E-SMOKING MIGHT BE HARMFUL FOR SKIN AND GOOD LOOKS

E-cigarettes: fresh air or smoke and mirrors?

Washington Post carries a good article on the growing trend of "vaping" - smoking e-cigarettes. Recent studies show that e-cigarette smoking has also adverse impacts. The Food and Drug Adminisitration is reported to be planning to regulate e-cigarettes. Right now, its website says that "e-cigarettes have not been fully studied so consumers currently don't know the potential risks of e-cigarettes", including how much nicotine or other chemicals are inhaled.


"Vaping" - as the e-smoking is commonly referred to now - might help regular smokers quit this addiction. It is being marketed in a variety of shapes and sizes, creating vapor that quickly dissipates when exhaled, and inhaling, and taking it to the lungs at varying strengths, from no nicotine up to 24 milligrams or more.


 Some cities and states have already moved to ban public use the way they do to tobacco, and some states forbid the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Critics believe e-cigs may serve as a tobacco gateway for uninitiated young people. “It may be smoking e-cigarettes, but it’s still smoking,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who was one of four senators to fire off a scathing letter to NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association after a spoof on e-cigs aired during the Golden Globes in January.

Proponents argue that vaping isn’t only safe but is helping people quit smoking. However, the fact remains that e-cigarettes do contain nicotine in varying degrees. In inhaled over long period, nicotine gets into one's blood stream which leads to rapid skin aging, reflected in dryness and lines on the face.  Healthy skin, so essential for beautiful looks, is therefore cannot be maintained with e-smoking. 

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