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Nostrils and nostrums

July 12, 2021 Dennis F. Fetalino 431 views

Ped xingI’m left with only one option: I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. –Matt Damon in The Martian

Note what you let through your nose.

In fact, mind the stuff that you put into your body.

But some people simply have a hard time figuring out what’s good or bad in the things they ingest.

After all, there are gradations of safety, to be sure.

One option can be relatively safer than the others.

But, as pro-forma medication literature cautions, consider the “contra-indications”, a broad euphemism for adverse reactions or side effects.

When still in doubt, do what most unsure people do: Consult a medical professional.

This should be the rule of thumb, especially when consuming recreational or pleasure products.

In this regard, vapes and heated tobacco products are considerably less harmful – they can reduce the risks faced by around 17 million Filipino smokers — alternatives to combustible cigarettes, according to a renowned Filipino family doctor.

“We emphasized that the considerably less harmful products should not be taken off the shelves while the very much harmful product remains easily accessible and that the harm reduction potential of electronic vapor products should be maximized instead and regulated to minimize the risk to the youth and the non-smokers,” Dr. Lorenzo Mata, president of advocacy group Quit For Good, said during the 4th Asia Harm Reduction Forum held virtually from Manila last June 28.

Quit for Good is a non-stock, non-profit organization that seeks to spread awareness about the grave consequences of smoking tobacco and creating solutions to the tobacco smoking epidemic.

The Asia Harm Reduction Forum is a non-profit and interdisciplinary organization that advances public health education for the improvement of lives and environments across the globe. It is an international avenue for experts, academics, and advocates to share and exchange research findings, product developments, and pragmatic solutions on tobacco harm reduction.

Mata is a strong believer in tobacco harm reduction, defined by the 2021 Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction report as “a range of pragmatic policies, regulations and actions which either reduce health risks by providing safer forms of products or substances or encourage less risky behaviors.”.

Data showed that combustible tobacco smoking kills more than eight million people each year, with more than seven million of those deaths resulting from direct tobacco use and 1.2 million because of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

“More upsetting is the fact that 80 percent of the world’s one billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries like the Philippines,” . Mata noted.

“In our country, there are almost 17 million smokers. And a shocking rate of more than 117,000 Filipinos die each year due to tobacco smoking. Equally alarming is the measly quit rate of 4-percent measured as of 2015 which largely remained unchanged from 2009,” he said.

Mata said the traditional “quit or die” approach to public health was not working and should be abandoned immediately. “A third option must be provided to our adult smokers who do not wish to quit. Tobacco harm reduction, through the use and promotion of safer alternatives to combustible tobacco, should be employed to substantially reduce the risk of death and disease of smoking,” he added.

One solution is the use of electronic vaping products that do not involve combustion.

“Beyond any reasonable doubt, vaping is considerably less harmful than combustible cigarettes. Almost all the harm done by cigarettes arises from the smoke which is caused by combustion. Vaping does not produce smoke—only vapor,” he said.

“What happens in smoking combustible tobacco is a chemical change. What happens in vaping is a physical change,” according to Mata.

“In a chemical change, this is brought about by extreme heat or combustion that causes oxidation of the original substance which then creates different chemical substances. The byproduct of oxidation is already totally different from the original substance. That is why from tobacco, it now comes out as smoke containing harmful substances where hundreds are toxic.”

“When it comes to vaping, you just heat the liquid until it vaporizes. When you create vapor, you don’t change the original substance to a different one. This, my friends, makes a lot of difference in public health,” Mata pointed out.

He said another alternative to combustible tobacco is heated tobacco products which also work on the principle of heating tobacco below the level of combustion.

“Similar to e-cigarettes, there is no burning. But unlike vapes, nicotine is naturally found in tobacco. By heating the tobacco without burning it, HTPs only produce vapor,” he said.

“Vapor products and HTPs are not completely risk-free, but they only carry a small fraction of the risk of cigarettes. Allow me to remind everyone, however, that the best way to avoid the harms of cigarette smoking is as simple as quitting completely,” Mata stressed.

He also cited a 2021 Toxicology Report Journal review from the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in Japan, which concluded that the “use of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products could lead to a significant reduction in exposure to harmful substances compared to combusted cigarettes”.

“These are just some of the many scientific studies supporting the less harmful claims regarding electronic vaping products. The bottom line is this: the deadly effect of cigarette smoking is due to combustion of tobacco that produces smoke that contains carbon monoxide and more than 7,000 chemicals,” he said.

This means that vaping clearly is a viable alternative to cigarette smoking.

“In line with this, we urge the government to consider the best possible differentiated legal framework through careful review of the science and evidence presented on the matter, and defend the right of the consumers to make better choices for themselves,” he said.

Behold God’s glory and seek His mercy.

Pause and pray, people.

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