As we all know, health misinformation is everywhere. Anyone can post anything on the internet, with or without the credentials and knowledge to do so. One area where I have seen a tremendous amount of misinformation is surrounding electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and vaping. The misinformation that I have come across is related to the risks of vaping compared to smoking. People believe that the large clouds of vapour are just water vapour so they are not harmful when in reality they are clouds of vapour containing a number of chemicals that are being inhaled and absorbed by the lungs (Quit Victoria, 2022). These devices are also often mislabeled so they indicate a low dose or lack of nicotine when in reality this is not the case, resulting in an increase in nicotine addiction (Quit Victoria, 2022). Due to the sheer number of flavour options, these devices have really appealed to teenagers and young adults. This is resulting in more people becoming nicotine dependent and puts these people at an increased risk of becoming smokers in the future (Quit Victoria, 2022). The reality of the situation is that there is not enough research on these devices and the long-term health effects are unknown at this time (Zwar, 2020).
Another side of the misinformation I have discovered is related to the use of e-cigs and vapes for smoking cessation. During my research, I came across an article from the Australian Journal of General Practice about smoking cessation. Zwar (2020) states that the topic of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation is a controversial topic. However, this article clearly states that there are no e-cigs or vapes that have been tested and approved to be used as a smoking cessation aid (Zwar, 2020). While Zwar (2020) does note that vapes have not been approved as a smoking cessation aid, they do note that these devices may be used as a last resort for those who have attempted to quit smoking several times using routine methods without success.
While there still seems to be a lot of misinformation and conflicting evidence on the use of vapes and e-cigarettes, the fact of the matter is that they are just too new for us to know the long-term health effects. They may have their time and place in smoking cessation but what we really need is more research on these devices. More research on the health effects, more research on how effective they are in smoking cessation and more research on the best way to utilize them if they are going to continue to be readily available.
References
Quit Victoria. (2022). E-cigarettes: general information. https://www.quit.org.au/articles/e-cigarettes-general-information/
Zwar, N. A. (2020). Smoking cessation. Australian Journal of General Practice, 49(8). 10.31128/AJGP-03-20-5287
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