e-Cigarettes: More than just harmless water vapor

still a bad idea - "A" for effort, but still dumb

Are e-Cigarettes really the healthy alternative to smoking or just an entirely new and different set of
problems?

New research is revealing that the e-cigarettes in fact might actually impede your body's ability to defend itself from and fight off bacteria.  There is also cause to believe that the e-cigarette will actually increase the power of drug-resistant bacteria.  (HOLY pathogen Batman!)

There's a study recently put out by researchers from the VA San Diego Healthcare System and the University of California, San Diego that dug into the effect of e-cigarette vapor on live methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the MRSA virus, as well as human epthielial cells.

WIKI:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus

"The virulence of MRSA is increased by e-cigarette vapor," said lead investigator Laura E. Crotty Alexander, MD, VA researcher and assistant professor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care at UCSD, in a press release.

PRESS RELEASE:  http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/05/114301/e-cigarettes-expose-people-more-%E2%80%98harmless%E2%80%99-water-vapor-and-should-be-regulated

The release tells us that exposure to e-cigarette vapor increased the virulence of the bacteria, helping MRSA escape killing by antimicrobial peptides and macrophages. The vapor, said Alexander, did not make the bacteria as aggressive as cigarette smoke exposure did in parallel studies her group conducted.

The study states that the e-cigarette vapor led to changes in the body which makes it harder to fight off infection and created a greater resistance to killing by human cells and antibiotics.

"As health care professionals, we are always being asked by patients, "Would this be better for me?" Crotty Alexander said. "In the case of smoking e-cigarettes, I hated not having an answer. While the answer isn't black and white, our study suggests a response: even if e-cigarettes may not be as bad as tobacco, they still have measurable detrimental effects on health."

The research is just the latest in a string of reports on e-cigarettes and potential harmful attributes.

Claims that e-cigarettes are not a danger to smokers and nonsmokers and offer a viable healthy way to quit a nicotine habit are not true, according to a study on the electronic smoking devices released in the past two weeks.

A UC San Francisco research team states there is no evidence to support the claims from e-cigarette makers and advocates.

Another study claims particles from inhaled vapor are being absorbed in deep lung tissue and could present health issues. Another claims the e-cigarette vapor may feature potential carcinogenic elements.

Ultimately, it's you verses nicotine and the people who continue to perpetuate the addiction at your expense.  Choose life and choose freedom.  Stop.  Don't quit.

Cigarettes, e-Cigarettes, NRT and the Illness Industry (big pharma vs big tobacco)

Recently The Motley Fool posted a very scary article.  Why scary?  Well, the business of disease is a very scary and evil industry.

If you've been even remotely following the electronic-cigarette debate, you're aware  that one of the big arguments used to support the possible regulation of the e-cig is the strong belief  that vaping actually brings legitimacy and encourages smoking.   Now, there is another study recently released with groundbreaking data that shows that actually there is a link between the use of the e-cigarette and tobacco cigarettes among kids in the United States.

JAMA Pediatrics is a Journal started in 1911.  One study published in the journal shows "adolescents who have or are using e-cigs are less likely to have given up smoking than those who did not use e-cigarettes."  The conclusion was based on 40,000 adolescents who completed surveys from the CDC.  In a nutshell, they concluded that:

"use of e-cigarettes does not discourage, and may encourage, conventional cigarette use among U.S. adolescents."

Critics out there will say that "while the study does show a correlation between smoking and e-cig use, there is no evidence to show that the use of e-cigs will directly lead to smoking."  [whatever] Unfortunately, this study comes at a time when the FDA is about to regulate the juvenile e-cigarette market within the United States.  [why has it taken so long anyway?]

E-cigarettes are unregulated, which enables companies to aggressively market them and make claims that the e-cigarette is "relatively safe."  This 1940's and 50's style marketing can not be used with conventional cigarettes.  That being said as opposition to vaping is building an unlikely backer is funding the move against these reduced-risk products.

