According to the latest report from Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre in Athens, using e cigarettes is NOT linked with any adverse side effects on cardiac function – unlike traditional cigarette smoking.

In fact, the research conducted showed that e cigarettes are considerably less harmful than normal smoking (cigarettes that contain tobacco) and therefore moving from traditional smoking to e cigarette smoking is likely to be a good move in terms of a smoker’s health.

Smoking with traditional cigarettes has many health implications – one major one being heart disease. The World Health Organization (WHO), have commented that smoking will have caused 1 billion deaths by the end of this century.

Manufacturers of e cigarettes have been saying for some time that switching to the e cig is a “healthier alternative” and this research implies that this statement is probably true. Switching to e cigs not only cuts down your tobacco intake (in fact, e cigs contain zero tobacco) but many use the e cigarette as an aide for quitting smoking completely.

What is unique about the e cigarette is that it mimics the sensations of tobacco smoking, but unlike tobacco smoking you do not breathe in smoke. The e liquid inside the e cigarette can be purchased in different flavours, too, giving the e cig user a variety of choices for their e cig.

The study which was based on 42 young volunteers who were daily smokers found that while smokers who used the electronic cigarette got the same experience as smoking a real cigarette, their cravings for tobacco gradually declined without them actually realising it. In addition many of the heart problems that are commonly associated with smoking do not occur with electronic equivalent of real cigarettes.

The cardiac functions of volunteers that smoke one cigarette on a daily basis were then compared to the other set of volunteers using e cigs for a length of 7 minutes over two weeks. The results concluded that the people using the electronic cigarettes was least affected, showing only very slight increase in their blood pressure and heartbeat, and negligible cardiac function disruptions

This is not the only study showing how e cigs are healthier than normal cigarettes. Previous studies have indicated that e cigarettes contain “fewer toxins” than tobacco cigarettes, including nitrosamines which form part of a group of carcinogens in tobacco containing products.

To put things into perspective, in order for a smoker to breathe in the nitrosamines contained in one normal cigarette, you would need to use your e cigarette device every day for 12 months.

Dr Farsalinos, who headed the study, said: “It is too early to say whether the electronic cigarette is a revolution in tobacco harm reduction but the potential is there. It is the only available product that deals with both the chemical (nicotine delivery) and psychological (inhaling and exhaling ‘smoke’, holding it, etc) addiction to smoking, laboratory analyses indicate that it is significantly less toxic and our study has shown no significant defects in cardiac function after acute use.”

“Share If You Or Someone You Know Wants To Give Up Smoking To Improve Their Health”

Electronic Cigarette Vs Regular Cigarettes

You cannot turn a street corner, read a magazine or even buy a packet of cigarettes without reading how harmful smoking is to our health. There are many ways a smoker can quit smoking including:

• Going Cold Turkey – The hardest method of all which involves a lot of will power and mental strength

• NRT – Nicotine Replacement Therapy includes nicotine patches, nicotine gum and nasal spray. These provide the user with a hit of nicotine without exposing them to the rest of the harmful chemicals which smoking regular cigarettes would.

• Meditation – It is believed that if you clear your mind and focus your thoughts you can beat your addictions just through being in a relaxed and focused state.

• Acupunture – Unblocking negative energy through the insertion of thin needles is said to be able to be good for beating addictions and curing illnesses.

• Hypnosis – Being induced into a state of complete relaxation – a trained therapist is said to be able to find your thoughts that hold your nicotine addition and break them down and replace them with a more positive way of thinking.

• Electronic Cigarette – Electronic Cigarettes allow the using to completely mimic the smoking experience however the big difference is that e cigs are much healthier as they don’t contain all the harmful chemicals found in cigarettes.

The infographic above puts the most modern of the quit smoking products the electronic cigarette up against the cigarette.Who will come out victorious

Round 1:

Winner E Cig – The regular cigarette leaves your clothes, hair, breath and overall home smelling of smoke whereas the e cig leaves no smell at all.

Round 2:

Winner E Cig: Regular cigarettes contain over 7000 harmful chemicals. E Cigs on the other hand are much healthier containing propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), artifical flavourings and nicotine (providing you smoke a a nicotine e liquid).

Round 3:

Winner E Cig: Unlike regular cigarettes, e cigs do not yellow your teeth and fingernails.

