Electronic cigarettes - not as harmless as some may think

I'm not a proponent of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes. While I concede that they may be the lesser of two evils, smoking a combustible cigarette or an e-cigarette, I still believe they are dangerous and should not be promoted.

I wrote a piece about e-cigarettes for Forbes.com last year (What Are Electronic Cigarettes and How Safe Are They?), for which I interviewed a physician and someone in the e-cigarette industry. The physician felt much like I do; he'd rather no one use them, but if they were truly being used by someone who would ordinarily be smoking regular cigarettes, then this would be better. The pro-electronic cigarette person denied that there were any risks at all and vehemently denied my questions as to whether the manufacturers were trying to get teens and children to use them. I might have believed him if the e-cigarettes didn't come in flavors clearly designed to appeal to children.

Those who advocate for electronic cigarettes make the following claims:

• They are not addicting as are traditional cigarettes
• You aren't "smoking," you're "vaping," because you aren't inhaling smoke, which is an irritant to the lungs
• You aren't inhaling many of the traditional cigarette ingredients/pollutants
• E-cigarettes can be a smoking cessation tool, helping people quit smoking traditional cigarettes.

Those opposed to the new cigarettes say:

• E-cigarettes are not effective as a smoking cessation tool because they don't rid the person of the hand-to-mouth and time-of-smoking habits, they just transfer them from traditional cigarette to e-cigarette form
• While you aren't inhaling smoke, you are inhaling vapor, which is not meant to go into your lungs. You are still inhaling substances that are not meant to be inhaled.
• Children and teens are drawn to them because of the marketing and flavors

Interestingly, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a press release on April 3, 2014, to notify the public of a significant increase in calls to poison control centers across all states in relation to e-cigarette use.

"The number of calls to poison centers involving e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine rose from one per month in September 2010 to 215 per month in February 2014, according to a CDC study published in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The number of calls per month involving conventional cigarettes did not show a similar increase during the same time period."

Research has been ongoing since the introduction of e-cigarettes as doctors and regulators try to sort out the truth from the claims. The most recent study was just published last month. According to the study, undertaken by RTI International:

Electronic cigarette “vapors” are made of small particles containing chemicals that may cause or worsen acute respiratory diseases, including asthma and bronchitis, among youth, 

Although the FDA does regulate the sale of cigarettes and tobacco (both smoking and smokeless), it doesn't control the sales of e-cigarettes unless they are specifically marketed for therapeutic purposes. The FDA has proposed that it should cover "additional products that meet the legal definition of a tobacco product, such as e-cigarettes."

The FDA is encouraging people to submit their thoughts on e-cigarettes: Extending Authorities to Additional Tobacco Products.

As with regular cigarettes, I believe that as long as they are a legal product, if someone chooses to smoke that is their decision. I feel the same way about electronic cigarettes. If people choose to use them, that is their decision. However, I do feel it important to sort out what is true. Are they really harmless? Are they really effective smoking cessation products? It's not the use I am debating, it's the claims.

What do you think? Is there a place for e-cigarettes? What about the argument from the industry that they are not marketing it towards children and teens? What do you think?

Setting up your office for pain-free work

Two weeks ago, I attended a workshop held by a professional writer's association that I belong to. One of the speakers was an ergonomics expert who really opened my eyes about a few things.

I think most of us know the basics of good ergonomics in an office. If someone asked us, we could tell them about good posture, positioning of the chair, etc, but how many of us are right? I was sort-of right with a few things, correct about a few, but totally wrong in others.

So, as part of Ergonomic week at Help my Hurt, I'm improving my work station throughout the week and we'll see how I do.

I started complaining of severe neck pain a few weeks ago after I stretched and something "popped." Although when I'm upright, my neck is fairly ok, when I lie down, it's very painful still. While I was listening to the ergonomics speaker, I realized that I probably didn't hurt my neck while I was stretching. I likely hurt my neck a long time ago and was just making it worse with my work habits, until it couldn't take the stress any more. Hopefully, my office changes will help that.

This is what I've done so far. I work exclusively on my laptop. I sit at my big computer desk, with a desktop off to the left and that part of the desk had a keyboard drawer. I had considered, from time to time, using it for my laptop, but it wasn't conveniently placed. It also wouldn't fit where I would have preferred it.

On Saturday, I went to Bureau en Gros (Staples in Quebec) and bought a new keyboard drawer, took off the old one and put the new one where I wanted it. I unplugged the keyboard from the desk top and plugged it into my laptop.

I adjusted my chair so my hands are even on the board - not angled and my footstool is keeping my legs at the right height. I also put my laptop on one of the thickest books I own, the Physicians' Desk Reference. I figured it would come in handy some day when I bought it. :-)

Yesterday, I went back to the store and bought a document holder to hold my papers up so I can see them. Today, to reduce eyestrain, I enlarged the type on my laptop screen so I could push it a bit further away.

