Advice on the Risks of Nicotine Replacement Therapies for Smoking Cessation (e-cigarettes gum and patches) Are e-cigarettes better than other conventional therapies?
Clinical Review Style- SSU2
Introduction
This paper will focus on looking at if e-cigarettes and other therapies are a valid way to help stop smoking. Doctors and patients alike need a definitive answer for this. This is a topic which is relevant at the moment as e-cigarettes become more prevalent in the United Kingdom (UK). As “current use [of e-cigarettes has] more than doubled from 2.7% of smokers in 2010 to 6.7% in 2012.”3 This paper will cover nicotine as a neurotoxin and how it affects the brain and body, what mechanisms nicotine uses and adverse signs and symptoms of nicotine use and overdose. This paper will also cover nicotine replacement therapies (NRT’s) such as gum, patches and oral spray but will focus mainly on e-cigarettes. It should be noted that as e-cigarettes have not been tested thoroughly, therefore they can’t be marketed as a nicotine replacement therapy by UK law at time of writing.
Summary Points
Nicotine binds to anticholinergic receptors which in turn cause dopamine to be released-causing a reward-benefit system
Nicotine is a highly toxic substance (LD40) which can affect the brain, central and autonomic nervous system
In a nicotine overdose nausea, vomiting, confusion, dizziness, weakness, coma, convulsions and respiratory and cardiac arrest can occur8
E-cigarettes are tubes with or without nicotine but no tobacco in them. They are used in 55% of cases to cut down on smoking and give up smoking entirely in 51% of cases 3
Using any form of NRT increases chance of smoking cessation by 50-70%1
There is no clear difference between effectiven...
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...an be seen that they are a useful cessation technique- as stated previously 55% of people use e-cigarettes to quit. More research is needed into e-cigarettes to see if they are viable way to effectively stop smoking. There is a gap in research of long term effects of e-cigarettes due to e-cigarettes only being developed in 2004 4. Due to e-cigarettes only gaining popularity recently, few reliable studies with enough participants were able to be meta-analysed. It is also hard to give a reliable conclusion for this topic as there are different brands of e-cigarettes each containing varying concentrations of nicotine which wont change until they are regulated as medicinal products. At the moment the studies suggest that e-cigarettes are no better than other NRT’s. E-cigarettes could be a viable, useful and cost effective way to help reduce smoking- if they are regulated
E-cigs are less harmful than regular cigarettes. They mimic the sensations of traditional cigarettes but do not burn or create tobacco smoke or ashes. Nor do they contain tar, the main cause of cancer in smokers”. e cigs bring lots of health advantages to smokers they are less harmful for smokers. For example, E-cigs can help regular smokers cut down on smoking cigarettes. Regular smokers can smoke spend less on cigarettes and incest in having an E-cig. Some might say they are cheaper than spending more than 20 dollars or more on three boxes of cigarettes. They think that is is beneficial for smoker who are having hard time trying to quit smoking and this could be an alternative for them instead having to quit. E-cigs have a tremendous untapped potential to positively change the lives of adult smokers of traditional cigarettes. They are more accessible to kids under 18 and they can be very dangerous if you don’t know how
The use of cigarettes has been an unsound, yet common practice amongst people. When a new way of trying to quit smoking these ruinous tobacco products came out, people were conflicted. The passages “Two Cheers for E-Cigarettes” by Joe Nocera and “L.A. Bans E-Cigarettes in Parks, Restaurants, and Workplaces” by David Zahniser and Marisa Gereger list the pros and cons of these new devices. Many people claim that they are praiseworthy, while others say they are just as bad a “real cigarettes”.
Often enough, people encounter situations in their life that bring them to a point of no return. In this case, once people start smoking cigarettes it’s known that they’re unable to return back to the lifestyle they had before they started, meaning it’s hard for them to quit due to the nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical that triggers dopamine, which is known as the brain’s “happy” chemical. However, now there’s an alternative to smoking a paper cigarette, which is an electronic cigarette. The main difference being that an electronic cigarette does not contain any tobacco and the user has the ability to choose the amount of nicotine they prefer to have in their liquid. People tend to lean towards the use of e-cigarettes because it’s a healthier and safer alternative when comparing it to regular cigarettes. In addition, electronic cigarettes are what people seek out to in order to help them quit smoking. However, previous research (Ji-Yeun, P., Dong-Chul,
The most common form of tobacco used is the cigarette. Smoking for most people gives satisfaction and pleasure. The tobacco chemicals that are released into the brain when inhaled cause a happy or joyous feeling to the person. People often turn to cigarettes to suppress hunger or relieve stress (Dichter). After a short period of time, a person can become addicted to the satisfaction they get from smoking a cigarette. Certain tobacco products contain toxins, carcinogens, and poisons that are all extremely harmful to the human body. 60 chemicals that are contained in a tobacco cigarette are cancer-causing agents (Wexner). It is these chemicals that make cigarettes as well as other tobacco products so addicting to their users. Over time the need for a cigarette increases and the harder it becomes to quit smoking. Some users turn to smoking alternatives in order to quit. The first thing a smoker will reach for is something that looks and feels similar to a normal cigarette.
