Electronic cigarettes, the battle between "first puff" and "less puff"

Recently, Dingxiang Doctor's article "Thank you for smoking e-cigarettes: a health scam targeting young people" has once again become a hot search, attracting widespread attention from netizens and pushing e-cigarettes to the forefront. What is going on? Is e-cigarette really a health scam targeting young people? Let's discuss it with you today. In the final analysis, this issue is actually a big fight between "first puff of cigarette" and "less puff of cigarette". Everyone has different opinions. Let me tell you!

01. “First puff of cigarette” and “one less puff of cigarette”

Ding Xiang Doctor’s perspective is the “first puff of cigarette,” meaning that minors or non-smokers begin to come into contact with tobacco because of e-cigarettes. This is a public health perspective for all.

Others' perspective is "one less puff of cigarette", that is, for existing smokers or even heavy smokers, using e-cigarettes to reduce tar and reduce harm. After all, it is unrealistic for all 300 million smokers in the country to quit smoking. If it can reduce the damage and reduce the medical burden on society, it is also a solution.

02. The problem of “first puff”

Let’s talk about the first question first. How did the first puff of smoke come about? There is no definite evidence so far, and further research is needed in the future to explore the role of e-cigarettes in inducing people to smoke.

However, overall, it is wrong to attract non-smokers to smoke.

People who don't smoke should never try any tobacco, whether it is traditional tobacco or electronic cigarettes. Although electronic cigarettes are less harmful than tobacco, they are not harmless.

The main components of e-cigarettes are: nicotine, propylene glycol (harmless), and tobacco extract. As we all know, nicotine is the main substance that causes tobacco addiction and may also have an impact on health. Not to mention tobacco extract, although the content is less than that of traditional tobacco, it may still be present.

03. The problem of “one less cigarette”

In fact, this is another very important issue, that is, our country has a very large smoking group.

The "China Smoking Health Harm Report 2020" jointly released by the National Health Commission and the World Health Organization China Office shows that the number of smokers in my country exceeds 300 million, and the smoking rate of people aged 15 and above is , accounting for a quarter of the population.

How to further restrict these smokers is an important issue, which also leads to the issue of smoking cessation.

However, so far, the scientific methods of quitting smoking are mainly replacement and neurotherapy. For example, nicotine replacement is an alternative method of quitting smoking mentioned by the National Health Commission.

The effect of e-cigarettes is to reduce tar to a certain extent, that is, to reduce the harm caused by smoking.

Tobacco kills more than 1 million people in our country every year. If no effective action is taken, it is estimated that the number will increase to 2 million per year by 2030 and to 3 million per year by 2050.

For smokers, e-cigarettes can be used as a certain substitute. After all, the advantage of e-cigarettes is tar control. Tar is a substance produced by the burning of plants. E-cigarettes themselves are a combination of substances. If no additives are added, there will be no tar.

Therefore, I support smokers switching to e-cigarettes, but the ultimate goal is still to completely stop using tobacco.

04. Smokers should quit smoking as soon as possible

There is irrefutable evidence that tobacco is harmful to health. After nearly a hundred years of research, people have already studied the harms of tobacco very thoroughly.

The main harm of tobacco is not only nicotine, but also tar.

The main harm of tobacco is tar, which can cause cancer. The most harmful part of ordinary cigarettes is tar, which refers to a layer of brown greasy substance left in the mouthpiece during smoking, commonly known as tobacco oil. A very intuitive change during smoking is that the color of the filter gradually darkens as you smoke, and the fingers holding the cigarette will also change color due to the smoke. Of course, after smoking, the teeth will also be stained with a dark layer, and the root cause is tar.

Tar is not just a color change. In fact, it is the product of incomplete combustion of organic matter under oxygen-deficient conditions. Therefore, it contains a lot of substances, many of which are carcinogens, such as benzopyrene, cadmium, arsenic, beta-tetracycline, amines, nitrosamines and other carcinogens and phenols, fumaric acid and other carcinogens. Because of this, ordinary tobacco has become a Class I carcinogen listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer under the World Health Organization, which means it is clearly carcinogenic. In addition, tobacco tar can also accelerate the aging of human blood vessels, causing the blood vessels to gradually harden and lose elasticity, leading to cardiovascular disease. Many other diseases are often caused by tar, so the first suggestion from doctors for many diseases is to quit smoking.

So is there no solution to tar? The answer is basically yes, there is no solution to tar. Someone once became a tobacco academician by reducing tar, but encountered a lot of opposition, including hundreds of academicians writing a joint letter to the country to cancel his qualifications. Yang Gonghuan, director of the China Tobacco Control Office, said that the "harm reduction and tar reduction" method of cigarettes is a scam that kills people efficiently. Many studies at home and abroad have long shown that "low tar" is not "low harm", and the "tar reduction and harm reduction" of cigarettes is itself a false proposition, and any "achievements" based on this are untenable. Moreover, the consequence of low tar is that it causes users to smoke on a larger scale, and finally the harm is aggravated.

In short, whether it is "the first puff" or "one less puff", it is recommended that you stay away from tobacco as much as possible! Finally, smoking is harmful to your health.