E-Cigarettes - a review of the evidence - harm versus harm reduction
Feeney, Susan ; Rossetti, Victoria ; Terrien, Jill M.
Citations
Student Authors
Faculty Advisor
Academic Program
UMass Chan Affiliations
Document Type
Publication Date
Subject Area
Embargo Expiration Date
Link to Full Text
Abstract
The World Health Organization estimates there are 1.1 billion cigarette smokers across the globe and that tobacco related deaths number 7 million per year. Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are available to contribute options for smoking cessation and include e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, vape pens, mods, and vaping. The growing use of ENDS, or e-cigarettes, in the US and globally across populations is dramatic. Although users may think that e-cigarettes are less harmful than combustible tobacco products, the evidence shows that there are known risks and harms for users. E-cigarettes have varying amounts of toxicants, nicotine, and carcinogens and put the user at risk for lung diseases and COVID-19 similar to smokers. Currently, most governing bodies have not approved e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool but do state if a person has failed conventional smoking cessation treatments that e-cigarettes used alone for the short term may help those to quit combustible tobacco and nicotine. A shared decision-making approach should be used when discussing e-cigarettes as a harm reduction tool. More studies and long-term data are needed to assess potential benefits and harms. What is known is that prevention efforts and policy are needed to avoid adolescents and other vulnerable populations from initiating tobacco or e-cigarette use.
Source
Feeney S, Rossetti V, Terrien J. E-Cigarettes-a review of the evidence-harm versus harm reduction. Tob Use Insights. 2022 Mar 29;15:1179173X221087524. doi: 10.1177/1179173X221087524. PMID: 35370428; PMCID: PMC8968985. View article on publisher's site