Round 4:

Winner E Cig: Regular cigarettes produce messy ash and can burn clothes and furniture unlike its electronic equivalent.

Round 5:

Winner E Cig: Electronic cigarettes offer a wide range of flavours for the user to choose from where regular cigarettes are very limited when it comes to flavourings. E liquid flavours include chocolate, apple, cherry, bubblegum, cheesecake, strawberry, RY4, cola and many more.

Round 6:

Winner E Cig: Electronic cigarettes can be smoked indoors unlike cigarettes which since the smoking ban have been banned from all in door places.

Round 7:

Winner E Cig: The electronic cigarette is very green and can be recycled where as the cigarette is usually found lying on a street floor after use.

Round 8:

Winner E Cig: Electronic cigarettes don’t require tress to be cut down for tobacco whereas the cigarette is solely responsible for around the destruction of 600 million trees a year.

Round 9:

Winner E Cig: The electronic cigarette long term (after the purchase of the device) is very cost effective unlike smoking which costs the user £££ every year.

WINNER

Its a knockout performance from the e-cig, seeing it beat the cigarette in every round. After this one vs one battle it is clear who is victorious…

“Share If You Or Someone You Know Wants To Give Up Smoking To Improve Their Health”

Around 100,000 people die in the UK alone each year due to smoking. This is an incredible fact when you juxtapose this number with the total number of deaths caused by cancer each year which totals to around 157,000. There are a number of ways a smoker can meet their untimely death however 5 of the most common reasons are caused by the following:

1. Lung Cancer – Lung cancer single handily claims the lives of 30,000 people in the UK, with 8 out of 10 of these being directly linked to smoking. Taking into consideration the total of people that die in the UK due to smoking, lung cancer is responsible for nearly a third of all fatalities.
2. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – COPD is a serious lung disease that kills around 25,000 people a year in the UK. Out of the 25,000, 8 out of 10 are smoking related meaning around 20,000 people die from smoking alone.
3. Heart Disease – Heart Disease is the biggest killer illness in the UK claiming a colossal 120,000 people in the UK. Around 1 in 6 of these deaths is due to smoking meaning 20,000 people die from Heart disease due to their smoking habit.
4. Rheumatoid Arthritis – Research has shown smoking is known to be a risk factor for developing rheumatoid arthritis. Of this research one study estimated that about 1 in 5 cases of rheumatoid arthritis is caused due to smoking.
5. Other Cancers – Although lung cancer is the most common type of cancer caused by smoking, it can also be responsible for mouth, nose, throat, larynx, gullet (oesophagus), pancreas, bladder, cervix, blood (leukaemia) and kidney cancer too.

Looking above it is incredible that anyone who has been educated on the effects that smoking has, and the diseases and illnesses it can cause, continues or starts to smoke. But why does smoking have such a detrimental and destructive effect on the human body?  Having a look at the top 5 harmful chemicals found in cigarettes its clear to see why:

• Cyanide – Just seeing this word alone should start ringing alarm bells. Cyanide was used by the Nazi’s in the Holocaust during World War 2 (in the form of hydrogen cyanide). It is one of the most deadliest poisons known to man.
• Arsenic – Arsenic is commonly used in traps to kill rodents by dehydration. It is highly poisonous to humans with common symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting, blood in urine, hair loss and convulsions.
•  DDT – DDT is a well known synthetic pesticide. Although the NTP (United States National Toxicology Program) has labelled the chemical “moderately toxic” and the WHO (World Health Organisation) “moderately hazardous” a number of varying studies have linked DDT to diabetes. Also it seems the chemical, if exposed to a pregnant woman, can lead to the child having development problems and decreased cognitive skills.
• Carbon Monoxide – Killing by asphyxiation, carbon monoxide replaces oxygen in the blood stream with CO molecules. Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause headaches and confusion. More severe cases can lead to toxicity of the central nervous system and the heart.
• Formaldehyde – Ironically formaldehyde is commonly used to preserve dead tissue. Formaldehyde poisoning can lead to hypotension, arrhythmia, breathing and respiratory complications and can even leave you in a coma in the most severe cases.

