While it may seem like nicotine quells anxiety and calms you down, it’s a trick. The reality is that nicotine is a stimulant, and physicians and healthcare practitioners have long noticed that our patients who smoke have more disrupted sleep patterns and are more likely to complain of sleep disorders. Now, the increased use of vaping products has increased those numbers even further.
Vaping May Be More Dangerous to Your Health Than Smoking
We never want to encourage anyone to start smoking, but it’s imperative that patients understand vaping is not “better or you” or even a “safer alternative” to cigarettes. Vaping tobacco is increasingly linked to several health concerns – and disrupted sleep is only the tip of the iceberg.
Women Who Vape Are…
…More likely to suffer from sleep disruptions or disorders
Healthy sleep habits are crucial to your overall well being. Sleep is when the brain and body recharge and detox. Those who experience chronically poor sleep are at higher risk for a myriad of health issues, including:
- Depression and mood disorders
- Fatigue
- More frequent illness/disease
- Heart disease – including high blood pressure
- Being overweight (poor sleep slows down metabolism)
- Alzheimer’s (sleep is when the brain eliminates amyloid plaque build-up)
…At risk for developing severe, life-threatening respiratory distress
Some of the most recent and alarming headlines are those that read like the one on the front page of the Washington Post’s Health Section, ….Near-Death Experience With Vaping-Related Lung Failure. One person has died from a vaping-related lung infection, and the WP reports that there have been 193 cases of similar lung infections across 22 states, without any specific “cause” other than vaping.
Doctors suspect that droplets/particles of the vaping solution (“vape juice”) make it into the vapor, causing life-threatening lung infections. However, nobody knows for sure. These rare infections have resulted from vaping devices across the manufacturing spectrum, and are associated with nicotine-, marijuana-, and essential-oil based solutions.
…More likely to have high blood pressure and elevated adrenaline levels
While vaping is considered “safer” because it protects your lungs from smoke inhalation and the chemical additives found in most cigarettes, there is another side to that coin. Without the smoke – and the natural burn rate of a cigarette – there is no way to gauge or ration how much tobacco/nicotine you inhale.
As a result, vapers typically assimilate more of these chemicals into their system, which raise blood pressure and spike adrenaline levels. This simulates flight/fight responses that are hard on your adrenals and your immune system.
…not likely to quit smoking after all
By and large, the tobacco industry markets vaping as a way to stop smoking. In fact, recent studies show that rather than helping people quit, most smokers wind up doing both – smoking cigarettes and vaping. Additional studies indicate that doing both is even more hazardous to your health as the result of sleep issues, increases in chronic coughing, and increased episodes of respiratory illnesses.
…encouraging their children to use vaping devices
Here’s one of the saddest facts of all; prior to the advent of e-cigarette and vaping devices, smoking rates – especially in the teen and young adult sector – were the lowest they’ve been in history. Now, according to John Hopkins Medicine, “…the U.S. surgeon general reported that e-cigarette use among high school students had increased by 900 percent, and 40 percent of young e-cigarette users had never smoked regular tobacco.” The article states, “First, many teens believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking. Second, e-cigarettes have a lower per-use cost than traditional cigarettes. Finally, vape cartridges are often formulated with flavorings such as apple pie and watermelon that appeal to younger users.”
Your vaping is a green light for your children to vape, too, and vaping is not a safe alternative to cigarettes, tobacco or marijuana use. It’s a method for ingesting addictive chemicals that are harmful to your body, via a method that is so new we don’t have any long-term, data that support its legitimacy.
Nicotine is an addictive chemical and it is not good for you. Period. The team here at Overlake is here to help you quit your cigarette, eCigarette and or vaping habit. Or, contact your preferred health provider and ask them for more information about how you can quit vaping. It’s time to make your health – and your children’s health – a top priority.