Dartmouth Researchers Look at What We Know about E-cigarettes and Health
Smokers are turning to e-cigarettes to ease nicotine withdrawal while quitting, to vape in places where smoking is not allowed, and to avoid harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke. Young people are also trying these new devices, some to switch from smoking and others to see what it is all about.
In spite of increased use, we don't yet know whether smokeless vapor is safe: in fact, any long-term health risks from using e-cigarettes and other "vaping" devices will likely not be known for many years. The Food and Drug Administration recently proposed new regulations for e-cigarettes that will require health warnings for e-cigarettes and limit sales to those over 18, however it did not limit flavorings or advertising of e-cigarettes.
In a recently issued Emerging Issues Brief researchers at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) looked at what is currently known about e-cigarettes and health. Some believe e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking tobacco since e-cigarette vapor doesn't contain the chemicals found in tobacco smoke. However, many would-be quitters end up using e-cigarettes in public spaces and regular cigarettes everywhere else.
"In theory, the exclusive use of e-cigarettes should be safer than smoking," says co-author Susanne E. Tanski, MD, MPH, Norris Cotton Cancer Center Cancer Control Research Group, and associate professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine. "But these theoretical benefits are for smokers who use e-cigarettes to completely quit all products that burn tobacco—cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, and pipes. Anyone who uses e-cigarettes and continues to use these other products is unlikely to sufficiently lower their risk of heart attack, cancer, or chronic lung disease."
Tanski also notes that there are other forms of medicinal nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) that have been used for 17 years to help smokers quit. "Used correctly, we know that these products help people successfully quit tobacco, "she says. "Until we know more about e-cigarettes, these medicinal NRT products, combined with help from quit counselors or friends and family who have quit, can help you become a non-smoker without tackling the remaining questions of e-cigarette safety."
Adapted from materials provided by: Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock