A study made by Health Literacy states that there are three main reasons why young people smoke. They do this to appear mature, to be just like the people in their peer group, and to experiment. Adults, however, smoke for totally different reasons. Many smoke to find some relief from the stress of personal and money problems. Some are trying to deal with addiction, while some are trying to take in to reduce the stress from unhappy relationships. Others do it simply because they like it.
The Toll of Smoking
The only problem with smoking is it causes persons to ingest and to release into the atmosphere more than 70 known carcinogens. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says that annually, tobacco causes more than 5 million deaths globally and 480,000 of this death will take place in the United States.
Moreover, smoking is known to cause or aggravate lung diseases such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and asthma. It is also accepted by the medical community that smoking can increase the risk of diabetes and heart attacks.
Finding an Alternative
The cigarette addict’s craving for conventional cigarettes is attributed to nicotine and the body’s need to keep this substance at a certain level. For this, the market now has nicotine patches and nicotine gum. The one missing element in these remedies, however, is the supposed pleasure that people find in the act of smoking.
In recent years, e-cigarettes have provided another alternative to conventional cigarettes. E-cigs are the one invention that helps smokers feel as if they are smoking even if they are not breathing in the usual hazards.
The Bad Press About Nicotine
Most people are under the impression that nicotine is bad for the health, but there is no evidence to say that it is intrinsically harmful. It is abuse that renders it detrimental. In this sense it is very much like coffee. Some believe that if isolated from tobacco, nicotine is actually beneficial.
Nicotine encourages the release of stored glucose into the bloodstream. This prevents the conversion of sugar into fat and makes the body believe you have eaten something sweet even if you haven’t. When this happens, your urge to eat sweet foods is stopped, and your appetite is dampened.
Nicotine increases the breakdown of fat and acts directly on fat cells. It also increases metabolism, and it has both stimulant and depressant effects. That is why certain people feel more energized and some people feel calmer with a dose of nicotine.
It has been implied that nicotine, like caffeine, may help reducing the risk for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Moreover, it is said to improve both mood and memory. In fact, it has been used to deal with some symptoms of mental conditions such as attention-deficit-disorder, schizophrenia, and depression. The potential of nicotine in treatments comes from the fact that when nicotinic receptors fuse with this substance, several neurotransmitters are released. Among these neurotransmitters are dopamine and serotonin which are associated with the generation of positive feelings.
E-Cigs and Mental Health
There is some evidence to show that the use of e-cigs is compatible with mental health. Professor Peter Hajek of Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry believes that e-cigarettes should be considered in the same light as nicotine patches. He observed that the use of e-cigarettes in schizophrenic patients reduces their consumption of conventional cigarettes without adversely affecting symptoms that are part of their condition.
If nicotine is not the evil substance it has been painted to be, and if the mental benefits of nicotine are worth taking advantage to, the only problem with nicotine is removing it from the tobacco and the tar accompanying it in regular cigarettes.
From this perspective e-cigarettes can continue to deliver the benefits of nicotine while reducing the risks that conventional cigarettes bring. Yes, e-cigs can be good for mental health in the same way that patches are – except that e-cigs come with pleasure.