Dr. S. S. VERMA
Kicking the smoking habit is one of the best things that smokers can do for themselves but methods like use of nicotine replacement products, prescription medications, and counseling are all proving ineffective in this regard. Smoking is injurious to health complain is also not able to motivate the prospective smokers to quit smoking. They continue smoking due to unforeseen compulsions best known to them only. Even passive smoking is resulting in major health problems and inconvenience to other people around. When no health campaign, law and order and social stigma associated with smoking are able to deter the smokers then electronics is thought to play a significant role in reducing the smoking hazards as it has already played a major role in making human life comfortable with its positive and judicious use in various applications. What about the newest tobacco substitute, the electronic cigarette? Electronic cigarettes come in a variety of shapes. Some look like cigarettes, pipes, or cigars, while others are disguised as pens or other more socially acceptable items. Whatever their shape, they all are built around a battery-operated heating element, a replaceable cartridge that contains nicotine and other chemicals, and an atomizer that converts the chemicals into an inhalable vapor. When the smoker draws on the mouthpiece, air passes through and activates a battery-powered atomizer that vaporizes liquid nicotine from a disposable cartridge.
A study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers reports that electronic cigarettes are a promising tool to help smokers quit, producing six-month abstinence rates nearly double those for traditional nicotine replacement products. This study suggests that electronic cigarettes are helping thousands of ex-smokers remain off cigarettes. The study’s main limitation is the low response rate of 4.5 percent. It is possible that those who responded to the survey were more likely to have quit smoking than those who did not respond. Nevertheless, despite this limitation, the study authors believe that this is the best evidence to date on the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation. Despite the limitation, the authors conclude that electronic cigarettes hold promise as a smoking-cessation method and that they are worthy of further study using more rigorous research designs. While more study needs to be done on the actual mechanisms of what apparently makes electronic cigarettes effective, it is believed there might be a link between the e-cigarette’s physical simulations of smoking with the success of quitting. These devices simulate the smoking experience, which appears to make them effective as a smoking cessation tool.
Manufacturers market them, in part, as a safer alternative to smoking and as an aid to quitting. Companies that make and imports e-cigarettes claim that the gadget should be classified as a tobacco product, although it contains no tobacco. These claims, however, have never been established to the satisfaction and Food and Drug Administration (USA) moved to ban imports of e-cigarettes into the country until companies gained approval for the devices, a process that would require rigorous proof of their safety and efficacy. Further, a group of researchers in California published a study calling into question the safety of e-cigarettes. The group claims that the toxicity level of vaporized nicotine is virtually unstudied. They also found various design flaws with the devices themselves, including leaky cartridges and insufficient labeling. Another study in January warned that e-cigarettes may not be any healthier than tobacco cigarettes.
There are three reasons to worry about electronic cigarettes. First, the dose of nicotine delivered with each puff may vary substantially. Second, electronic cigarettes deliver an array of other chemicals, including diethylene glycol (a highly toxic substance), various nitrosamines (powerful carcinogens found in tobacco), and at least four other chemicals suspected of being harmful to humans. To be sure, the dose of these compounds is generally smaller than found in “real” cigarette smoke. But it isn’t zero. Third, by simulating the cigarette experience, electronic cigarettes might reactivate the habit in ex-smokers. They could also be a gateway into tobacco abuse for young people who are not yet hooked. We need scientific studies of e-cigarettes and to be aware that there are better and safer ways preferable to smoking-and to electronic cigarettes.
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