On January 28, a number of restrictions on the sale of nicotine-containing products come into force in Russia. Amendments to Federal Law 15 were adopted by the Federation Council and signed by the President back in July 2020.
The amendments to the legislation come into force gradually. So, since October 30 last year, it was forbidden to smoke hookahs in cafes and restaurants, even if the mixtures do not contain nicotine. And in the new year, the state took up electronic cigarettes.
In particular, it will no longer be possible to sell e-liquids for vapes with a strength of more than 20 mg of nicotine, which will affect all disposable devices, and to sell any types of refills for electronic cigarettes in online stores, and in offline stores, open display of goods will become impossible. However, for the health of citizens, lawmakers are sure, it will be beneficial. As stated in the explanatory note to the bill, the innovations will reduce the dependence of the population on nicotine-containing products and mortality from a large number of diseases.
You need to know when to stop
As otolaryngologist Ivan Leskov explained in a conversation with Vechernaya Moskva, unlike traditional electronic cigarettes, there are no by-products in electronic cigarettes - various resins that damage lung tissue. However, here it is important to know when to stop, the expert said.
- At one time, a Western company produced nicotine inhalers for smokers, for those who want to quit smoking, or for those who find it difficult to reschedule a flight on an airplane, and so on. Here are electronic cigarettes closer to such inhalers. But the nicotine they contain is dangerous in any case. When you smoke vape, it is very easy to get overdose of nicotine. And if you look from this side, it turns out that an ordinary cigarette is better. An ordinary smoker will definitely not overdose with nicotine, because he is, in principle, used to it, and there is not so much nicotine in a cigarette, while in an electronic one its amount corresponds to a whole pack of ordinary cigarettes, the specialist added.
If we consider the problem of smoking in the context of diseases of otolaryngology, then, according to Ivan Leskov, it is still too early to draw any conclusions about the dangers of electronic cigarettes compared to conventional ones.
- Smoking devices have appeared quite recently to draw some conclusions. Here you can remember the story of coffee. It took 20 years to clarify. Investigated nurses in the UK who drank large amounts of coffee. So, earlier than in a few decades, there will be no purely physical statistics on vapes. In the meantime, it is clear that nothing but irritation of the upper respiratory tract is happening. True, chronic irritation can result in cancer, the expert noted.
Diseases of smokers
Pulmonologist, professor at the Russian National Research Medical University named after V. I. Pirogova, Doctor of Medical Sciences Alexander Karabinenko, comparing the harm from vape, hookah and ordinary cigarettes, gave an unequivocal answer.
- They are all harmful. In electronic cigarettes, for example, you can fill not only nicotine, but also any other substances. If anything, this is the equivalent to smoking regular cigarettes. In addition to a practical look at the issue of smoking, there are also ethical points - the fact that this vapor is exhaled into the environment and poisons others. Smokers at that moment feel good, but they do not think about other people, - the expert explained.
The pulmonologist described in detail what diseases await smokers.
- First, the lungs and bronchi are affected. Secondly, the vessels suffer. People rarely remember that smoking is very harmful for those who have sore blood vessels. Only when it comes to leg amputation. Also, heart attacks, strokes, early arterial hypertension are all the result of smoking. Lung cancer, cancer of the digestive tract is less common than anything else, but it is worth fearing. Now we have generally rejuvenated diseases of the cardiovascular system and death from these diseases. This also happens due to smoking. In fact, people voluntarily destroy themselves, - said the doctor.
How to quit smoking?
Karabinenko compares smoking to drug addiction, regardless of the form in which a person is addicted to this habit. Its negative consequences appear gradually.
- The first symptom is morning cough. The first thing a smoker does when he wakes up is to clear his throat. This says that he already has the bronchitis of a smoker. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will follow the smoker's bronchitis. And against its background, frequent pneumonia will go, bronchial asthma will develop. Smoking is the same addiction. Because a strong nicotine addiction develops. It, like any drug addiction, needs to be treated by a narcologist, psychotherapist, to deal with it in a complex way, - the specialist explained.
True, in order to overcome a bad habit, the help of doctors alone is not enough, the interlocutor of "VM" is sure. For this, a person must mature himself, pull himself together. It is advisable not to postpone the decision when the first symptoms appear, summed up Karabinenko. And any prohibitions, restrictions will play a lesser role here.