The results come as no surprise to the people who use the device.

“We are thrilled to have yet another survey confirming what thousands of our members already know: Electronic cigarettes really do help people quit smoking,” says Spike Babaian, president of the National Vapers Club, a consumer advocacy group for people who use e-cigarettes. “Our membership grows every day, and we never tire of hearing how successful people have been at making the switch from deadly traditional cigarettes to electronic cigarettes.”

Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices that allow people to simulate smoking without producing any real smoke. The devices vaporize the same ingredient used in artifical fog machines and, when puffed, deliver a small amount of nicotine along with the vapor.

The newly published survey says that from a public health perspective, “the question is whether—at a population level—the potential benefits of the e-cigarette outweigh its drawbacks. If e-cigarettes are more effective than current NRTs, but are withdrawn from the market until approved as smoking cessation aids, e-cigarette users might revert to smoking tobacco, which is more hazardous than e-cigarettes. This could have a significant, negative impact on public health, because it can take several years to obtain legal approval for a new drug delivery system.”

According to the American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP), “Experience suggests that e-cigarettes may be more acceptable to smokers than the currently available pharmaceutical alternatives. A smoker can secure almost all the health benefits of quitting if he or she transitions to an e-cigarette.” (AAPHP).

The AAPHP’s official recommendations to public health policy makers states: “E-cigarettes can and should be marketed as a substitute for conventional cigarettes for smokers unable or unwilling to quit. State legislatures and, hopefully, the FDA should see them in this light and regulate their marketing to reflect this purpose.”

Etter noted in his survey that more studies are needed on electronic cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration issued a press release in July of 2009 suggesting that the inhaled vapor from the electronic cigarette contained carcinogens and toxic chemicals. Many studies completed since have shown otherwise.

Dr. Murray Laugesen, of Health New Zealand, had harsh criticism for the FDA’s press release, saying the agency had “. . . condemned electronic cigarettes for containing cancer-causing nitrosamines. However, the levels in FDA-approved nicotine gum and patch are similar, and in cigarettes, much higher (up to 5000 times higher).”

Babaian says, “National Vapers Club supports any additional surveys and studies that teach us more about electronic cigarettes and how they are used. We already have substantial anecdotal evidence that these devices help people quit smoking, and having scientific confirmation of that is fantastic news.”

The battery-powered device is made up of a cartridge containing nicotine, flavoring and chemicals. It turns nicotine, which is addictive, into a vapor that is inhaled. Users say they’re “vaping,” not smoking.

E-cigarettes are used by at least a half-million Americans, says Matt Salmon, head of the Electronic Cigarette Association.

“People who smoke ought to have better alternatives, because some can’t quit,” he says. His father, a longtime smoker, died last week of cancer and emphysema.

Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

Read entire article here.

Smoking’s gone high-tech.

Electronic cigarettes, or “e cigs” as they’re often called, have been in existence about a decade. But only recently, as tobacco cigarette prices soar, have they gained popularity, and controversy.

These products are being promoted as offering smokers the nicotine they want without the cancer-causing chemicals they don’t want. Since there’s no odor and no real smoke (just propylene glycol used in theatrical fog) or flame (just a tiny light at the tip for effect), they can be used indoors. They come in different flavors and four levels of nicotine dosages.

“Most people use it as a healthier way to smoke,” said Edwin Schwab, who works on the second floor of Providence Place at the kiosk of Smoking Everywhere, a U.S. distributor of e cigs. “It sounds absurd but it’s really true.”

What may make e cigs more appealing now than before is the recent rise in the price of cigarettes. Last week, Rhode Island raised its excise tax on cigarettes to $3.46 per pack, the highest in the country. And the federal excise tax rose from 39 cents per pack to $1.01. So a typical pack of smokes in the state now costs $8.35.

Compare that with a pack of e cigs: $2. Since they’re not cigarettes, they’re not taxed as cigarettes. They contain the drug nicotine, but aren’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration –– at least not yet.

The FDA reports that it is “looking into this.” And it is getting encouragement to look thoroughly and decisively. Two months ago David Gifford, the state’s health director, wrote the FDA asking it to regulate e cigs because of their nicotine content.

“We don’t support e cigarettes,” said Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Health. “Nicotine is an addictive substance.”

Any product promoting withdrawal from nicotine, she maintained , should be FDA-approved. “E cigarettes are not a regulated product. There is no identification required to purchase them. With tobacco you need to be 18.”

E cigarettes sold by Smoking Everywhere, a Florida-based company, come in various flavors: apple, cherry, strawberry and chocolate, among others.

A Smoking Everywhere starter kit, which comes with a charger and five tips, with each tip the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes, costs $130. Replacement packs of five tips cost $10.