This is where it's going to start getting scary...

One of the biggest forces working against the introduction of electronic cigarettes is big pharma. No big surprise, right?  It's the why that's disturbing.  Big pharma makes it's money from treating disease.  That includes smoking related illness.  If  there is less disease to treat, then profits will drop.  That would be bad news for the companies and shareholders.

Now, let's throw in NRT.  Nicotine Replacement Therapy.  The gum, the patch, the lozenge.  GlaxoSmithKline is the leading marketer of these products.  Clearly, if smokers who are trying to quit turn to e-cigarettes rather than NRT, GlaxoSmithKline will lose money.   Can you see why big pharma would want to use this study to put additional pressure on the FDA to regulate the electronic cancer stick?

If the e-cig was brought under the umbrella of the FDA, they could then require the manufacturers of the e-cig to register and pay fees, list the ingredients in their products [most important part], obtain prior approval for new products, and restrict online sales and marketing to children. [second most important part]

Big Tobacco lied it's ass off for 60 years.  Look, I'm not a huge fan of the FDA as I believe they are in bed with Big Pharma and it's strictly about a government agency regulating a free market to support the largest financial contributers.  This puts peoples lives at risk for the sake of the almighty dollar and that crosses the line from old fashioned healthy capitolism to evil and greed.  That being said, Big Tobacco is the greater of these two evils and must be stopped.  They are buying up e-cigarette companies to hedge thier tobacco bet and marketing smokeless tobacco products as well.   With the lack of regualtion in e-cigarettes, it won't be long before some "doctor" will be doing an infomercial talking about how it's just "vapor."
 
Bottom line, don't get sucked into the hype and don't financially reward evil.  If you're in a battle with nicotine, sooner or later, in order to win, you'll have to cut it off and out.  NRT and e-cigarettes exist because people have allowed themselves a physical and mental addiction.  These people have been sold a bill of goods that they are weak and incapable of stopping smoking by themselves and they they need NRT or e-cigarettes to transition.  I call bullshit!
 
Don't allow yourself to get cought in the loop.  Heroine to methadone to marijuanna to a really bad day and back to heroine then methadone to pot to clean for a while until another really bad day.  See the cycle?
Cigarettes, patch, screw up and smoke with the patch, no patch, cigarettes, gum, off for 6 weeks, bad day, just one, 3 days later buy a pack, back to full time smoker, Chantix, WEIRD F#$%ing dreams, no Chantix, then clean for 4 months... until standing outside a club with your buzz on, bum smoke...  see the loop?  Why?  Knock that shit off!  Stop trying to quit!

Want a fool proof plan?  I mean isn't that what you're after?  People are so much stronger than Big Pharma and Big Tobacco want you to believe.  If you're ready to step up and off the addiction loop, read this book then use this book:  www.StopDontQuit.com

Who does Jacob Sullum work for, really?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lunatic

Stop Smoking New York - Jacob Sullum syndicated writer for the New York post and senior editor at
Reason magazine has decided that there's a lunatic war going on over e-cigarettes.  On October 23rd, Jacob and the NY Post published an article titled, "Lunatic War On E-Cigarettes."  In the article he asserts that people against e-cigarettes are seeing the issue "through a fog of prejudice."

READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE:  http://nypost.com/2013/10/23/the-lunatic-war-on-e-cigarettes/

The article goes on to talk about the current proposed regulations of e-cigarettes by the FDA and how they are looking to treat it as a tobacco product.

Sullum takes issue with this and is concerned that it will restrict information and access to these products which in turn will hinder cigarette smokers from making the switch over to e-cigarettes and consequently raising smoking related illness and death. He then goes on to point out the significant difference between cigarette smoke and "vapor" and that the e-cigarette clinically and evidently has less carcinogenic material.  Technically, the e-cigarette is the lesser of two evils and Jacob Sullum makes a strong case for that.

