarettes also routinely use them.