Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Puff, Puff, Cancer

For many smokers who have looked for a way to quit for years, the e-cig was thought to be the Holy Grail for kicking the bad habit. Electronic cigarettes, known commonly as e-cigs, are tobacco-less products, utilizing special liquids that contain varying amounts of nicotine, allowing smokers to slowly wean off the addictive substance. As many smokers have picked up the new product in the hopes of quitting, the questionably of its health risks is put under the microscope.

At a recent gathering of lung cancer researchers, the effects of the e-cig were discussed, after a study showed that the e-liquid caused cancer in vitro on human lung cells. With a multitude of distributors and a lack of consumer knowledge, the Food and Drug Administration will begin laying the groundwork for the regulation of the use of e-cigs, as there are no current laws against them. In addition, more research will be done on the effects of the product over the next few years. Companies that sell e-cig products will also be conducting their own research, in an effort to show that e-cigs are a safer alternative to normal cigarettes.

The best way to quit cigarettes? Cold turkey. However, this is not a reasonable solution for most people. While products such nicotine patches and gum exist, they are certainly not an alternative to the feeling that smoking induces. Electronic cigarettes may seem like a better alternative to quit the habit, but only time will tell as to how much harm they actually cause.

Posted by Ashton Brown (10)

7 comments:

  1. This was a very interesting read! I know many people who use E-cigs, but I don't think they ever worry about the health aspect of it. This is probably because media makes them seem like a much healthier and better choice than cigarettes. Do you know the statistics for the number of people who use e-cigs? I wonder how many people will reconsider once they know it's harmful for you as well.

    Posted by Amber Vien

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  2. I liked this article a lot. I find it interesting that the in vitro cells had cancer from this product. How much less nicotine is in them than typical cigarettes?

    -Posted by Taylor Schille

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  3. Very great post! E-cig is quite new in terms of a product. And there are no regulation for the manufactories to enclose the ingredients of a e-cig. There are not much scientific papers show it is harmful but I think it is mainly because its a new product and not many studies were conducted about e-cig. In general, I think finding other hobbies to substitute smoking is the most effective method to quit smoking.

    Post by Yim Hui

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  4. Interesting post, it sounds like more research definitely needs to be done on the E-cig regarding its effects on the body. Even though many people think it is safer, clearly this isn't necessarily true. I wonder how many people that use these are actually able to quit successfully?

    Posted by Morgan Matuszko

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  5. This is very interesting to read, I know many people who smoke and have tried to quit by using e-ciggarets such as Blu and Logic. However it has come to our attention that they are not approved for safety, and because they are so new, the long term affects of them are unknown. I did not hear of the in-vitro study regarding e-ciggs until I read your post. I wonder why studies like this are not made more known to the public for consumers to know.
    posted by kristen whitehead

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  6. Smoking is a very bad habit that is hard to break. I recently heard about e-digs and when I looked up information about its side-effects, there wasn't enough scientific research. I also think that going cold turkey is the best way to quit an addiction.

    Posted by: Lindsey Janof

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  7. I don't get why intensive research about a product isn't done before its released to the public. I feel like there need to be more regulations on products, such as these e-ciggs, that are potentially harmful before they are allowed to be released.
    -Samuel Ustayev

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