Moving forward Sullum talks about the more zealous of the anti-e-cigarette movement quoting Maria Azzarelli of the Southern Nevada Health District as saying “We’re very concerned that what [was] becoming passé — smoking — is now coming back.”

In the opinion of this smoker, who doesn't smoke anymore (or vape), this is straight up stupid.  Smoking is, was and forever will be sexy to some and disgusting to others.  Vaping will not have anything to do with whether or not people choose to smoke a dried up leaf rolled in paper and cotton.  E-cigarettes as a gateway drug, while plausible, is ultimately ludicrous.  Bottom line on that deal is you either succumb to an addiction to nicotine or you do not.  The reality of the e-cigarette is now consumers have one additional option to get their nicotine fix.  And this new option is all wrapped up in a nice little "healthy alternative to smoking" package.

Sullum wraps it all by saying, "It’s in the shift from the former category to the latter that the disease-reducing potential of e-cigarettes lies. Impeding that transition by imposing arbitrary restrictions on e-cigarette advertising, sales and flavors would be a literally fatal error."

Here's where I disagree.  There is a lot of  hype and fear mongering about the ambiguity of the long term effects of vaping.  Yes, clearly, based on cited ingredients the e-cigarette is safer compared to a traditional cigarette.

With that in mind, e-cigarettes also contain more than just nicotine, flavoring and propolyne glycol.  A recent study showed e-cigarettes had 10 different chemicals included on the California Prop 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer.  The question is; is the amount of those chemicals in the e-cigarette, enough to cause any real harm over time?  If used responsibly, can the e-cigarette be used to reduce traditional smoking and aid in cessation?  Possible.  People have used the patch and the gum to stop smoking.  In a real world study, people showed a 9.2% success rate with the patch, 8.4% with the gum.  Cold Turkey's at 11% buy the way... [insert shameless plug for my book here]  What that means though is the other 90.8% and 91.6% respectively, went back to smoking after 6 months.  Also, the people in that study were on their 5th attempt.

Now, back to the e-cigerette, because here in lies the rub...

Who's making them e-cigarettes anyway?  Who just happens to be buying up e-cigarette companies left and right?  Who's also been know to chemically enhance the addictive properties of their product?  Who's in the nicotine delivery business?  Big Tobacco that's who?  They have, over the last 80+ years exhibited seriously questionable ethics or morals with their tobacco products.  And that's putting it lightly.  So if Big Tobacco is hedging their bets and looking to get a piece of the vaping pie, then I want the FDA, CDC, HHS, FTC, ATF and any other Government agency with initials to be keeping a strong eye on what is happening in that industry.  Big Tobacco is moving in on e-cigarettes and that should raise a MASSIVE red flag for anyone actually interested in getting off nicotine.

BOTTOM LINE:  Regular old school James Dean cool cigarette or new bitchen Stephen Dorff blu e-cigarette, it's still a delivery device for nicotine being sold to consumers by a group who clearly can't be trusted.  Ever.  People have every right to commit passive aggressive suicide by smoking tobacco on a regular basis and they have every right to self-medicate with nicotine as long as they're not hurting others in the process.  (i.e. Wanna get drunk and drink your life away?  OK.  DUI?  Not OK.)  Should the FDA regulate the crap out of them?  Absolutely.  Because, if Big Tobacco's involved, it will only be a matter of time before something fishy's going on.

While nicotine is (and should be) legal, it is still a drug.  It's addictive properties are as strong as heroin and it is lethal around 60mg.  The idea of weening off a drug has merit, however, it fails significantly more often than it succeeds.  Any company in the nicotine delivery business, can't afford to have you succeed in getting off nicotine and therefor should be watched closely.  Will the regulations restrict the information going out or just make sure it's real and accurate?  If you haven't seen cigarette marketing from the 40's and 50's go do a little research (or poke around this blog) and you'll see what I'm talking about.  Regulate?  If need be to keep these people in check, absolutely.

To answer Sullum's concern about the regulation of e-cigarettes causing unnecessary loss of life...  who's the real lunatic anyway?