Raising Suspicions: The Link Between Nicotine and Cholesterol

One of the health risks associated with smoking is that of increased cholesterol levels in the blood. Our body needs some cholesterol in order to function. However, our bodies also produce all the cholesterol needed for function and survival, so any cholesterol obtained from food or other products is merely added cholesterol, and will result in raised cholesterol levels. E-cigarettes have become a popular alternative to regular cigarettes for those who are trying to quit smoking. However, since nicotine is the main ingredient in e-cigarettes, some are wondering if that ingredient causes higher cholesterol levels. Here is some information that should help you understand the link between nicotine and cholesterol. 

Nicotine and its Effects

Among the effects of nicotine is increased cholesterol. Why this occurs is not completely understood, but it has been known since the 1960s when a test was conducted, injecting dogs with nicotine on a regular basis over a period of time. The more nicotine the dogs received, the higher their cholesterol levels. When nicotine injections ceased, their cholesterol levels dramatically reduced. This kind of

effect was confirmed again in the 1990s when the link was again confirmed in laboratory tests. 

What About E-Cigarettes?

Some people are concerned about using e-cigarettes because their main ingredient is nicotine. Since nicotine raises cholesterol, it is thought that using e-cigarettes will also raise cholesterol. This is likely true. However, consider that when people using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as a patch, began to decrease the amount of nicotine in their bodies, their cholesterol levels often returned to normal once no nicotine was present. 

How Can E-Cigarettes Be Helpful?

E-cigarettes have cartridges that are filled with nicotine. Different levels of nicotine cartridges exist, so you could essentially use e-cigarettes as a form of NRT by steadily decreasing the amount of nicotine consumed, which will lower your cholesterol accordingly. Also, there are e-cigarettes with nicotine-free cartridges. Some people may wonder why anyone would choose to use e-cigarettes at all if they no longer have the need for nicotine. However, part of the addiction to smoking comes from the physical action of smoking, not just the ingredients alone. Considering this, then, it is easy to see how nicotine-free e-cigarettes would be helpful. They allow the smoker to continue the action of smoking, without inhaling any of the harmful chemicals. This is one of the main reasons that e-cigarettes have become so popular. 

Lowering the Bar

So how can you benefit from e-cigarettes if the nicotine that causes high cholesterol is present? For one thing, when you choose e-cigarettes, you are lowering the level of toxic chemicals in your body dramatically. Many of the over 5,000 known chemicals, and countless unknown chemicals, in cigarettes cause decreased blood flow, constricted vessels, and decreased cardiovascular functioning, which can also have detrimental effects on the heart and body in addition to the higher cholesterol. Just by getting rid of those chemicals alone, you are going a long way to improving your overall health. In order to continue that health improvement, just begin to slowly decrease the level of nicotine in your e-cigarette by choosing a cartridge with less nicotine. Bit by bit, you will be stepping down from nicotine addiction, and the less nicotine you use, the lower your cholesterol levels will be.

Up in Green Smoke: E-cigarettes Evade Pollution from Toxins Found in Traditional Cigarettes

When most people think of the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes, they typically only take into account the smoker. However, the deadly toxins evaded from secondhand smoke in cigarettes are just as deadly. A cleaner, safer alternative to smoking has millions questioning quitting the deadly habit, as well as benefiting those around them and the environment.

The Risks Associated with Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke is similarly dangerous to non-smokers as it is to those inhaling the toxic carcinogens. Secondhand smoke delivers over 4,000 toxic substances to a passive smoker. Known as environmental tobacco smoke, the carcinogenic compounds and inhalation of the smoke hospitalizes approximately 15,000 children per year in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency conducted numerous studies showing that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in passive smokers. This passive smoking causes the death of over 3,000 lung cancer patients each year who have never smoked a cigarette day in their life.

The continuous exposure to secondhand smoke also heightens the risk of heart disease, especially in women. Children are especially more susceptible to secondhand smoke, because their bodies are still developing and have elevated breathing rates than adults. A household where the parents smoke around their children can trigger asthma symptoms that were nonexistent prior to the presence of secondhand smoke.  In infants, the risk of sudden infant death is heightened by secondhand smoke. Children under the age of six years are at an increased risk for respiratory problems such as pneumonia or bronchitis and ear infections.

The smoke that is projected from cigarette smokers increases the risk of cardiac disease by 30% and is held accountable for over 35,000 deaths in the United States each year. The government has made valuable efforts in preventing these deaths through reduced exposure programs such as the Clean Indoor Air Act. In California alone, a similar Act has been associated with saving the lives of over 59,000 non-smokers between 1989 and 1997, as well as a decrease in hospital admissions linked to acute myocardial infarction.

One would think that passive smokers have a very low chance of acquiring the same health problems as smokers.  While the dosage of smoke being delivered to non-smokers is 100 times less than what the smoker inhales, the health problems associated with smoking have similar diagnosis rates. The risk of heart disease in a smoker is 1.78 compared to 1.31 in a non-smoker that inhales cigarette smoke passively. These numbers are close in proximity.

A Cleaner Alternative

The toxins in traditional cigarettes are linked to millions of deaths globally on an annual basis. The secondhand smoke evaded from them also accounts for unnecessary deaths each year. While quitting smoking is one of the hardest habits to deter, a new product offers ease in the process. Electronic cigarettes, booming universally, are helping thousands of quit smoking. Beyond the beneficial health aspects to the smoker themselves (electronic cigarettes are a concoction of water vapor, nicotine and flavoring), the smoke evaded from them is purely water vapor. There are no toxic chemicals or compounds that harm passive smokers when they inhale.

By eliminating the 4,000 plus toxic compounds emitted from traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes are becoming more beneficial to a smoker’s and non-smoker’s health, as well as eliminating the pollution of the environment.