An article in the June issue of
Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAI), examined risks of e-cigarettes, including the dependence on nicotine and the combined use of both e-cigarettes and regular ones.
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vqKAmc2WBDPjZDIxKPE8vmmJh3G3vb9klvH99GWENxyufiO6trAv4ePrdaMIZwp-mT7Cb3JVETm8-eyaBjtlAkATVB-XP7bzfiSni2LwbwbY0fJoWsD-WbhrjUzCPlmU90EM2mo38=s0-d)
The article examined the possibility that one of the "initial benefits" of e-cigarettes was that it would help those who smoked cigarettes cut back, but the theory hasn't been proven and there is no evidence to support it. Allergist Andrew Nickels, MD, lead author in AAI said, "there is just simply not enough evidence to suggest that consumers should use e-cigarettes for this purpose."
Another concern that e-cigarette users may use them in public, but almost always still smoke regular cigarettes at home. Dual use of both of the cigarettes worsens secondhand smoke exposure, causing respiratory effects on others. It also promotes a dependence on nicotine.
Since e-cigarettes are fairly new, there could be many other long-term health complications that have not yet been discovered. Most consumers don;t even know what's in the e-cigarettes they buy. The US FDA admits that the safety of e-cigarettes hasn't been fully studied.
Organizations all over are trying to higher scrutiny on e-cigarettes, a
nd hopefully in time, people all over will finally get the answers that could save their lives from the harmful (or not harmful) effects of e-cigarettes.
Article URL: http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2014/05/27/ecigarettes_not_a_healthy_alternative_
to_smoking.html
Themes of Nature of Science:
- Science is subject to debate and tentative
- Role of skepticism
- Importance of repeatability
- Role of motivation and curiosity