Research Shows E-Cigs Might Be As Good For Quitting As Nicotine Patches 314
"Taking a drag from an e-cigarette may be just as safe and effective as slapping on a nicotine patch for smokers struggling to quit, according to the first physician-run trial to compare the two products." That's according to research recently published in The Lancet (PDF) and reported by Bloomberg. Why is this significant? From the article: "If European and U.S. regulators treat e-cigarettes as medical devices, yet leave cigarettes on general sale, tobacco makers 'will retain their market monopoly, and we will never learn whether e-cigarettes would replace traditional cigarettes if allowed to continue evolving and competing with smoked tobacco on even terms,' [wrote clinical psychology professor Peter Hajek]. The results will also be presented today at the European Respiratory Society’s annual meeting in Barcelona.
E-cigarettes have taken Europe and the U.S. by storm. In France, there are more than 1 million regular users, according to a government-commissioned report published in May. Sales worldwide will probably approach $2 billion by the end of this year and top $10 billion by 2017, according to a forecast by Wells Fargo & Co."
Re:second hand e-smoke (Score:5, Informative)
Re:second hand e-smoke (Score:5, Informative)
yummy, I always like breathing in someone else's medicated ethylene glycol.
It's propylene glycol. But besides that, second hand nicotine was never an issue (and propylene glycol is recognized as safe, and even used in many asthma inhalers). The harm from second hand smoke comes from the smoke particles, something that's not present in e-cig vapor.
Re:second hand e-smoke (Score:3, Informative)
It's probably not completely safe for the smoker. A recent (just last month) study found that e-cigarettes do indeed contain carcinogens, in some cases showing similar levels of formaldehyde and acrolein as regular cigarettes.
Article about the study. [yahoo.com]
Re:I'm OK with e-cigs (Score:4, Informative)
Good thing you don't get any second hand smoke from ecigs.
Conclusions [informahealthcare.com]: For all byproducts measured, electronic cigarettes produce very small exposures relative to tobacco cigarettes. The study indicates no apparent risk to human health from e-cigarette emissions based on the compounds analyzed.
It's easy to find a bunch of "what if" that says it's harmful second hand. People that bother to test find levels so low (if at all) that it's not a problem.
I'll agree to your controls. They can't be used where scientific evidence shows they will harm others. Better get used to the smell.
“For more than 25 years Smokefree Pennsylvania has been advocating indoor smoking bans. Based on the results of this study I see no reason for e-cigarettes to be included in smoking bans.” - Bill Godshall of Smokefree Pennsylvania.
“Most vapers believe e-cigarette vapor is not harmful to those around them, but it is reassuring to finally have scientific evidence confirming those beliefs.”- Spike Babaian, President of National Vapers Club
This is the first study to cover such a wide range of toxins, however previous studies, which have evaluated a smaller number of toxins, have shown similar results.
“The results of this study confirm the findings of my last 4 years of research. E-cigarettes pose no discernible risk to public health." - Dr. Murray Laugesen - Public Health Medicine Specialist, Health New Zealand
source [onlineprnews.com]
Re:second hand e-smoke (Score:4, Informative)
Re:second hand e-smoke (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, there are studies showing harmful effects on people using nicotine gum or patches.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Toxicology [wikipedia.org]
These harmful effects are minimal. From your citation: ... no epidemiological evidence supports that nicotine alone acts as a carcinogen in the formation of human cancer .... The only demonstrated negative effect was on birth defects, and I am skeptical about that: many of the women studied had switched from smoked tobacco when they realized they were pregnant, so it is likely many of them where still smoking during the first month of gestation without realizing they were knocked up, and it is also likely that many of them were sneaking some smokes later in the pregnancy. Also, people that smoke tend to have plenty of other unhealthy habits as well, like drinking alcohol and eating crap food. So this might be a "correlation is not causation" situation.
Re:second hand e-smoke (Score:5, Informative)
This is only comparing first generation e-cigs (Score:2, Informative)
The two clinical trials on ecigs in 2013 have been conducted using 3.3V batteries that resemble the appearance of tobacco cigarettes. These deveices are often refferred to "cigalikes". Four major Big Tobacco companies have invested in the electronic cigarettes with the automatic function. The patent for this technology is owned by the orginal makers of electronic cigarettes, Ruyan. The automatic function uses piezoelectronic sensor, and Ruyan has been successful in defending it's patents. Blu Cig had to had to settle with Ruyan prior to being purchased by Lorrilard. You can be sure that RJR's Vuse, BAT's Vype and Phillip Morris' MarkTen have or will have to go through similar licencing of the technology. Recently, Imperial Tobacco have considered buying Ruyan's patent.
However, the major threat to Big Tobacco (and ecig companies specialising in 1st generation cigalike devices such as NJOY and E-lites), are the second generation electronic cigarettes.
A review of this recent clinical study even made a point about this: http://tobaccounpacked.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/e-cigarettes-versus-nicotine-patches/
"one issue to be clear on is that the results of the study only really applies to the brand that was tested (which was a fairly low-performance and basic e-cigarette model). E-cigarettes take many different forms and improvements in technology are rapid. If a higher performance ‘second generation’ device that provided better nicotine delivery or better consumer experience were used, results could be different. Hopefully following this study, others will design research looking at this."
Most second generation electronic cigarettes have the simple button click function, variable voltage/wattage, functioning, far longer charge time, and come with refillable tank systems. An example is the eGo model, orginally designed and patented by Janty, but through Chinese manufacturing, the eGo has been copied, rebranded numerous times, and has now essentially become a generic name for one of the most popular electronic cigarette devices. They look nothing like a real cigarette, and so these products will always have a defence against the extremist anti-smoking group claims that electronic cigarettes undermine efforts to denormalise tobacco smoking. The products offer much more to vapers over the 3.3V cigalikes that Big Tobacco have been investing in, and most long term vapers will recall their initial and 'single' purchase of a cigalike device as a mere introduction to vaping, before quickly moving to 2nd generation devices and refillable tank systems.
Even if Big Tobacco decide to start gobbling up companies that specialise in 2nd generation electronic cigarettes, it wont be hard for people to simply redesign a battery, have it maufactured in China, and sell them in competition with whatever Big Tobacco are trying to flog. Basically, Big Tobacco's days are very much numbered.
The only way Big Tobacco will survive is if Bad policy prevails, such as regulating ecigs and nicotine liquids as "medicines", which would raise the barrier to market entry into the millions of dollars, ensuring that only Big Tobacco and Big Pharma can afford to enter the market and acquire sale authorisations. Unfortunately, in the US and EU, polticians who are easily persuaded by Big Pharma and Big Tobacco lobby groups are more than happy to bow to their special interests.
The nicotine market is very messy right now.
Re:second hand e-smoke (Score:4, Informative)