However it’s not all bad news, if you are a smoker who wishes to quit you can still regain your health. The following timeline shows the health benefits of quitting:

• After 72 hours breathing becomes easier. Bronchial tubes begin to relax and energy levels increase.
• After 1 month the skin appearance improves, owing to improved skin perfusion.
• After 3-9 months coughing, wheezing and general breathing problems improve and lung function increases by up to 10%.
• After 1 year the risk of heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.
• After 10 years the chance of getting lung cancer falls to around half of that of a smoker.
• After 15 years the risk of having a heart attack falls to the same level as for someone who has never smoked in their life.

Other none health benefits of quitting smoking include improved finances, improved sense of taste and smell and the smell of tobacco goes from your clothes breath face and hair. Check out the range of electronic cigarettes and e liquid available if you would prefer not to stop nicotine completely, right away.

You may have heard of electronic cigarette smoking before, but are not sure exactly how it works. An electronic cigarette looks the same as normal cigarette. It is a small tube like inhaler, which you can “take a drag” from much in the same way as you can with a normal cigarette.

However, electronic cigarette smoking isn’t as bad for your health. This is because it does not contain any tar, and no combustion takes place when it is in use. The smoke that is released is not even a smoke, it is a water vapour. This means that it is much safer to use around other people with no threat of second-hand smoke.

The great thing about the electronic cigarette is that you can adapt it around your smoking needs and tastes. You can choose the E liquid that suits you best. E liquid is a substance that makes the electronic cigarette function. You can choose the nicotine strength that you would like, for example, a lighter smoker might only want a small dose of nicotine in their E liquid. You can also choose the E Liquid flavour. This could be anything from a traditional cigarette taste, to coffee, chocolate and even fruit flavours. This means that many electronic cigarette smokers can be creative with their alternative smoking style.

The electronic cigarettes can be used as a permanent alternative to smoking, but some people use it as a quit smoking device. This is because of the method of nicotine replacement which the electronic cigarette can deliver.

Because the electronic cigarette still contains nicotine, which is the addictive chemical in a normal cigarette, a smoker can gradually wean their body off the nicotine substance by using the electronic cigarette. As the dose of E liquid can be reduced over time, in terms of nicotine content, it becomes easier for the body to survive without nicotine and it will no longer crave cigarettes in the same way as it has done in the past.

One user of the electronic cigarette commented on its effectiveness in their lifestyle, “What I found difficult about smoking was that it meant that I always secluded myself from the rest of the group. Whenever we were out at a restaurant, I would need to go outside and stand in the cold to have my cigarette. Now, with the electronic cigarette, I can smoke it wherever I want to, because I know it is not harmful to anybody around me. What’s more, I have been able to gradually wean my addiction to nicotine so now my nicotine levels are much lower than they were a year ago. With a little patience and belief in the electronic cigarette, it really can take your long way.”

Quitting smoking is very tough, and if you have been a smoker in the past, you will know how difficult it is. This is due to the chemical inside the cigarette called nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive and attacks the brain’s cells. This means that your body feels like it needs another hit of nicotine every so often. The heavier the smoker you are, the more your body feels like it needs nicotine. Some smokers believe that they cannot go a couple of hours without a cigarette.

Firstly, smoking is bad for your health. The more you smoke, the more you are exposing yourself to thousands of toxins and chemicals. The more you smoke, the more you are feeling you need to smoke. This is very bad for your health and is highlighted by the fact that smoking related illnesses is still the U.K.’s number one killer.

Not only this, but smoking is bad for your lifestyle in general. If you work in an office or other environment, going for a cigarette break every hour can be detrimental to your productivity and can be a hindrance on your work life. It can also affect your social life, as well as your family because you cannot smoke around other people.

For the many reasons above, many people decide to quit smoking. This can be difficult because of the challenging withdrawal symptoms which every smoker experiences. This is because the body is withdrawing from the nicotine substance which can be a frustrating and long drawn out process.

Many people try to quit smoking using nicotine replacement therapies. Nicotine replacement therapies allow you to gradually replace the nicotine in your system, such as with a nicotine gum or nicotine patch, which means that your body thinks that it has had a bit of nicotine even though it hasn’t smoked.

One revolutionary new product which really showcases this method is the electronic cigarette. The e cig contains a substance called E liquid. E liquid contains nicotine and you can choose the nicotine strength that you would like. For the heavy smoker, they might decide to have a strong dose of nicotine in their E liquid. You can also choose the flavour of the electronic cigarette.

