Electronic cigarettes: New route to using tobacco habit for adolescents

The ban on the use of the battery-powered devices, which contain liquid nicotine that is turned into a vapour when inhaled, will also apply to health centres, public administration buildings and public transport. "The goal is to protect people's health and avoid possible adverse effects," Health Minister Ana Mato said in a statement. However, many clinicians are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with addressing the use of e-cigarettes with their young patients, finds a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health. In a survey between 2011 and 2012, 10 percent of high school students reported ever using an e-cigarette. Governments around the world have struggled with how to regulate e-cigarettes since their emergence and growing popularity in recent years. In October European lawmakers rejected a bid to classify e-cigarettes as medicinal products, which would have restricted their sale to pharmacies. nSupporters claim they are a less dangerous alternative to regular cigarettes and a valuable tool in helping smokers to quit. However, the World Health Organisation has advised against them, saying their potential health risk "remains undetermined". These associations did not vary by gender or smoking status," says study lead author Kelvin Choi, PhD. Then, a follow-up survey conducted one year later asked participants if they had experimented with e-cigarettes. "Participants who agreed e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking and those who agreed that e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes were more likely than those who did not agree to subsequently report experimenting with e-cigarettes. To date, however, there has been little research on the impact of e-cigs on public health. Deepak Saxena, associate professor of basic science and craniofacial biology, and Xin Li, assistant professor of basic science and craniofacial biology, both at the College of Dentistry, are working to close the gap between marketing and science by using oral cavity and various systems biology approaches to reveal the health impact of e-cigs. E-cigs employ a mechanism to heat up liquid nicotine, which turns into a vapor that smokers inhale and exhale, a process known as "vaping." Each nicotine cartridge in an e-cig can provide 200 to 400 puffs, equivalent to two to three packs of cigarettes. Due to the frequency of puffing, depth of inhalation, and length of vaping," says Li, "e-cig users may actually absorb higher concentrations of nicotine and other toxins than conventional tobacco smokers. The FDA and the American Lung Association have cautioned that e-cig users are unknowingly inhaling vaporized chemicals including diethylene glycol. colleges found that 12 percent of e-cig users had never smoked a conventional cigarette." The issue is urgent," notes Saxena, "as a recent survey conducted among students at eight U.S. Understanding the specific beliefs that predict subsequent e-cigarette experimentation allows us to focus on these beliefs when designing public health messages," concludes Dr. This link between beliefs about e-cigarettes and subsequent experimentation can be used to guide future anti-nicotine and anti-smoking campaigns that encompass the new technology of e-cigarettes. The tobacco-free smokes heat up a chemical solution and emit vapors while giving smokers their nicotine fix. "We don't want a step backward with that," she said. The vote came amid sharp disagreement within public health circles over how to treat e-cigarettes. Manufacturers say the mist is harmless, and most scientists agree that regular smokers who switch to e-cigarettes are lowering their health risk substantially. While anti-tobacco efforts continue across the county, the introduction of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has been marketed as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes and also as a smoking cessation aid. In 2010, 25.2% of all adults and 35.6% of young adults reported current tobacco use. Despite years of anti-smoking education and legislation, tobacco use still remains an important public health issue in the United States. Investigators surveyed 1379 participants from the Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort who had never used e-cigarettes. Investigators from the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota looked at whether or not there was a relationship between perceived notions about the harmfulness of e-cigarettes relative to cigarettes and subsequent e-cigarette use among young adults. The initial baseline survey explored their opinions about e-cigarettes and their effect on health relative to cigarettes or their usefulness as an aid to stop smoking. Like regular cigarettes, the nicotine in e-cigarettes is also highly addictive. The devices, though, aren't heavily regulated. People who use them may be unable to quit, even if they want to. And experts say consumers can't yet be sure whether they are safe either for users or people exposed to second-hand vapor puffs. That has raised concerns that a new generation of young people could gravitate toward e-cigarettes and wind up hooked for life or even switch to tobacco cigarettes.18 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Amy L. Fairchild, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, and colleagues discuss how e-cigarettes relate to the planned implementation of radical strategies for eliminating tobacco use globally. E-cigarettes are threatening bans on public smoking, which have been a key component of tobacco control. The authors note that e-cigarette marketing campaigns threaten to reverse the successful, decades-long, public health campaign to denormalize smoking. From December 15 the use of the battery-powered devices that simulate smoking by heating and vaporising a liquid solution containing nicotine will incur a 25 Swiss franc (20 euro, $27) fine, a spokesman for Public Transportation Union told the Swiss news agency ATS. Swiss regulations do not allow the sale of electronic cigarettes, but their use in the country is tolerated and the federal public health agency has noted an increase in their use. The regulation against smoking tobacco on public transport was extended to electronic cigarettes due to the difficulty of inspectors to distinguish between cigarettes and e-cigarettes. "The scientific community is still learning about e-cigarettes, and while there is much that we don't know, most people would probably agree that minors should not be using them," said lead author Jessica K. of the University of North Carolina Grillings School of Global Public Health. Spain already bans minors from using e-cigarettes. The health ministry reached an agreement to impose restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes with the health departments of Spain's 17 autonomous regional governments, which are responsible for healthcare, at a meeting in Madrid. nUnder Spain's anti-tobacco law, one of the strictest in Europe, smoking is banned in bars, restaurants, discotheques, casinos, airports as well as in outside places such as outside hospitals and children's playgrounds. But I think they show that people should approach e-cigarette use with caution and not assume it is safe." Park and colleagues studied human bronchial epithelial cells carrying mutations in the P53 and KRAS genes. The cells were grown in a liquid medium that had been previously exposed for four hours to e-cigarette vapor or tobacco smoke. "Clearly, our results are very preliminary, and much more research is needed to better establish the role of e-cigarettes in lung cancer," continued Park. The investigators predominantly used nicotine levels estimated to be similar to the nicotine levels to which lung airway cells are exposed during e-cigarette smoking. Patients, news stories, and advertisements were most frequently cited as sources of information about e-cigarettes, rather than professional sources. The researchers found that 92 percent of providers were aware of e-cigarettes, and 11 percent reported treating an adolescent who had used them. Data were collected from an online survey completed by a statewide sample of 561 Minnesota health care providers (46 percent family medicine physicians, 20 percent pediatricians, and 34 percent nurse practitioners) who treat adolescents. "Mutations in the genes P53 and KRAS are often found in the airways of current and former smokers at high risk for lung cancer," said Stacy J. As a result, we think that e-cigarette exposure could contribute to lung cancer in individuals at high risk for the disease. Park, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. We found that e-cigarette exposure enhances the aggressive behavior of human lung epithelial cells that have P53 and KRAS mutations. Many have called on the U.S. Furthermore, data from the U.S. Supporters of e-cigarettes believe in their benefit as a form of harm reduction, the guiding principle behind needle exchange, with most e-cigarette users treating them as cessation aides. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that although tobacco cigarette smoking declined from 2011 to 2012, there was a two-fold increase in the number of young people who experimented with e-cigarettes. Food and Drug Administration to regulate e-cigarettes. Providers had moderately low levels of knowledge about and comfort discussing e-cigarettes with adolescents and their parents, and expressed considerable concerns that e-cigarettes could lead to tobacco use. Family physicians reported knowing more about e-cigarettes and being more comfortable discussing their use with patients (P sgasdggsdasgd i implore you to visit the page.