WATCH: Maltese Smoking Cessation Expert Warns Of Dangers Of Vaping And What It Takes To Quit The Habit
Despite popular belief that vaping is safer than smoking cigarettes, medical experts are still warning against the alternative, claiming that it is still deceptively hazardous.
“It is less hazardous than smoking, but vaping shouldn’t be touted as an alternative,” said Dr Claire Shoemake on today’s episode of Lovin Daily.
Vaping, or electronic cigarettes, is a smoking device that simulates tobacco smoking and is often powered by a cartridge or tank.
“In cigarettes, there are many other chemicals that aren’t present in vaping. This doesn’t mean there aren’t chemicals present in vaping. One very important chemical is diethylene glycol which seems to be present in vaping and is still a carcinogen. It’s less hazardous but still hazardous,” she said.
Dr Shoemake appeared on today’s episode of Lovin Daily where she discussed the ramifications of smoking and what it takes to stop smoking in an effort to promote the STOPtober Campaign.
“The biggest hazard of vaping is the widespread belief that it is safe. There seems to be a culture where young people start to vape and not smoke, and that’s a really bad thing,” she said.
STOPtober aims to encourage smokers to stop smoking for the month of October with the aim of quitting the habit in the long term.
Dr Shoemake advocates for a long-term, “well-crafted” approach to cutting the habit where you wean off the craving by creating a conducive environment without temptations.
“If you want to stop smoking, you need to make the decision to stop smoking. It requires willpower and you need to rewire your head,” she continued.
“You must make your own rehab at home.”
One step to breaking the smoking cycle is to understand the compensatory mechanism which associates an action with the need to smoke, i.e. having a meal.
“You can train yourself to require less – gum exists in two doses and patches exist in different steps, all of which help to taper off your need,” she said.
Whether you smoke two cigarettes or two packs of cigarettes a day, you’re still considered a smoker and the act of doing so becomes a “life-saving mechanism”.
The Ministry of Health offers classes free of charge, whether in a group or one-on-one, along with a plethora of other alternative options to quit smoking, links to which can be found here.
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