Meglio used to smoke tobacco cigarettes, a pack a day, until Jan 1. On Jan. 2 he bought a Smoking Everywhere starter kit. He hasn’t smoked a real cigarette since. And previously he had tried other products to try to stop smoking. But nothing worked for long.

“I tried the gum and ended up with hiccups and it tastes really gross. With the patch, you’re getting nicotine all day. With this, I get what I need when I want it.”

Since January, Meglio has reduced the number of times a day he uses his e cig, and reduced the nicotine dosage of his e cigs. The question is: Has he has traded one form of nicotine addiction (cigarettes) for another (e cigarettes)?

“If I don’t quit, I’m still better off than smoking,” he maintains.

Schwab, 28, who smoked for roughly a decade, stopped when he began using e cigarettes, which he now sells.

Bryan Rourke – Journal Staff Writer

Read entire article here.

The concern is well justified. The four leading causes of death in the U.S. — cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and lung disease — are all strongly linked to cigarette smoke exposure. One out of every five deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to smoking.

The dangers get worse with age. Adult smokers lose on average 13 years of life for men and 14.5 years for women because of smoking.

But gaining extra years are not the only reward for quitting. Other benefits begin immediately, according to the American Cancer Society, and they just keep coming.

Healthier Life

Within 20 minutes of snuffing out your last cigarette, your blood pressure and heart rate decline.

Within 12 hours, the level of poisonous carbon monoxide in your body from cigarettes has returned to normal.

Over the next few months, your lungs will regain their ability to remove pollutants efficiently, thereby reducing your risk of infection. Your ability to taste and smell will improve, and that chronic sinus congestion should disappear.

By the first anniversary of your last cigarette, your risk of heart disease should be about half of a smoker’s. (By your 15th anniversary, it should be about the same as the risk for someone who never smoked.)

And within a decade, your risk of dying from lung cancer will have dropped by half. It will never drop as low as the risk faced by those who have never smoked, but it will come pretty close.

Stop Smelling

Another benefit of quitting also begins immediately, says Norman Edelman, MD, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. “As soon as you take a shower and change your clothes, you stop smelling,” he tells WebMD.

“You may cough more, but that shouldn’t be a concern because it means you’re clearing the gunk out of your lungs and opening your airways,” says Edelman. “In a few weeks you should begin to notice an increase in your exercise tolerance.”

The Extreme Makeover

Michael K. Cummings, PhD, has spent 20 years studying the harmful effects of tobacco. He calls quitting “the extreme makeover.”

“If you quit smoking early enough, by 30 or so, your risk of dying prematurely becomes almost the same as someone who never smoked,” says Cummings, chairman of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s department of health behavior in Buffalo, N.Y. “If you wait another decade, the benefits are about half of what they would have been. If you quit [then] you add eight to 10 years to your life.”

An Array of Problems

Though everyone knows cigarettes promote cardiovascular disease and lung ailments, it’s less understood that they promote an array of other ailments, says Cummings.

Peripheral vascular disease, for example, which constricts blood flow to the hands, feet, and other organs, is accelerated by cigarette smoke. “I’ve heard of it occurring in people in their 30s,” Cummings tells WebMD. “The best treatment for it is, don’t smoke.”

Smoking, he adds, can also lead to macular degeneration, the No. 1 cause of blindness among older people. It also promotes gum disease.

Quitting brings psychological benefits as well, according to Cummings.

“Most smokers regret their decision to start smoking,” he says. “When they quit, they gain a sense of control, a sense of empowerment.”

Lung Transplant Pioneer

Joel Cooper, MD, performed the world’s first successful lung transplant nearly 25 years ago. He is a pioneer in techniques for treating lung disease.

Cooper tells patients who smoke he will not operate on them unless they have been off cigarettes for at least three weeks prior to surgery.

“One of the most serious complications of chest surgery is congestion, which can lead to pneumonia and respiratory failure,” Cooper tells WebMD. “If you have mucus from cigarette smoking, you’ll have greater clogging of the airways. Just three weeks away from cigarettes will reduce some of that inflammation and reduce the chances of complications.”

Cooper admits that if everyone quit smoking today, the need for his services would drop by 70 percent over the next 20 years. But nothing would make him happier. He especially urges young people to quit.

“If I can get one young person to stop smoking, I will have contributed to more years of healthy life than if I got a week’s worth of my patients to quit,” he says. “There is nothing you can do that would add more years of health and longevity to your life than to stop smoking right now.”

By Tom Valeo, reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

SOURCES: American Cancer Society. Norman Edelman, MD, chief medical officer, American Lung Association. Michael K. Cummings, PhD, chairman, department of health behavior, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, N.Y. Joel Cooper, MD, chief, division of thoracic surgery, University of Pennsylvania Health System. CDC.