Abstract CN02-03: Quitting or switching? Health benefits and risk of electronic cigarettes

Although the best way for smokers to avoid the health risks associated with smoking is to quit smoking altogether, for those who do continue to smoke the application of an exposure reduction ("harm reduction") strategy could result in substantial reductions in mortality and morbidity. Many smokers are concerned about the health effects of smoking and might be interested in trying new products if they believed this would reduce their health risk. The concept of exposure reduction is based on the principle that if dangerous behavior, like smoking, is likely to continue, the harm caused should be minimized. One such approach for continuing smokers would be to promote the substitution of alternative, less toxic means of delivering nicotine, assuming that these were proven to be less hazardous than tobacco smoking and did not cause any additional health risks.Electronic nicotine inhalers, commonly called electronic cigarettes or "e-cigarettes", represent a new stage in which nicotine is delivered in a method that simulates smoking but without involving a tobacco combustion process. E-cigarette are battery-powered devices that provide inhaled doses of nicotine by delivering a vaporized liquid nicotine solution, usually including propylene glycol or glycerin. The nicotine is extracted from tobacco leaves (in the same way the pharmaceutical industry obtains nicotine for NRT production), and is then diluted and introduced into the e-cigarette's cartridge. In addition to delivering nic...
Source: Cancer Prevention Research - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Exercise and Prevention: Oral Presentations - Invited Abstracts Source Type: research