Because nicotine levels can vary in the cartridges, those willing to quit must step down the level of nicotine to near zero. At this point, the user can use flavorings that taste like tobacco but are mostly tobacco free. One recent study out of the U.K. found that about 60 percent of those who used e-cigs as a smoking cessation tool succeeded, though the time these people stayed abstinent was not given.

“In my opinion, if taking nicotine for a short time can lead to complete cessation of smoking, e-cigarette included, then it will be beneficial to take nicotine for a short time as a bridge to smoking cessation,” says Chi-Ming Hai, a physiologist at Brown University, “However, our data suggest that long-term consumption of nicotine by e-cigarette smoking is likely to increase the risk of developing atherosclerosis by stimulating invasion of vascular smooth muscles cells.”

In this case, those smooth vascular muscle cells that surround your veins and arteries corkscrew, under the influence of nicotine, into the veins and arteries. This, in turn, creates plaques in those arteries, blocking blood flow and hardening the outer tissue. Researchers also are finding that e-cigarette users have lower lung function, airway resistance and cellular changes in the lungs similar to those exposed to nicotine smoke.

One Last Thing…

The last point to keep in mind is that the e-cigarette industry is not regulated. So there are government concerns over the safety of e-cigs as the U.S. Food and Drug Agency haven’t been able to evaluate vaping practices. Spot checks by the agency has discovered mislabeling problems as well as nicotine delivery problems with the e-cigarettes themselves. There are great differences as to how much nicotine and other flavors are released with the water vapor, so some users are getting much more nicotine than probably intended.

Though the jury is still out as to the usefulness of e-cigarettes to quit smoking, research has cautiously confirmed that e-cigs may be less dangerous than smoking traditional tobacco products. But don’t start vaping if you don’t smoke. Nicotine can be just as damaging to the body as smoking cigarettes though, as always, more research is needed.