There is growing consensus in the global medical community that electronic cigarettes are a less harmful alternative to tobacco cigarettes.
After completing an extensive evidence-based review of e-cig research, Public Health England was the first health organization to officially recognize the potential health benefits of electronic cigarettes and their potential as a safer alternative to tobacco. Since then, new research continues to suggest that smokers who switch to V can experience immediate health improvements.
New studies discover more potential health benefits of quitting smoking with E-Cigs
Two recent studies have found new and overwhelmingly positive potential health benefits from switching from smoking to V. One study found that taking e-cigs can help reduce smokers’ blood pressure, which is surprising because nicotine has long been considered the culprit behind hypertension in some smokers.
The other promising study suggests that women who use e-cigs to help reduce smoking are less susceptible to weight gain during cessation, which probably reduces their health risks by increasing their chances of quitting smoking.
Does replacing tobacco with E-cigs improve cardiovascular health?
The American Heart Association recognizes a strong correlation between smoking and hypertension, but it is unclear exactly why this link exists. Although not all smokers have high blood pressure, smoking a single cigarette will temporarily increase blood pressure for several minutes.
The authors of a study published in Internal and Emergency Medicine gave e-cigs to a group of smokers and regularly checked their blood pressure over a year. Some of the participants gave up smoking altogether because of V, others reduced the daily number of cigarettes they smoked, and the rest of the group maintained their regular smoking habits.
Of those smokers who were identified as having high blood pressure, those who reduced their tobacco use by at least 50% had a significant drop in systolic blood pressure in 52 weeks. Those who quit saw the greatest improvements, but dual users who substantially reduced tobacco use with the help of e-cigs also experienced significant blood pressure reductions.
Can V avoid weight gain during smoking cessation?
Weight gain is a very common and unpleasant side effect of smoking cessation. About 80% of smokers who quit gain weight, and this sad fact leads many of them to go back to smoking.
Their concerns should not be dismissed as superficial; excessive weight gain can carry some of the same health risks as smoking, including heart problems and cancer. Therefore, overeating is not a healthy coping strategy to control the anxiety many smokers experience when trying to quit smoking.
Fortunately, a study that looked at body weight fluctuations in smokers who switched to V found that e-cigs can help reduce the appetite associated with smoking cessation. A group of women who marketed tobacco for e-cigs was followed for more than a year, and none experienced significant weight gain.
Even participants who used e-cigarettes that did not contain nicotine maintained a consistent weight. This is particularly interesting because nicotine is an appetite suppressant, and abstinence from nicotine is believed to be a determining factor in weight gain; however, other factors, such as oral fixation and food stress, seem to play a larger role.
Since we know that weight gain is a common obstacle to quitting smoking for some people, it is reasonable to say that electronic cigarettes make smoking cessation a little easier.
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