29 October 2019 By Jonathan Gibbs at The Body Matters in Hypnotherapy

Vaping – A Less Damaging Habit than Smoking?

In less than 20 years vaping has gone from nothing to a £20 billion global industry with several million people regularly vaping in the UK alone. In the US the number of teenage vapers alone rose from 1.5 million in 2017 to 3.6 million in 2018. Whilst older vapers are more likely to be vaping in an effort to give up smoking traditional cigarettes, this is less likely to be the case for younger vapers.

Vapes or e-cigarettes have a vessel that holds liquid and a battery that is used to heat the liquid – which usually contains nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerine as well as flavourings and additives. When heated this liquid forms a vapour of very fine particles which are then inhaled and go deep into one’s lungs.

Although initially seen as a means of enabling smokers to move to a less-damaging activity, concerns about effects on health are growing. In the US the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) have identified 1604 cases of what they call ‘EVALI’ (E-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury), from ever single state apart from Alaska, District of Columbia and one US territory. These include 34 deaths in 24 states. Many different substances are under investigation and it may be that there are a number of causes of these rather than a single one.

The CDC recommends (accurate October 2019) that people should “consider refraining from use of all e-cigarette or vaping products” and that “no one use products containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) – the psychoactive compound that produces the ‘high’ of marijuana. In addition, the advice is that e-cigarettes are never used by youths, young adults or pregnant women.

To arrange a free 30-minute consultation to discuss how BWRT®, hypnotherapy or counselling can help you to change your life for the better, contact Jonathan at The Body Matters on 01702 714968.