{"id":546,"date":"2013-09-16T14:45:54","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T21:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/?p=546"},"modified":"2014-02-19T12:18:50","modified_gmt":"2014-02-19T20:18:50","slug":"beware-e-cigarettes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/?p=546","title":{"rendered":"Beware e-cigarettes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There is a new challenger to Joe Camel on the block and his name is El Cig. Electronic cigarettes are a relatively new development and are being used by some smokers as a substitute for tobacco cigarettes. They resemble cigarettes but <!--more-->contain a cartridge of liquid nicotine which is then vaporized and inhaled. They do not contain tobacco or tobacco byproducts like tar, and are felt by some to be a \u201chealthy\u201d alternative to regular cigarettes or even a pathway to quitting smoking. A recent study in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(13)61842-5\/abstract\">Lancet<\/a> comparing e-cigarettes, nicotine patches, and placebo e-cigarettes\u00a0found a slightly higher (but not statistically significant) rate of abstinence with e-cigs compared to the other groups (7.3% vs 5.8 vs. 4.1). They recommended more studies.<\/p>\n<p>Many adults believe e-cigarettes have helped them quit or at least reduce the risk of tobacco-related illnesses. The concern is that youths and adolescents are trying them <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/preview\/mmwrhtml\/mm6235a6.htm\">in increasing numbers<\/a>. Because e-cigs are not regulated by the FDA, it is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fda.gov\/newsevents\/publichealthfocus\/ucm172906.htm\">unknown what chemicals they contain<\/a> and harm they could cause.<\/p>\n<p>Surprisingly, most states have no restrictions on selling e-cigs to minors. Many health advocates worry they will be a gateway to cigarettes as multiple studies have shown smoking initiation in adolescence is more likely to lead to long-term tobacco use.There are complaints about the marketing of e-cigs, like adding flavors such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gatorvapor.com\/catalog\/gummi-peach-ring-p-870.html\">Gummi Peach Ring<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gatorvapor.com\/catalog\/bubble-gum-p-492.html\">Bubble Gum<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gatorvapor.com\/catalog\/tootsy-roll-p-815.html\">Tootsy Roll<\/a> to appeal to children. In addition, nicotine causes alterations in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/19268688\">developing adolescent brain<\/a>. The CDC also recommends further studies for this age group.<\/p>\n<p>The FDA recently announced it will release new potential restrictions for e-cigarettes in October. <a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424127887323980604579028872575240180.html\">One article<\/a> claimed they were considering a complete ban on online sales which <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fda.gov\/tobaccoproducts\/newsevents\/ucm366187.htm\">was later denied<\/a> by the FDA.<\/p>\n<p>Jeff Ribordy, MD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is a new challenger to Joe Camel on the block and his name is El Cig. Electronic cigarettes are a relatively new development and are being used by some smokers as a substitute for tobacco cigarettes. They resemble cigarettes &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/?p=546\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-copd","category-health-care-reform-health-policy","category-medical-practice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=546"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":762,"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546\/revisions\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phcprimarycare.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}