Kate Moss was photographed with two e-cigarettes during lunch outside a restaurant in North London. The footage caught Dr. Max Pemberton's attention not because of the 52-year-old model's outfit, but because she was carrying two vapes at the same time.
Pemberton specifies that the photos do not show how often Moss uses e-cigarettes and are not enough to draw conclusions about her habits. According to him, however, the scene is indicative of the increasingly common behavior among middle-aged people who carry an e-cigarette everywhere.
E-cigarette has kept him away from tobacco
Dr. Max Pemberton himself says he started using a vape after quitting cigarettes more than 15 years ago. At the time, he was smoking over 20 cigarettes a day, but when he met friends and drank alcohol, the craving for tobacco returned.
“For me, it did exactly what it was supposed to do: it stopped me from smoking“, Pemberton writes.He says he can no longer stand the taste of cigarettes and has no desire to go back to tobacco. He says that for patients who want to quit smoking, switching to e-cigarettes has often yielded better results than other approaches.
Pemberton emphasizes that e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes because burning tobacco releases thousands of chemicals, dozens of which are carcinogenic. Vaping does not involve burning tobacco and does not produce tar and carbon monoxide in the way that regular cigarettes do.
Nicotine perpetuates a cycle of addiction
According to the Office for National Statistics, around 5.4 million adults in the UK use e-cigarettes daily or occasionally. That’s more than the number of smokers, with a significant proportion of vapers being former smokers.
The problem, says Pemberton, is that e-cigarettes make it easy to get a steady dose of nicotine. The device is in your pocket, can be used almost at any time, and so some people reach for it every few minutes, more often than they would if they were smoking cigarettes.
Nicotine can raise your heart rate and blood pressure and constrict your blood vessels. Short-term studies have linked vaping to hardening of the arteries and changes in the lining of blood vessels. The long-term effects are still unclear.
Pemberton also points to the psychological toll. The relief after use is often relief from withdrawal symptoms caused by the previous dose of nicotine. This can create a constant cycle of craving and short-term relief in regular users, accompanied by irritability and anxiety. Nicotine can also disrupt sleep.
When use is a reason to change
There is no officially defined “safe” number of puffs, as devices and nicotine concentrations vary. Pemberton recommends monitoring your pattern of use, not just the number of puffs.
Warning signs include using an e-cigarette immediately after waking up, feeling anxious or irritable when the vape is not nearby, using more frequently than you used to, hiding your habit from loved ones, and failing to cut down.
As possible steps to cut back, Pemberton suggests gradually reducing the nicotine concentration, keeping your device in a bag or drawer instead of a pocket, and delaying your first use by 30 minutes per week. When it comes to quitting completely, he recommends setting a specific date within the next two weeks and seeking support from local smoking cessation services.
He says the first 72 hours are usually the hardest. Irritability, concentration problems, sleep disturbances and a strong desire for nicotine may occur at first, but gradually subside.
Sources: dailymail.com, bmj.com