Let's see what tomorrow brings!


Today at Help My Hurt:

Company’s calling - an RN speaks about her fibromyalgia
Self-evaluation for RSIs
Ergonomics: crafts and hobbies
Botox is 20 years old
Help My Hurt Ergonomic Week & a Contest!
Are doctors seeking the wrong target when treating back pain?

News for Today:

Older Australians at risk of sun-related skin cancer death
Quebec girls to be offered free HPV vaccine
U.S. hospitals warned about medication risks in children
Mouth may tell the tale of lung damage caused by smoking

Long-last effects of smoke exposure

The article on chronic lung disorder touches home for me Canadians at risk of chronic lung disorder: survey. I fall into the age group since I’m 46 and I do have problems with my lungs. They tighten up easily and I have had problems over the past years. I was from that generation when my father smoked his pipe in the car with the windows closed. I hated it, but I didn’t have much say in it, unfortunately.

The American Lung Association has an interesting fact sheet that lists the many dangers of second-hand smoke. Reuters Health carried this article last week: Nicotine byproduct found in babies of smokers.

I do realize and understand that smokers are feeling attacked – they can’t do a legal activity in many places; they are reviled by many because of their smoking. And, even as a non-smoker, I can understand that. If smoking is legal, it does seem to be contradictory to be forbidding it in so many places. The problem is though, where does their right to smoke end and my right to not breathe in their smoke begin?

What I don’t understand is why the kids are still beginning to smoke. Most kids I know have been told all their young lives how horrible smoking is – and yet they still begin. In Quebec, cigarettes are really expensive – so not only are they taking part of a habit that is ultimately health destroying, it’s hard on the pocketbook.

People who are heavily addicted are forced to stand outside in nasty, cold weather to get their cigarette fix, but where is the appeal for the teens who aren’t yet addicted? Is it still considered cool to smoke?

News for Today:

Canadians at risk of chronic lung disorder: survey
Trauma may alter the stress response, even in healthy people, Cornell study shows
Methadone alternative to hit Canadian market
Skin injuries to patients can be avoided when radiation dose is monitored
Illicit drug use among students steady, but painkiller use of concern: report
Post-treatment PET scans can reassure cervical cancer patients
Heart disease kills more U.S. women under 45

July 1 - Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!

Despite all our grousing, it’s a pretty darned great place to live. If you’re reading this from another country, come visit us. We’re pretty nice here. J

Smoking is in the news again. Surprise, surprise – second hand smoke is dangerous. Really? Forgive the sarcasm, but do we really need more studies to tell us the obvious?

My father smoked a pipe and cigars. I remember him smoking his pipe in the car, the windows closed. I remember stinking of my mother’s cigarettes and my father’s pipes and cigars. Today, I have asthma. Try telling me that those are likely not related.

I can’t handle cigarette smoke, it sends my lungs into overdrive and I start to cough, a very deep, I can't catch my breath cough. I know that smoking is still a legal activity but the problem is that when a smoker smokes, it affects much more than the smoker.

When my kids were young, we went to DisneyWorld. Standing in line with others, there were always some smokers. There was this gorgeous weather, fun atmosphere, lots of kids, and those darned cigarettes and the smoke heading right for us so many times. When my kids played baseball and soccer, we’d be in the stands watching them, and sure enough, someone downwind would light a cigarette and I’d start coughing.

I understand people my age who are addicted – it’s a tough addiction to break. What I don’t understand is the number of young kids, 12, 13, 14 years old who I see smoking. First of all, here in Quebec, cigarettes are pretty darned expensive now, so where do they get all the money to buy the smokes? And with all the news out there, how can they not know how dangerous it is? I know that teens don’t/can’t look that far in the future, but it just doesn’t make sense? How cool does it look to be huddled outside in minus whatever temperatures in the middle of winter so you can have your puff of smoke?

I’m so torn on this. Since it’s a legal activity, I can’t say I wish everyone would just stop, but it’s so frustrating to go places and have to dodge the smoke. Right now, Quebec law says you can’t smoke within a few metres of a public building entrance. Well, I can assure you that this law is *not* being followed. I was taking a class at a university here and the only door I could use was on St. Catherine Street in downtown Montreal. I would have to take a deep breath before running the gantlet of smokers when I went in and then when I left. They would be leaning up against the doors, even. And that’s the not only place.

It’s not a matter of I don’t want people to smoke. I want them to realize that some of us get truly sick when exposed to their smoke.

Today's News:
Just a bit of smoke dangerous, study says
Rickets still a problem in some parts of Canada
Vitamin waters don't meet daily intake recommendations, experts say