Smokers know that their nicotine addiction can cause their early, but preventable, death. CDC statistics don’t lie. Annually, one of every five Americans deaths is attributed to smoking and secondhand smoke: this translates to a staggering figure of about 480,000 deaths yearly. Desperate for a solution, smokers are turning to promising quit smoking devices such as electronic cigarettes. With such a gloomy picture, it is no wonder that E-Cigarette has skyrocketed to a $3 billion industry.
One concern that nags the smokers, however, is FDA’s lack of guideline and regulation concerning this smoking cessation device. In the face of smoking risks and the lack of FDA regulation, what can a smoker smartly do? Go and ask the doctors!
Getting Advice from Right Sources
With smoking being preventable, every smoker is personally responsible to help himself, but quitting an addiction is easier said than done. This makes choosing quit smoking devices, such as E-Cigarettes, a vital part of a successful effort. In the absence of clear regulatory guidelines from FDA, the public is left on their own to decide.
It is doing the public disservice if they are incessantly bludgeoned by wrong information from irresponsible sources. If there are advices that smokers must wisely consider at this point in time, it is their doctors’. Thus, it is such welcome news to finally have a survey conducted among practicing physicians about their professional views concerning electronic cigarettes.
The Survey
The survey was published by the Public Library of Science’ “PloS One,” a credible peer reviewed and open access journal. The lead author of this survey was Benedictine University’s Dr. Kelly Kandra. There were 128 practicing U.S. doctors who responded in the survey.
In brief, the survey has the following results: “67% of practicing physicians responding to a survey say that electronic cigarettes can help their patients stop smoking. In fact, 36% of doctors fully recommend e-cigs to their patients.”
Medical Opinions for Thought
With a yearly mortality of 480,000, Dr. Darl Rantz, a doctor from Georgia, thinks that even if this quit smoking device can only save a mere 10% of that figure, it is a device worth recommending. He believes that it is senseless to outlaw the device, which is obviously helping a lot of smokers curb their addiction.
There is logic in WHO’s current concern that vaping may just breed a new breed of smoking generation. It can’t be denied, however, that most approved cessation methods have turned dismal results and are regarded as colossal failures. While electronic cigarettes have potential risks, but so are all types of cigarettes that contain thousands of chemicals. In fact, vaping is considerably least risky considering that E-Cigs merely utilize three ingredients; all of which are non-carcinogenic and two are even food grade.
There is no question that FDA and the scientific community are the best parties to settle the issues concerning E-Cigarette risks. While waiting for scientific basis to establish the guidelines, however, listen to what the medical practitioners have to say.