DJ Yoshi

Via Everyday Health
Scientific evidence has yet to catch up to the hype. People who have used electronic cigarettes report it’s helped them smoke less or even quit altogether by easing withdrawal symptoms. And companies market the devices as a less expensive alternative to smoking a pack a day. Experts, on the other hand, offer mixed opinions.

Michael Siegel, MD, of the department of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, is somewhat of a minority among anti-smoking experts, many of whom express concern about e-cigarettes. Dr. Siegel has written that electronic cigarettes, which do not contain tobacco, are much safer than regular cigarettes and notes that they are “comparable in toxicity” to current nicotine replacement therapy products, such as the nicotine patch. He also argues that they may suppress cravings for cigarettes more successfully than nicotine-replacement products currently on the market because e-cigarettes include smoking-related stimuli. “Although more research is needed …, there is now sufficient evidence to conclude that these products are at least capable of suppressing the urge to smoke,” he and a co-author write in the Journal of Public Health Policy.

How Safe Are E-Cigarettes?

“There is no evidence that e-cigarettes are a safe, healthy, and effective option for quitting smoking,” says Ware Kuschner, MD, chief of the pulmonary section at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and an associate professor of medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. “E-cigarettes are not regulated by the FDA, so we do not know the true health risks.”

Although studies on e-cigarettes are ongoing, the known risks are alarming. In an analysis of e-cigarette contents, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found evidence of compounds used to manufacture antifreeze and other industrial products. The agency also determined that nicotine levels are not consistent between brands or cartridges.

Proponents of e-cigarettes argue that although the research is in the early stages, these products don’t contain as many dangerous chemicals as cigarettes do. They add that electronic cigarettes prevent users from experiencing the negative health impact of inhaling tobacco cigarette smoke.

The actual contents of the vapor of e-cigarettes, however, remain a mystery. “The manufacturers have not provided complete information on the chemicals used in the e-cigarettes and in the vapor,” says Dr. Kuschner, who co-wrote a paper on e-cigarettes for the International Journal of General Medicine. “When two common brands of e-cigarettes were analyzed in the United States, they were found to contain many of the same cancer-causing chemicals found in regular cigarettes.”

E-Cigarettes to Ease Withdrawal

Though some e-cigarette users say the products helped them stop smoking by easing withdrawal symptoms, Ware argues that electronic cigarettes are actually less effective than proven nicotine delivery systems such as the patch. “E-cigarettes deliver a high concentration of nicotine directly to the lungs, leading to a rapid drug spike in the bloodstream,” he says. Manufacturers may claim that users can control the nicotine dose, but research has suggested that the levels of nicotine in cartridges are not as predictable as advertised. “This is one reason that e-cigarettes shouldn’t be confused with proven smoking cessation therapies such as nicotine patches, nicotine gum, bupropion, and varenicline,” Ware says.

Unlike e-cigarettes, FDA-approved smoking cessation treatments offer more continuous relief of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, Ware says. Also, treatments approved by the FDA have been tested in randomized, controlled clinical trials and determined to be both safe and effective. To date, no such structured study of e-cigarettes has been conducted.

Finally, experts are concerned that instead of helping reduce smoking and nicotine dependency, electronic cigarettes might be a stepping-stone for a new generation of nicotine addicts. Though many e-cigarettes look and feel like cigarettes, others are designed to have fun flavors and shapes that could appeal to young users.