Mental health: do you care?

The myth of quitting

Vaping is often promoted as a tool to help people stop smoking, yet the data tells a different story. Although 85% of e-cigarette users report starting vaping to quit cigarettes, a 2013 study across four countries published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found they were no more likely to quit than those who never vaped. In fact, reports show that vaping often reduces the likelihood of quitting altogether, with around 70% of users becoming dual users—continuing to smoke while vaping.

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What’s actually in the vapour

A 2017 Harvard study analysing 24 flavoured e-cigarette brands found that every single one contained at least one aldehyde or flavouring chemical listed as “High Priority” by FEMA or classified by the FDA as Harmful or Potentially Harmful. Despite this, these products are inhaled repeatedly every day.

We also don’t fully understand how common ingredients—propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, flavourings, and other additives—behave when heated and aerosolised, especially when used 20 to 30 times a day beyond their original FDA approval context.

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Lung injury and toxic exposure

The risks became highly visible during the 2019 outbreak of vaping-associated lung injuries, which resulted in 2,807 hospitalisations and 68 deaths in under a year. One major contributing factor was vitamin E acetate—an additive whose harmless-sounding name masked its severe effects when inhaled.

Research from Johns Hopkins examining 56 e-cigarette devices found that many produced aerosols containing potentially unsafe levels of lead, chromium, manganese, and nickel. These metals originate from heated metal coils and are linked to lung, liver, immune, cardiovascular, and neurological damage, as well as certain cancers. The danger is amplified by ethyl maltol, a common artificial sweetener shown to facilitate the transport of heavy metals into cells.

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Cardiovascular and clotting risks

Vaping also exposes users to high concentrations of ultra-fine particles and toxins at levels comparable to conventional cigarettes. These particles activate platelets, increasing their tendency to clump together—an important contributor to clot formation and cardiovascular disease.

Research from Poland suggests that chemicals such as acrolein and formaldehyde, created during e-liquid heating, accelerate arterial hardening and narrowing by more than 1.6 times. Studies from the University of California, San Francisco found that daily e-cigarette use doubles the risk of heart attack, while dual users face a fivefold increase compared to non-smokers.

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Hormones, fertility, and pregnancy

The effects extend beyond the lungs and heart. A 2022 study found that vaping doubles the risk of erectile dysfunction in men aged 20 and over. A separate 2020 study of 1,221 men showed a 34% reduction in total sperm count among e-cigarette users compared to non-users.

E-cigarettes contain endocrine-disrupting compounds capable of interfering with hormonal balance and reproductive function. In women, a large study involving 71,940 participants found that unfavourable birth outcomes increased by 62% among those who used e-cigarettes during pregnancy.

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Immune suppression and hidden contaminants

Vaping weakens the body’s ability to fight infections. A 2018 study published in BMJ Thorax showed that e-cigarette vapour damages alveolar macrophages—key immune cells responsible for clearing pathogens, toxins, and allergens from the lungs.

Additional concerns come from contamination: an analysis of the ten top-selling U.S. brands detected endotoxins above the limit of detection in 23% of samples tested, adding another layer of inflammatory risk.

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Beyond health: society and the environment

Beyond physiology, there is a broader cost. The argument that vaping benefits society is weak when considering its environmental impact. Each disposable vape contains a lithium-ion battery; in the UK alone, the lithium discarded annually in vapes could produce around 1,200 electric vehicle batteries.

On a social level, vaping increasingly functions as an emotional crutch—an “adult pacifier” that outsources stress regulation and potentially disrupts brain chemistry and hormonal balance rather than addressing underlying causes.

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The real experiment

E-cigarette use continues to grow rapidly, while robust long-term research on its health effects remains limited. What we do know already points to serious risks—many of which mirror or compound those of smoking itself.

Don’t be society’s guinea pig. It’s time to confront the dark side of vaping.

The paradigm of depression being a disease/disorder has evolved around the concept that neurotransmitters are primarily the root cause.

