HOOKAH
CIGARRETE
VAPES Electronic Smoking
Devices

What is smoking?


Smoking is the act of consuming cigarettes or products containing tobacco, which has nicotine as its active ingredient. It is considered a pandemic and, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), is responsible for the deaths of more than 8 million people a year. Of these, 7 million are users, while 1 million are passive smokers.

Smoking in the pandemic

In the pandemic, some people who were already smoking, started smoking even more. Factors such as being away from friends and family, travel restrictions, change of routine, and other problems caused by the pandemic are some of the reasons why people may start, increase, or return to smoking addiction. However, since the smoker has a possible impairment of lung capacity, he/she is more likely to develop the more severe symptoms and die from Covid-19.

Therefore, the ideal is to go the opposite way and cancel this habit from your life.

CIGARRETE

The most popular villain

There are several tobacco products, including cigars, pipes, snuff, rope tobacco, hookah, electronic smoking devices, and, the most famous ones, cigarettes.

In the past, it was even considered a medication for anxiety, sore throats, and even digestive problems. Commercials ran on television, newspapers, magazines, and various other channels, but soon the consequences began to show.

Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,700 toxic substances, including nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar. While nicotine causes chemical dependence, carbon monoxide is poisonous and tar has more than 50 precancerous substances.

And speaking of cancer…

Cigarette smoking can cause cancer in many organs, including lung, bladder, pancreas, liver, esophagus, pharynx, and others.

BUT CIGARRET SMOKING NOT ALONE
IN THIS CANCELLATION…

VAPES

ELECTRONIC SMOKING
DEVICES

Since 1986, Brazil has had a national program to combat smoking. In 30 years (1989 to 2019) the number of smokers fell from 30% to 12.8% of the population. However, new products have been worrying specialists, because they are becoming gateways to smoking. Electronic Smoking Devices (ESDs) are some of them.

Unlike the traditional cigarette, they do not burn the tobacco to generate smoke, but instead, vaporize the liquid. They are built with an atomizer (which heats the liquid and generates vapor), reservoir (stores the liquid), battery, switch, and a sensor that detects the suction.

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With over 700 flavors available, a discreet format that is easy to carry (some look like flash drives), and the possibility of smoking without the strong odor of cigarettes and without generating ashes, the ESDs, also known as vapes, e-cigs, and pods, have become popular, especially among young people.

The problem is that they have been presented as safer alternatives to cigarettes - which is not true.

  • Most of the liquids used to generate the vapor have nicotine in their composition, as well as propylene glycol and flavorings. Therefore, it can cause chemical and physical dependence.
  • Substances such as nickel, chromium, lead, tin, and even substances with carcinogenic potential have been identified in the smoke.
  • The combination of nicotine and vapor in e-cigarettes can produce formaldehyde, making them 5 to 15 times more carcinogenic than regular cigarettes.
  • There is already data showing that young people who try electronic cigarettes are three times more likely to become daily smokers.
  • The Brazilian Society of Pediatrics also reports that they can extend or worsen nicotine addiction, in addition to risks of accidental overdoses by the ingestion of fluids from the cartridges.
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Since 2009, ESDs cannot be imported, marketed, nor can they have commercial advertisements to promote them. The prohibition was established by a resolution of the Collegiate Board of ANVISA (National Health Surveillance Agency) through RDC 46/2009.

With this, the products that arrive in Brazil and are commercialized are usually illicit, even causing accidents, such as explosions.

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Although we find people smoking e-cigarettes indoors, they are actually prohibited. ANVISA considers that the ESDs are smoking products and fall under the National Anti-Smoking Law, being prohibited in enclosed places, with the exception of specific locations. Keep in mind that Decree No. 8,262/2014 also determines the prohibition in places partially enclosed with partitions, walls, ceiling, or canopies.

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First described in 2019, EVALI is a lung injury that has been seen in vape users. It is believed that there is a relationship with the thinner used in the devices, which end up inflaming the organ. One study has also shown that vapor can deactivate key immune system cells in the lung, increasing inflammation in the body.

EVALI Symptoms

Main Symptoms Common Symptoms
Cough Stomach Pains
Shortness of Breath Vomiting and Diarrhea
Chest Pain Fever and Shivering
Weight Loss

HOOKAH

A hookah is a smoking device that works by heating a tobacco blend. As this heating occurs, the smoke passes through the water filter and then is carried to the person’s mouth through a hose. Also known as a water pipe, its consumption is not recent.

The ancient Persian and Indian practice has made its way around the world. In the Middle East, it is more widely consumed than the traditional cigarette, and in the United States, it is the second most consumed form of tobacco.
In Brazil, a 2019 survey by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) showed that there are over two million users. The number keeps increasing, as well as the number of tobacco shops, places where hookah is the main attraction.

Many hookah users claim that it is less harmful to health than cigarettes. However, this is not quite the case. It has a burner, in which the charcoal burns the tobacco that lies underneath it. The burning of this tobacco produces tar, carbon monoxide, and contains nicotine, just like cigarettes, leading to addiction. As the smoke is drawn in, it goes down into the reservoir, where the water cools it down, and then it goes up the hose.

A session lasts from 20 to 80 minutes and is equivalent to smoking about 100 cigarettes per hour. Therefore, it is possible to say that hookah is as bad as, or even worse, than cigarettes. There are even reports of cases in which people have lost part of their lungs after catching fungus from smoking hookah.

THERE IS STILL TIME TO CANCEL
SMOKING
FROM YOUR LIFE

If you are a smoker, remember that it is always time to quit. There are reports of people who spend more than half their lives smoking, but are able to quit. It is really not simple or easy. There is no magic recipe, but you can focus on the benefits, which are many and start from day one. Check it out:

To get better results, you need time. But if you don’t start now, how much longer will it take?

TIPS
TO QUIT SMOKING


Many people believe that the smoker is someone “without willpower” and that he/she does not stop smoking “because he/she doesn’t want to”. However, he/she is a chemical addict, and in order to quit the addiction, it is necessary to go through physical and psychological discomforts, as well as suffering.
Moreover, smokers do not always quit on the first try. Sometimes more than two are needed, in addition to professional help. Check out some tips that can make this process easier:

There are plenty of reasons to cancel these health villains, isn’t there?

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