Many Hollywood stars have been seen with the electronic cigarette, including Johnny Depp. It has been successful for many people because it mimics a real cigarette, so the smoker feels like they have been smoking, and they’ve had a hit of the nicotine from the E liquid, but actually they have not been smoking at all. This is for many people, the healthy alternative to traditional smoking and can help you to quit – for good.

E liquid is the substance that you need to put inside an electronic cigarette in order for it to work. There are many different types of liquid that you can purchase. E liquid is cost effective and therefore many people decide to buy various different types of E liquid so that they can change it, depending on their mood.

E Liquids come in various different flavours. A first time user of the electronic cigarette might want to try a traditional cigarette flavour in order to truly mimic the taste of real cigarette. When withdrawal symptoms are high after quitting cigarette smoking, it can be comforting to have the real taste of the normal cigarette in an electronic cigarette.

However, many other people decide to try different flavours and some even decide to be experimental and create their own flavours.

The e liquid flavours that you can get range from vanilla, chocolate, peach, cherry, tomato, coffee, and many others as well. If you buy a DIY E liquid kit, you can combine some of these flavours to create your own unique taste. Some people like to be really wacky and combine peculiar flavours together. You might just discover something really great in mixing together your own flavours. In a do-it-yourself kit you will have all the apparatus needed to create your own E liquid. This will include the pipettes that you need as well as unlabelled and empty bottles so that you can store the E liquid. They will also comes with labels so that you can write on each bottle what you used in each item.

When it comes to your E liquid you also need to decide on which strength of nicotine you like. There are many different strengths of e liquid, ranging from super high nicotine strength for the very heavy user, to light and even a zero strength e liquid. This makes it ideal for people who are looking to quit smoking, because they can gradually cut down on the doses of nicotine overtime.

This could be compared with nicotine replacement therapies such as nicotine patches, gums and mints. By substituting your cigarette with nicotine, you can gradually isolate the issue and sensibly cut down on your nicotine intake over time.

Some people believe that by cutting out nicotine completely and suddenly, you will suffer from irritation and nausea as well as other withdrawal symptoms to make it difficult for you to stay on the right track.

When it comes to E liquid, everybody is different and has different tastes and unique requirements. What you have probably will be different from your friend, and so you should try and create your own flavour.

The hard part has been achieved and you have quit smoking by either going cold turkey or by using a quit smoking aid such as vaping e liquid using a electronic cigarette, NRTs or even using hypnotherapy to help you beat the nicotine addiction.

It is common knowledge that people gain weight after they give up smoking…but why is this? There are 3 main reasons:

• Smoking causes our metabolism to increase slightly
• A heavy smoker is thought to burn 200 calories per day
• Nicotine suppresses your appetite.

When a smoker initially quits it throws the body into a state of shock. Unfortunately not having a daily dosage of tobacco is an increased side effect. This could be caused because when a smoker previously smoked they avoided the little in between meals in order to light up. Also because nicotine is known to be a stimulant it may interfere with the natural release of the insulin hormone. This is important because insulin is responsible for controlling glucose levels and if this process is halted the smoker will become vaguely hyperglycaemic leading to the brain slowing down the hormones and additional signals that trigger hunger.

Furthermore straight after quitting the urge to have a cigarette is very high and many people comfort eat and use food as a substitute to the cigarette which will ease the pain of withdrawal.

Research conducted by UK and French researchers shows that the weight gained after giving up smoking is much more than previously thought.

“The average weight gain associated with giving up smoking is much higher than previously thought, experts have found.

People can expect to put on up to 5kg (11lb) within a year of quitting, research published on bmj.com suggests.

This is more than the typical 3kg often quoted in advice leaflets and the 2.3kg many women smokers say they would be willing to tolerate in order to quit.

But the health benefits of giving up smoking far outweigh what is still a “modest” gain, say experts.

The research, based on results from 62 studies, found that former smokers gained an average of 4.67kg in the 12 months after they quit.

Most of the excess weight was gained during the first three months.

But the changes in body weight varied widely from person to person. About 16% of quitters lost weight, while 13% gained more than 10kg.

