E-Cigarettes Not a Smoking Deterrent for Children
By Amy NortonHealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Jan. 23, 2017 (HealthDay Information) -- There isn't any proof that e-cigarettes are driving down teen smoking -- and, actually, they could be drawing in youngsters who in any other case would by no means have smoked, a brand new examine suggests.
Researchers stated the findings add to issues about youngsters' use of e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes are battery-powered gadgets that ship nicotine -- together with flavoring and different chemical compounds -- via a vapor slightly than tobacco smoke. They're usually marketed as a "safer" different to smoking, and a bridge towards quitting.
However little is definitely recognized about their well being results, in line with the U.S. Nationwide Institutes of Well being.
Lately, the gadgets have been hovering in reputation amongst U.S youngsters. A federal report discovered that between 2013 and 2014, e-cigarette use tripled amongst highschool and center college college students nationwide.
Nonetheless, cigarette smoking has continued to say no. And a few have argued that the rise in youngsters' e-cigarette use may truly be feeding the lower of their smoking fee, stated Lauren Dutra, the lead researcher on the brand new examine.
Based mostly on her findings, nevertheless, she stated that is not the case.
"We discovered no proof to help that concept," stated Dutra, who was a fellow with the College of California, San Francisco's Heart for Tobacco Management Analysis and Schooling on the time of the examine.
The truth is, the examine discovered, many youngsters who used e-cigarettes had by no means smoked -- and have been truly "low danger" for beginning.
"These aren't the youngsters we might usually count on to take up smoking," stated Dutra, who's now a social scientist with the non-profit analysis group RTI Worldwide.
The examine findings are primarily based on an ongoing federal survey monitoring tobacco use amongst U.S. youngsters in grades six via 12.
Total, college students' smoking charges dropped between 2004 and 2014, from practically 16 % to simply over 6 %. The decline was regular, with no indicators of dashing up after 2009 -- when e-cigarettes got here onto the scene.
If the gadgets actually have been driving youngsters away from cigarettes, Dutra stated, you'd count on to see an acceleration within the smoking decline.
As an alternative, the researchers stated they discovered proof that e-cigarettes are attracting youngsters who can be unlikely to make use of tobacco.
The variety of U.S. youngsters utilizing e-cigarettes alone rose through the latter a part of the survey interval. By 2014, 6.5 % of scholars stated they'd ever used the gadgets, however had by no means smoked.
And, the examine discovered, most of these youngsters didn't have the danger components which are normally linked to cigarette smoking -- equivalent to residing with a smoker, or considering that smoking makes an individual "look cool."
But when e-cigarettes include no tobacco, what's the hurt?
"One is that children who use e-cigarettes usually tend to begin smoking cigarettes," stated Thomas Wills, a professor on the College of Hawaii Most cancers Heart, in Honolulu.
"It's clear that e-cigarettes act as a gateway to smoking," added Wills, who wrote an editorial printed with the analysis.
Plus, he stated, some research have linked e-cigarettes to bronchial asthma in youngsters. It isn't clear why, however it's doubtlessly associated to "combustion merchandise" from the gadgets' flavorings and propylene-glycol base, Wills stated.
And, after all, e-cigarettes include nicotine -- a extremely addictive drug, each Wills and Dutra identified.
The report was printed on-line Jan. 23 within the journal Pediatrics.
A separate examine in the identical subject of the journal pointed to different issues.
The examine by Zewditu Demissie, of the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, and colleagues discovered that U.S. youngsters who used e-cigarettes alone confirmed elevated charges of "dangerous" behaviors -- equivalent to having a number of sexual relationships or abusing marijuana or prescription painkillers.
Among the many teenagers within the examine who "vaped," charges of these well being dangers weren't as excessive as people who smoke' have been. However they have been increased in contrast with youngsters who used no tobacco-related merchandise.
Nevertheless, the examine would not show that e-cigarettes trigger youngsters to take well being dangers, the researchers wrote.
Wills stated, on one hand, e-cigarettes could entice youngsters who're considerably drawn to "dangerous issues."
However, he added, research do recommend that e-cigarettes can encourage a minimum of one unhealthy behavior: Smoking.
Final 12 months, the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration banned e-cigarette gross sales to minors -- after many U.S states already had. However Dutra stated that is unlikely to be sufficient.
"Cigarettes have been restricted to individuals 18 and over for a very long time," she famous, "however youngsters nonetheless get them."
E-cigarettes enchantment to youngsters, Dutra stated, as a result of they're flavored, with engaging tastes equivalent to "birthday cake."
"They do not style like an ashtray," Dutra stated. "They style good."
She famous that regulators have taken no steps to handle the gadgets' "kid-friendly" flavors, TV advertisements or well being claims.
If e-cigarettes do encourage some youngsters to attempt cigarettes, then why are smoking charges nonetheless happening? In line with Dutra, the latest federal figures -- from 2015 -- recommend the decline is plateauing, and smoking charges could even be ticking up barely amongst highschool youngsters.
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SOURCES: Lauren Dutra, Sc.D., social scientist, RTI Worldwide, Berkeley, Calif.; Thomas Wills, Ph.D., professor and interim director, Most cancers Prevention and Management Program, College of Hawaii Most cancers Heart, Honolulu; Jan. 23, 2017, Pediatrics, on-line
By Steven Reinberg