Yet, dysregulation in this field could very well be a symptom, coping mechanism and signal from a multitude of different issues ranging from inside, as well as outside of the body (as explained in my previous post).

The association of depression solely being linked to low levels of norepinephrine and serotonin is flawed throughout studies. There are many other variables that can result in this outcome.

Several studies indicate that as few as 25% of depressed patients have low levels of neurotransmitters, while paradoxically, some patients have abnormally high levels of neurotransmitters with no history of them ever being low.

Does the placement of depression into the category of disease/disorder attach a greater overwhelming thought process to the word than if we were to label it as a symptom?

One could argue that generally speaking, symptoms are alleviated with greater ease when compared with the disease.

It is easy to allow our identity to be taken hostage by adopting the ownership of depression and succumb to its depths.

Yet when we shift our thinking to understand that depression does not embody us as individuals, nor does it yield an element involved in modeling our identity, we shift our thoughts to a greater sense of self-empowerment.

We can overcome the ‘depression vs self’ mentality by accepting that depression is an adaptive and protective mechanism from the human body, accompanied with respect for the opportunity it brings forth to gain further insight into what needs nurturing.

I understand this is a challenging and delicate shift to take, yet the perception of the experience is paramount to one’s thoughts.

Could we disempower the shackling chains of emotional paralysis, gain buoyancy in the swamp of thoughts and restore vitality into one’s behaviour when depression is approached in the light of a symptom?

Can we utilise it as foresight with direction to what may require attention and care within our body and how we live?

This paradigm shift allows more of a harmonious level of awareness with the experience of depression and what possibilities it may bring.

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References:

1. Asberg M, et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1976
2. Mol Psychiatry. 2010 March
3. Della FP, et al. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2012
4. Della FP, et al. Behav Brain Res. 2012
5. Della FP, et al. Metab Brain Dis. 2013

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The effectiveness of Vitamin B6 in the treatment of PMS dates back over 40 years. Results were noted, such as:

• ‘Significant decreases in all symptoms’ (1)
• 70% reporting good or partial response’ (2)
• ‘Improvement in 63% of patients on pyridoxine’ (3)

The dose used within these studies ranged from 40-200mg (with a possible risk of toxicity at 200mg).

Only one patient of the 940 participating in these trials indicated the presence of any side effects that could be attributed to the neuropathy associated with pyridoxine toxicity. (4)

A meta-analysis of nine published trials involving almost 1,000 women with PMS found that vitamin B6 is more effective in reducing PMS symptoms than placebo. (5)

A double-blind, randomized controlled trial in 94 women found that 80 mg pyridoxine taken daily over the course of three cycles was associated with statistically significant reductions in a broad range of PMS symptoms, including:

• Moodiness
• Irritability
• Forgetfulness
• Bloating
• Anxiety (6)

Below are my preferred dietary sources of Vitamin B6 per 100g:

• Liver – 1mg
• Salmon – 0.9mg
• Sunflower Seeds – 1.33mg
• Pistachios – 1.7mg

The recommended daily allowance sits around 1.3mg, which makes an easy target to obtain via food.

However, to achieve the dosage used in the above studies is between 30-153 times higher than the RDA, making it unachievable to obtain through diet alone.

As you can see here, Designs For Health provides 50mg of Vitamin B6 in just one capsule. This is in the form of Vitamin B6 in its most bioavailable form – P5P.

Magnesium and Vitamin B2 are required for the conversion of P5P. The deficiency rates of magnesium make this conversion much harder.

High protein diets or genetic susceptibilities (such as NBPF3) are factors that can increase the need for more Vitamin B6.

Have you ever used B6 for your PMS?

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References:

1. Goei and Abraham, 1983
2. Brush, 1988
3. Day, 1979
4. London RS, et al. 1991
5. Wyatt KM, et al. BMJ 1999
6. Kashanian M, et al. 2007