A forthcoming study investigating the health impacts of regular vaping are bolstering claims from public health experts that electronic cigarettes carry minimum risks.
The study, which is set to be published next month in the journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, evaluated individuals who use a vaping device on a daily basis over a period of two years to determine what the mid-term health consequences are of the habit. The researchers concur with a number of recent studies showing e-cigarettes drastically improve health outcomes in former smokers, reports Bel Marra Health.
The researchers observed 209 participants over a 24-month period, monitoring lung function and other health markers. Tanvir Walele, director of scientific affairs at Fontem Ventures in Amsterdam and co-author of the study, said participants showed a reduced desire for nicotine after four weeks of sustained vaping with only minor adverse impacts, such as a sore throat. Fontem Ventures operates the vaping brand blu.
“After two years of continual e-cigarette use, there were no signs of serious health complications in smokers,” said Walele, according to Bel Marra Health. “This research suggests we need e-cigarette regulation that is not modeled on tobacco product regulation but encourages innovation and compliance with robust product quality, manufacturing, and safety standards.”
Public health experts focused on harm reduction have long advocated policies that differentiate between the health profile of vapor products and combustible tobacco. Currently, in both European and domestic markets, e-cigarettes are almost universally lumped into the category of tobacco products, ignoring extensive research showing they eliminate roughly 95 percent of the health risks from smoking.
Researchers from the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina recently found that smokers who are open to trying electronic cigarettes vastly improve their chances of quitting.
In the randomized study, published in December in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, researchers gave 46 smokers a vaping device for three weeks without additional instructions or requirements for use, in order to create a more natural setting to evaluate the role vaping plays in smoking cessation.
Roughly 57 percent of participants who were given vaping devices containing a high dose of nicotine (24 mg) went on to buy a vape for themselves. They also reported smoking fewer cigarettes and engaging in more attempts to quit than the control group, which did not receive e-cigarettes.
Millions of former smokers in the U.S. are embracing the positive science on vaping and using the harm reduction tools to quit combustible cigarettes. Roughly 2.62 million former smokers were using a vape in 2016.
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