Whether the individual used nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches or gum, made no difference in terms of weight.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18780152

However it is not all bad news, even though the weight gain may be higher than previously thought there are still ways to avoid gaining weight and stay slim. These include:

Exercise – Exercise is the best way to combat weight gain. Because once you quit your metabolism slows so fitting in a daily form of exercise is important. You don’t have to join a gym and be excessive – just a simple half an hour of exercise everyday will be all you need. You can even just go for a brisk little walk around your local park or take the dog for another walk.

Change in Diet – First of all by diet I mean what you eat…not how much you eat. By changing your diet to include healthy meals you will stop yourself from putting on the pounds. Eat fruit and vegetables and try to substitute your food with low fat equivalents.

Give Up The Booze – Alcohol can be very high in calories however that is not the only downfall. Many people have quit smoking only to have a smoke on a night out drinking and destroyed their weeks if not months of hard work.

Luckily the hard part is quitting, once you have quit don’t be put off by a few pounds of increased weight. As seen above just a simple change in your daily exercise and eating plans is all that is needed to keep you from gaining excess weight.

If you’re struggling for something to buy a friend for their birthday, then why not consider the electronic cigarette – if he is a smoker. The electronic cigarette is an ideal gift for the person who already has everything. If he is a smoker then you have probably already heard him say that he is trying to quit smoking at some point. Many people fall off the wagon because they find quitting smoking simply too difficult.

Quitting smoking is tough because of the withdrawal symptoms that you experience through the lack of nicotine which enters our system as we smoke. This is why many people try to adopt nicotine replacement therapies in order to correctly wean themselves off the smoking habit. Using nicotine patches and nicotine gums is one way of doing this, but the electronic cigarette is a new and innovative way of achieving this as well.

The electronic cigarette is a battery-powered device which looks like a normal cigarette and you take a “drag” on it in the same way as you would not cigarette. It even has a vapour but this is not like the smoke which a cigarette would give off, the vapour is harmless and can be breathed in by anyone around it.

What’s great about the electronic cigarette is that you can also buy E liquid, which is the essential solution for the inside of the electronic cigarette, to mix up the flavour of the cigarette.

Some people decide to have the traditional cigarette taste when they use their electronic cigarette, but if you think your friend is more adventurous then you might want to choose to buy him several different flavours. You can also buy DIY starter kits which allows your friend to create flavours together by combining different tastes. You might want to combine chocolate and orange to create chocolate Orange, for example. You can also choose the strength of the nicotine in your E liquids too, which means that your friend can gradually cut down on smoking by slowly reducing the nicotine intake over time.

The electronic cigarette can be personalised and there are many different varieties available. They come in different colours and with different kits. You can also get in car chargers and on the go chargers as well as travel cases, for the busy friend who needs to have practical items.

E liquid is a substance which is placed inside your electronic cigarette. It is essential for the full function of your electronic cigarette. You may have heard that there are many different E liquids on the market, and you would be right. There are so many to choose from that many people do not know which to go for first. A first time user of the electronic cigarette will probably find the amount of choice overwhelming!

E liquid comes with two different choices, the nicotine strength and the flavour.

The nicotine strength is an important one to get right. However, many people use a process of trial and error in order to get to the right strength of nicotine.

If you are currently a heavy user of traditional cigarettes, then you might want to match your nicotine intake so that you do not suffer any withdrawal symptoms. Some people believe that you need to overcompensate for the nicotine in the electronic cigarette, but this is not true. The nicotine strength in the E liquid is just as strong as in real cigarettes, so there is no need to opt for a larger dose then you would usually be comfortable with.

The next thing you need to think about when it comes to E liquid is the flavour you would like to choose. The e liquid flavour is important and this is the taste that you will instantly get when you inhale the tube.

Some people like to start off with traditional cigarette flavours, so that they can mimic the real smoking experience as closely as possible. This is ideal for the first time user who is trying to use the electronic cigarette to quit smoking.

Other people like to experiment with their flavours, for example some people like to go for coffee or chocolate flavour. You can also buy a DIY E liquid kit, which will allow you mix various different flavours together. For example, you could combine lemon with honey, or even vanilla with chocolate! Anything you like you can mix together. Even if you think you might not like a flavour, for example if you do not like coffee, do not immediately discount the coffee flavoured E liquid as often it can have a different flavour and you might actually enjoy it!

The E liquid you choose will probably be different to that of your friends. Everybody has unique tastes and this means that you need to find your own likes and dislikes which may take a process of trial and error. This is perfectly normal, so just enjoy it!