Smokey Vapor Blog

Archive for March, 2011

Forbes is reporting that Colorado has signed into law a minimum age limit for buying electronic cigarettes. The minimum age limit is 18 years old. According to the new law in Colorado, electronic cigarettes have been deemed as a tobacco product and therefore are off-limits to minors.

From Forbes:
Electronic cigarettes are now illegal for minors in Colorado.

Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the age restriction into law Friday, making e-cigarettes off-limits for people under 18. E-cigarettes are battery-operated nicotine inhalers advertised as cessation aids. Anti-smoking activists say the e-cigarettes appeal to youths with exotic flavors and shouldn’t be permitted for kids.

The new law lists e-cigarettes as a “tobacco product” off-limits to minors. E-cigarettes are available at mall kiosks and some gas stations. Manufacturers didn’t oppose the change because they say they already don’t sell to minors.

Colorado becomes the second state, after New Jersey, to limit e-cigarettes for minors. Arizona lawmakers are also considering an age limit this year.

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Researchers have discovered, in lab experiments, that long term use of nicotine causes all sorts  of problems to a person, specifically raising blood sugar levels. That means that using devices to quit smoking, if the devices contain nicotine, including electronic cigarettes, are almost as bad for some people as the tobacco cigarettes they are trying to quit using. Such devices should only be used with the intention for short-term use.

US News Health reports:
Smoking is damaging to everyone’s health, but the nicotine in cigarettes may be even more deadly for people who have diabetes.

In lab experiments, researchers discovered that nicotine raised blood sugar levels, and the more nicotine that was present, the higher the blood sugar levels were. Higher blood sugar levels are linked to an increased risk of complications from diabetes, such as eye and kidney disease.

“Smoking is really harmful for diabetics. It’s even more harmful to them than to a non-diabetic,” said study author Xiao-Chuan Liu, an associate professor in the department of chemistry at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. “This study should encourage diabetics to quit smoking completely, and to realize that it’s the nicotine that’s raising [blood sugar levels].”

For that reason, it’s also important to limit the use of nicotine replacement products, such as nicotine patches, Liu said.

“If you’re using them for a short period of time to quit smoking, that’s OK. But, if you still have this addiction to nicotine and are using this product long-term, it will do harm. Don’t use electronic cigarettes or nicotine gum for a long time. You need to stop nicotine intake,” he advised.

Liu is scheduled to present his findings Sunday at an American Chemical Society meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

It was already well-established that smoking increased the risk of problems in people with diabetes, Liu said. What hasn’t been clear, he said, is if there is a specfic component of cigarettes that increases the risk.

To test whether or not nicotine, an addictive substance found in cigarette smoke, contributed to higher blood sugar levels, Liu and his colleagues added equal amounts of glucose (sugar) to samples of human red blood cells. They also added varying levels of nicotine to each sample of red blood cells for either one day or two days.

They then tested the hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) levels of the samples. HbA1C is a measure of what percentage of red blood cells have glucose molecules attached to them. In diabetes management, the HbA1C — sometimes referred to just as A1C — test gives doctors an idea of average blood sugar levels for the past three months or so. Most people with diabetes strive for a level of 7 percent or less, based on American Diabetes Association guidelines.

The researchers found that nicotine raised HbA1C. The smallest dose increased HbA1C levels by 8.8 percent. The highest dose — after two days of nicotine treatment — increased blood sugar levels by 34.5 percent.

“Nicotine is a toxic substance, and our results show that nicotine caused an increase in HbA1C,” said Liu. “This is important for the public to know, and for smokers to know. It’s not just the cigarette smoke. If you think you can just use a nicotine replacement product indefinitely, there’s still a risk, and your chances of getting complications will be a lot higher,” he cautioned.

Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, said that the researchers showed that nicotine can significantly raise A1C levels in the lab, but it’s important to also know if it does so in the body.

But whether or not nicotine is the specific reason that blood sugar levels are higher in smokers, he said, “Everybody — whether they have diabetes or not — should stop smoking. Patients with diabetes already have a much higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and smoking adds to that.”

He said that using nicotine replacement products for a month or two is fine. “If nicotine replacement is used for a short period of time with smoking cessation as the goal, there’s no risk. But it’s not OK if someone plans to replace smoking with nicotine replacement products indefinitely,” said Zonszein.

Experts note that research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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For some reason, Katherine Heigl makes headlines every time she is spotted smoking an electronic cigarette. And for some reason, she seems to be the most high profile celebrity that has been smoking electronic cigarettes regularly.

Mail Online and Huffington Post both have pictures of Katherine Heigl smoking electronic cigarettes while having lunch in Los Feliz, California.

Katherine Heigl puffing away

Heigl has been smoking electronic cigarettes as a way of helping herself quit smoking tobacco cigarettes. While I cannot tell you that electronic cigarettes is a cessation device, and they are not meant to help you quot smoking, there are people who use electronic cigarettes in that way.

Heigl has been very open with her use fo electronic cigarettes and her goal of quitting smoking tobacco cigarettes. She said “Now I use an electronic cigarette. I know it’s ridiculous, but it’s helping me not to actually smoke real cigarettes. You feel like you are smoking, and you get to exhale but it’s just water vapor and not nicotine. I’ve been doing it for six months. Smoking sucks!”, and more recently she said, “You start [smoking] once a week, maybe with a cocktail with friends at a bar, and then you buy your first pack during a really stressful break-up, and then it’s downhill from there. I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried the patch. I’ve tried the gym. I’ve done the Chantix, twice, which made me bananas (a prescription medicine used as a quit smoking aid).”

Way to go Katherine! I hope more follow your lead.

Go to Smokey Vapor to buy your electronic cigarettes.
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Some actors and actresses, any type of celebrity really, make a show of what they do on the screen and around the screen. Much of it is for publicity, and does not necessarily have any connection to how they act in their own private life.

Katherine Heigl has been seen on-screen smoking electric cigarettes. Heigl could have made a big deal out of an increasingly popular trend while on-screen, yet in her private life continue to relax with the comfort of a good old traditional smoke.

She is smokin

Yet she did not. Heigl has been spotted, off-screen, smoking electric cigarettes. While on vacation. The ultimate opportunity to revert to good old comfort. She clearly believes in the benefits of switching to vapor smoking.

According to The Pop Eater, Heigl is very into the health scene and has been smoking electric cigarettes as part of her attempt to help herself kick the habit of smoking tobacco cigarettes. The rest of her vacation was also health themed, with the food being comprised of salads and other simple lifestyle changes.

Go to Smokey Vapor to buy your electronic cigarettes.
Go to Smokey Vapor Updates for news and ratings of electronic cigarette companies and products.
Go to Soda Stream for more information about SodaStream products.