E-cigarettes 'should not be marketed as smoking cessation aids' [View all]

[morningfog]

The debate over the benefits and potential harms of e-cigarettes has raged on across the media in recent months. Now, research published in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that there is no association between e-cigarette use and reduced cigarette consumption.

Medical News Today recently ran a spotlight feature summarizing the controversies surrounding electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) - the popular cigarette substitutes that are often marketed as a smoking cessation tool.

In that piece, Dr. Maciej L. Goniewicz, from the Roswell Cancer Park Institute in Buffalo, NY, told us:

"Statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed slight decrease in smoking prevalence among US adults between 2008 and 2011. We do not know whether it can be attributed to increasing popularity of e-cigarettes. We need to closely monitor this trend over the next few years to understand effects of e-cigarettes on population level."

Generally, medical professionals have argued that it is too soon to judge whether e-cigarettes are an effective tool for helping to quit traditional cigarettes, or whether they actually encourage smoking.

Earlier this month, JAMA Pediatrics also published a study highlighting an association between the use of e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes in American adolescents, which suggested that e-cigarettes may contribute to nicotine addiction.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/274478.php