The new craze of vaping is done with an electronic cigarette, also referred to as an e-cig or an e-cigarette. Over the next few years, we’ll see this already popular item become even more popular, and so will the profitability.

This apparatus is battery-operated and designed to help those who smoke traditional cigarettes quit, or at least cut back. How this alternative way to smoke works has been discussed here and everywhere else … and so has the debate if vaping is safer than smoking traditional cigarettes.

E-Cigarette How Do These Vaporizers Work?

A traditional cigarette is rolled tobacco products as are cigars. In contrast, electronic cigarettes do not have tobacco, and nor do they produce smoke. Electronic -cigarettes use a liquid, referred to as e-juice or e-liquid, a mixture of three or four ingredients:

• Propylene Glycol
• Glycerin
• Flavoring
• Nicotine

There is a detachable cartridge that pairs with the atomizer and battery and that is where the e-liquid is placed. A battery powers the atomizer which generates heat which generates vapor from the e-liquid. The vapor delivers the sensation that smokers crave and provides a unique taste from the e-liquids. This happens as the atomizer is activated when the user inhales which vaporizes the liquid. The vapor from electronic cigarettes is like the smoke that tradition cigarettes have.

The Rise of Electronic Cigarettes

It is a common belief that it was 1963 when the first electronic cigarette was invented. But it was 2003 when the e-cigarette we know today was invented by a Chinese pharmacist. For several years, this pharmacist would introduce his electronic cigarette to patients in China before receiving an international patent. That was 2007 and it then became available to American and European markets for the first time.

Soon after, the tobacco industry took the invention and began marketing the electronic cigarette and mass producing them. It is said that e-cigarettes have created a three-billion-dollar industry worldwide. This is in part because the tobacco companies aren’t the only ones who promote this new-found craze.

They are touted as one of the best ways to quit smoking according to individuals and organizations. In fact, experts tell us that electronic cigarettes are a part of this phenomenon in reducing the risks of tobacco harm. While others credit the device for minimizing the exposure to second-hand smoke.

Because this device can still provide the user with nicotine, there is growing concern though as children and teens are drawn to electronic cigarettes and the many flavors the e-juices offer. They are readily available online, making it easy for underage purchasing.

Electronic Cigarette Proponents Side

There is less carcinogens produced from electronic cigarettes than traditional cigarettes because they use a vapor technology instead of tobacco, which is known to be full of chemicals. Electronic cigarettes are said to be more effective in smoking cessation and have proven to help reduce a smoker’s habit, even quit smoking.

Even when one considers what effect second-hand smoke does, the effects are less harmful from the second-hand vapor versus second-hand smoke that traditional cigarettes expel. Electronic cigarettes have become socially acceptable, mainly because they do not generate an obnoxious smell like traditional cigarettes. Nor do they stain your fingernails or teeth and they are cheaper!

Electronic Cigarette Opposition

Electronic cigarettes can use nicotine at the discretion of the user.  Regardless whether it is in an e-cig or a traditional cigarette, nicotine is an addictive drug that impacts the brain’s neurotransmitters which brings about the behavior and cravings known of smokers.

There are carcinogens emitted by electronic cigarettes as well and even though it is in insignificant amounts, the liquid nicotine is highly dangerous. Results from testing of electronic cigarettes have found metal in the vapor which is also toxic.

There is very little regulation in the e-cigarette industry and as of right now, the FDA has not approved electronic cigarette products. Electronic cigarette ads appeal to the 12 to 17-year-old age group, making them a dangerous advertisement in the opinion of experts and parents. Electronic cigarette still encourages the habit of smoking, which in the opinion of some experts, isn’t helpful in kicking the habit.

 Today’s Stand on E-Cigarettes

The FDA is interested in regulating e-cigarettes as well as other vaporizers. There are some legal jurisdictions that have already begun cracking down on the use of these products, including other vapor-type products. A few states, such as New Jersey, North Dakota, and Utah have issued restrictions in the use e-cigarettes in venues that are established as smoke-free. There is other type of restrictions in 10 other states and over 150 counties across American have established similar restrictions.

Isn’t it funny how so many people are worried about the pollution from automobiles and industries causing health problems and irritating our lungs, but think nothing of somebody vaping? People worry about the cancer, diseases, endless health issues that cigarette smoking causes, but again, they don’t think anything about somebody vaping.

While research and studies are still new and vague in regard to electronic cigarettes and vaping, researchers are finding that there is a vaper’s cough. Similar to a smoker’s cough, sounding a lot like bronchitis, with phlegm and all, the vaping trend is leading to another trend: Vaper’s cough.

And what’s more concerning about vaper’s cough, it has become more present in teens!  Recently, a research team asked two thousand junior and senior students in California high schools about vaping.

The 2,000 participants were asked if they had experienced any respiratory issues such as coughs, especially coughs that produced phlegm. Approximately 500 admitted they had vaped, with 200 of them in the last thirty days.

Those who had vaped recently were found to be two times more likely to be diagnosed with chronic bronchitis than those that never had vaped. Those that had vaped before but in the last 30 days were just as likely to be diagnosed with chronic bronchitis as the recent vaping students.

What Are Symptoms And Causes Of Bronchitis?

Bronchitis is when the lung’s airways are inflamed or irritated by gases or particles. When we breath in assaulting particles regularly, our lungs respond by coughing, or bronchitis. Bronchitis can often lead to wheezing, and the coughing often brings up phlegm. Other factors that can cause bronchitis are bacterial infections, colds, flu, as well as chemicals, tobacco, and pollution.

When these symptoms do not clear up and go away, the cough caused by bronchitis is often called “smoker’s cough.” If a person has a daily cough that has lasted 90 days straight, they are usually diagnosed as having chronic bronchitis.

It is no secret that a long-time cigarette smoker is prone to develop permanent lung damage as they age. The research on vaping hasn’t been around long enough to determine if long-time vapers will experience this too.

The Fruity Flavors Are The Draw

The juice used in electronic cigarettes come in a variety of flavors, many of them are fruity and sweet. It is those flavors that have attracted more teens according to a new study. When the flavors are candy-scented or fruit flavored, it draws more young people, which is why the USDA banned flavored cigarettes in 2009 except for menthol flavored.

Teens tend to believe that if it has a pleasant taste, it isn’t dangerous to their health. However, studies have found that some of the flavoring, such as the cinnamon extract, are just as harmful. Research has found that when the flavors are removed, fewer teens are vaping.

There is no doubt that the more studies that are completed, and the more information those studies provide, there will be more new laws and policies put in place in regard to electronic cigarettes, their juices and the act of vaping.