The Cochrane Library recently completed a review of “the comparative benefits, harms and tolerability of different smoking cessation pharmacotherapies and e-cigarettes, when used to help people stop smoking tobacco.” Spoiler alert: as we have shown, e-cigarettes are a significant aid in reducing dependency on smoking tobacco.
smoking cessation
Public health agencies have no problem recommending people replace tobacco smoke with nicotine patches or chewing gum. Yet they have a seemingly visceral dislike for replacing tobacco smoking with nicotine e‑cigarettes, even though research shows nicotine e‑cigarettes are more effective than patches or gum. Perhaps it’s because the act of vaping too closely resembles the act of smoking. Whatever the reason, it’s not evidence-based.
Just over a year ago I wrote about the Biden Administration’s plan to ban menthol. As Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA commissioner stated [1], “Banning menthol—the last allowable flavor—in cigarettes and banning all flavors in cigars will help save lives, particularly among those disproportionately affected by these deadly products.” A new study suggests that her statement with respect to those disproportionately affected is wrong. Let’s see what a new study concludes.
While Canada has already banned menthol from cigarettes, we are considering similar legislation. A new study reports on the initial impacts of Canada’s ban. Can real-world experience inform our policy decisions?
Smoking cigarettes is stupid, involving financial and, more importantly, significant health costs. While there are several “drivers” to the smoking habit, including sociability and status (especially during those rebellious teen years), could we agree that nicotine is, by far and away, the most significant component of chemical dependency?
E-cigarettes remain controversial. They are frequently offered as an effective bridge to smoking cessation. But that path may be harder than we anticipated.
Partisanship is a terrible development for our culture. But it's even worse for areas such as public health, because people die when we implement bad, partisan ideas.
It's no secret that on a global scale smoking is one of the chief contributors to death and disability. Thankfully, e-cigarettes have provided many smokers an avenue in which to quit. Data from a recent study reveals that daily vaping is strongly correlated to the prevalence of smokers who quit.
Smoking is bad. Bad for mom. Bad for the unborn and born baby alike. Now, a new study reinforces its adverse effect on the developing child, with a focus on the damage done to the kidneys.
There are some unanswered questions about the long-term health safety of e-cigarettes. Studies have suggested that "vaping" is safer than smoking because it doesn't expose a person to the inhaled toxins found in cigarette smoke that can cause cancer. A recent study published in Mutation Research has furthered this thinking, showing that e-cigarettes do not cause mutation in DNA.
What exactly happens to the lungs when someone stops smoking and starts vaping? A new study in Clinical Science tries to answer that question. The authors sought to evaluate the impact of smoking cessation on lung function and smoking related symptoms, using electronic cigarettes.
Finnish smokers who are faced with a greater distance to walk to obtain cigarettes are more likely to quit the habit than those whose access hasn't changed over time. If that is true in other populations, it might be another way to influence smokers' decision to quit.