Joseph R. Anticaglia MD
Medical Advisory Board
The popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) among the youth and young adults is mushrooming across America. E-cigarette use in U.S., according to former Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, “has increased considerably in recent years growing an astounding 900% among high school students from 2011 to 2015.”
The results of a 2015 survey reported sixteen percent of high school and 5.3% of middle school students were current users of e-cigarettes. For the second year in a row, e-cigarettes has been the most commonly used tobacco product.
This is particularly worrisome since a significant percentage of these 3 million plus middle and H.S. students surveyed in 2015 will become addicted to nicotine and move on to smoking conventional cigarettes and using other substances.
Lindsay Fox
Website: EcigaretteReviewed.com
How E-Cigarettes Work (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems — ENDS)
E-cigarettes are hand-held, battery powered devices designed to produce and deliver a vapor that contains nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals that are inhaled by the user. The individual does not inhale smoke since e-cigarettes do not burn or use tobacco leaves. They consist of three different components:
- A power source which is usually a rechargeable battery.
- A replaceable cartridge which contains a liquid filled with nicotine, flavorings, propylene glycol and other chemicals.
- It includes a heating element (vaporizer, atomizer) that heats and transforms the liquid in the cartridge into a vapor which the user inhales.
Ordinarily, puffing activates the battery-powered heating element that results in a vapor or aerosol that the person inhales (vaping). The term vaping is used to differentiate the e-cigarette experience from smoking a conventional cigarette.
Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Components of Electronic Nicotine Delivery System – ENDS
E-cigarettes are designed to reproduce the look, the feel and effects of tobacco smoke. The outward appearance of the devices varies, but many are made to resemble a cigar, pipe or cigarette. The many flavorings in the liquid or “e-juice” (e.g. mint, chocolate watermelon) attract the adolescent market and other users.
Nicotine
A single puff from an e-cigarette delivers the highly addictive nicotine to the brain in just 8-10 seconds. This triggers the brain cells to release dopamine, the “feel good” chemical, that can make you feel calm and satisfied. Over time, nicotine changes the biochemistry of the brain cells so that you crave more of the feel good stuff.
“We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age, whether it’s an e-cigarette, hookah, cigarette or cigar,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Adolescence is a critical time for brain development. Nicotine exposure at a young age may cause lasting harm to brain development, promote addiction, and lead to sustained tobacco use.”
Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Appearance of Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) made to look & feel like pipes, cigars and cigarettes.
According to Bloomberg News, “Americans buy more electronic cigarettes and other vaping products than anyone else in the world. In 2015, the U.S. accounted for about 43 percent of the $8 billion market.” The challenge is formidable since e-companies are adopting tactics which were successful in marketing conventional cigarettes.
These companies promote e-cigarettes as safer alternatives to traditional cigarettes. Yet, the highly unsafe addictive nature of nicotine is of great concern, especially to the adolescent population.
Using e-cigarettes alone significantly decreases your exposure to carcinogens and toxins according to a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine published in 2017. It seems reasonable for a smoker to experiment with e-cigarettes if he/she has been unsuccessful using other method to quit smoking.
“Beginning August 10, 2018, the FDA will require a nicotine warning statement for the product packages and advertisements of vaporizers, e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) emphasizing the addictive nature of nicotine.
As one tobacco company admitted years ago, “There is no safe cigarette!”
Glossary
Electronic cigarettes are referred to by a variety of names – “e-cigarettes,” “e-cigs.” “Electronic nicotine delivery systems — ENDS,” “Vapes,” “vaping products,” “e-hookahs,” “mods,” “tank systems”
Herbert A Gilbert invented a smokeless, non-tobacco cigarette and was granted a U.S. patent on April 17, 1965.
The modern e-cigarette was invented in 2003 by Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik and as of 2015 most e-cigarettes are made in China.
References
FDA; Vaporizers, e Cigarettes and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS)
Surgeon General Report; E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults;
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2016
Wang, Meng; Cigarette Smoking and Electronic Cigarettes Use: A Meta-Analysis; Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health; 2016
CDC; Cigarette smoking among U.S. high school students at an all-time low, but e-cigarette use a concern; June 9.2016
NIH; Electronic Cigarettes (E-Cigarettes); National Institute on Drug Abuse; U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; May, 2016
Kaplan, Jennifer; The U.S. E-Market Is the Biggest in the World; Bloomberg News, June 20, 2016
Priscilla Callahan-Lyon; Electronic Cigarettes: Human Health Effects; Tob Control, May 23, 2014
Lion Schhab; Nicotine, Carcinogen and Toxin Exposure in Long-Term E-Cigarette and Nicotine Replacement Therapy Users; Annals of Internal Medicine; 2017
This article is intended solely as a learning experience. Please consult your physician for diagnostic and treatment options.