Head out into public and within a few minutes there’s a very good chance that you’ll see at least one or two people puffing away on an electronic cigarette. Humans have always had a fascination with smoking, it seems, and over the years it’s evolved from pipes to cigarettes and cigars and now to our modern version of smoking – vaping.

While it’s marketed as a safer alternative to cigarettes, vaping – the use of electronic cigarettes – does still have health risks to consider, and the research is too young to accurately determine what kind of a long term impact electronic cigarettes can have on your health. Those with existing health issues will likely find that e-cigs could continue to cause them additional trouble that traditional cigarettes did. A perfect example of this is lupus, and at Joseph R. Giove Clinical Hypnosis I’ve regularly seen the impact of e-cigs on those with disorders like lupus.

As such, I think it’s worth taking a closer look at this subject in order to show just how important it is to find alternative options for smoking cessation – and why hypnosis is a great option for doing just that.

Electronic Cigarettes

First, we’ll begin with understanding the basics of electronic cigarettes. E-cigs are generally shaped either like a traditional cigarette or with a larger box at the bottom of the unit with a nozzle leading upwards. One design looks like a cigarette, the other resembles a pipe in some aspects.

No matter the design, they work similarly. Cartridges with a liquid mixture of nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals – usually propylene glycol – are loaded into the unit. When a ‘drag’ from the e-cig is taken the chemicals are heated up and turned to vapor, which is then inhaled like a regular puff from a cigarette.

They’re marketed as a safe alternative to traditional smoking since many of the carcinogens present in cigarette smoke are missing. But research done into them has been very minimal and still suggests numerous health risks. Additionally, the long term health risks are unknown and there is reason to believe that in the future, a wide range of additional health issues may be linked to e-cigs.

Lupus

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can damage a wide range of the body. Essentially, those with lupus suffer because their body’s immune system attacks the organs and tissues within it – your body is attacking health cells and tissues. This can lead to rashes, inflammation, increased infections, fatigue, joint pain, and more. In severe cases it can cause significant health problems to occur.

Unfortunately, lupus is a disease that still isn’t’ fully understood. Causes aren’t entirely known and treatment generally focuses on controlling symptoms instead of curing the disease. As such, it’s a serious condition and doing all that you can to manage and control it is important.

Lupus And Smoking

A lot of research has been done into the dangers of smoking, and some of it has focused on how it impacts lupus sufferers. The medical community agrees that stopping smoking will have the biggest positive impact on lupus possible.

The big reason is that those with lupus are at increased risk of infections, and respiratory infections are the most common types of infections that they develop. On their own, smoking cigarettes can increase the risk of developing bronchitis and pneumonia. When a lupus sufferer smokes, that risk is only increased further.

The other dangers are directly associated with the fact that lupus sufferers are already at an increased risk for health issues that smoking can cause. This includes cardiac disease and heart attacks – lupus patients are at a greater risk of heart disease, and smoking only makes this worse. The same goes for the circulatory system, the kidneys, and the liver.

In short, lupus patients who smoke are increasing their risks of health conditions dramatically due to the combination of their medical condition and the health impact of smoking. It’s a dangerous connection and one that needs to be addressed.

What About E-Cigs?

The general argument for e-cigs is simple – they’re not cigarettes, and as such they provide nicotine in a much safer method of action. But the reality is that the mucus membranes of the respiratory system are incredibly delicate and easily absorb chemicals and compound that touch them. Each puff from an e-cig places a variety of chemicals within the respiratory system.

A lupus sufferer already has a weekend immune system and are more likely to develop respiratory problems, and when a drag from an e-cig is taken it makes it more likely that those illnesses will develop. Despite the supposed ‘safety’, it’s still a risk – especially when you’re suffering from lupus.

Add this to the fact that e-cigs haven’t been fully tested for long-term effects and the fact that there is no FDA approval needed and it becomes clear that lupus sufferers need to avoid e-cigs completely for the sake of their health.

What Can Be Done?

Stopping smoking doesn’t have to mean picking up an electronic cigarette. There are options that can allow you to break free of smoking entirely and focus your attention on coping with lupus. At Joseph R. Giove Clinical Hypnosis, I use a drug free approach to helping patients stop smoking for good.

The key is understanding the power of the mind and using mental suggestion to rework the way that your mind thinks and works. It sounds simple, and at its basic level it is. But it’s something that is only possible with the help of an experienced hypnotherapist due to the process involved.

Lupus sufferers need to stop smoking, and they need to do so entirely – not just by continuing to smoke in a different form. And when you consider the health impacts that smoking can have on anyone’s health, it becomes clear that hypnosis is something everyone who smokes should consider. It’s been proven to be effective, and thousands of people have been able to put down their smokes for good thanks to my help. It’s worth trying for yourself.