14 DAY TRIAL // We humans have been smoking for millennia now. In fact, the earliest evidence of smoking dates back to around 5,000 BC, when smoking was part and parcel of shamanic rituals in the Americas.
Even so, this does not make smoking OK. On the contrary, there are plenty of studies that show how this habit of ours can affect our health, even put us in an early grave.
These days, we have an alternative to inhaling regular tobacco smoke: electronic-cigarettes. The companies that make them market them as the healthier alternative, but is that really the case?
As explained in the video below, lighting up run-of-the-mill cigarettes releases nicotine, which then ends up in our lungs and, soon enough, in our blood stream.
The problem is that, along with nicotine, cigarettes also put all sorts of nasty compounds in our body. On the long term, these compounds can give us cancer and all kinds of other diseases.
Because they don't produce any smoke containing damaging chemicals, electronic-cigarettes are argued to be healthier than regular ones. However, the fact of the matter is they too pose health risks.
Admittedly, the jury is still out on how safe electronic-cigarettes really are, but there is evidence that the vapors they release can act as an irritant, even cause infections.
Besides, it's important to keep in mind that, what with electronic-cigarettes being the new kids on the block, legislation stating what can and what can't be added to them is still lacking.
Plainly put, they might pose health risks that are yet to be discovered and properly documented.