The symptoms of a person who decides to stop using e-cigs are similar to those trying to quit smoking actual cigarettes. According to an article “Handling Withdrawal Symptoms & Triggers When You Decide to Quit”, the symptoms of a person who quits smoking actual cigarettes which contain tobacco and nicotine, are weight gain, nicotine cravings, depression, anxiety, anger, frustration, and irritability (National Cancer Institute). In “E-Cigarettes: Health and Safety Issue,” the symptoms of a person who quits smoking the electronic cigarette, which contains nicotine, are “When you stop using it, you can get withdrawal symptoms including feeling irritable, depressed, restless and anxious. It can be dangerous for people with heart problems. It may also harm your arteries over time” (Griffin). Like cigarette advertisements trying to sell their products, the e-cig ads convince smokers that their item is a better
Polosa, Riccardo, et al. "A Fresh Look at Tobacco Harm Reduction: The Case for the Electronic Cigarette." Harm Reduction Journal 10.1 (2013): 1-11. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2013.
Many people do not know what nicotine does inside the brain. Here’s how it works when the nicotine reacts with the cells in the brain. It creates nerve impulse that jump chemically across a gap between two different nerve cells. This action is called a synapse. The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is used in this process and is used to affect specified receptors in the brain targeting post-synaptic nerve cells. After this process, the feel good brain messenger, dopamine, is released. This chemical is released into the brain creating an extreme high. The acetylcholine is then supposed to diminish the dopamine after completing its task. The drug disguises itself as acetylcholine causing the process of dopamine release to last for minutes rather than milliseconds.
In tobacco, there are thousands of chemicals and one of these chemicals is the nicotine that makes it addictive or can form a habit. Once you smoke tobacco, the nicotine goes to your bloodstream that triggers your body to want more. Nicotine is a drug and a stimulant that changes your body in some way. If you smoke, it speeds up part of your system (nervous) and makes you feel you have the energy to cope with your daily living. Smoking also make your heart beat faster and raise your blood pressure (Jacobs, 1997). However, Jarvis (2004), states that the link with nicotine addiction does not imply that pharmacological properties drives smoking behaviour in a simple way. It does not excludes other influences such as personal, social, economic and political and these influences play an important part in determining patterns of smoking prevalence (Jarvis, 2004).
University of Alberta study- “The majority of respondents reported that their general health (91%), smoker’s cough (97%), ability to exercise (84%), and sense of smell (80%) and taste (73%) were better since using e cigarettes…” (Heavner n.p.). B. Effectiveness 1. Studies show that e cigs are more efficient at helping people quit than other cessation methods a. 75% of the study group of 304 people who were all smokers ages 18 and up had all tried different methods of quitting smoking that had failed. After the study 81% of the subjects found e cigs to be a permanent solution to smoking.
One of the biggest problems with society today is children and young adults are turning to electronic cigarettes for a source to nicotine. It is understood that some people might think that electronic cigarettes are better for people but here is why they are not. Electronic cigarettes have the same consequences as normal cigarettes with very few differences, such as in electronic cigarettes there is no tobacco and there is no carbon monoxide. Some might not know what is really in electronic cigarettes. Many people don’t know that there are over seven thousand chemicals and cartridges in these devices. Smoking electronic cigarettes has the same effects as normal cigarettes; they as well have been known to cause cancer and other diseases. Here is why electronic cigarettes are just as bad for the human body as
Smoking is a bad habit. It has affected the lives of many people. Their lungs have been ruined because of taking excessive puffs of the cigarette. However, it is not a habit that can be broken easily. That is why many people have been trying to find an alternative to smoking.
Some advertisers say that e-cigarettes are a great way to help stop smoking. Advertisers claim that vaping is harmless because you are only inhaling harmless water vapor. (“Vaping vs Smoking”) You are given the option to lower your nicotine amount each time, unlike cigarettes. However recent studies have shown that this is not the case. There is still the ingredient nicotine in the e-cigarette no matter how low the amount is. (Arnold) Nicotine is
Smoking cigarettes is a very deadly addiction that, unfortunately, affects 42.1 million adults in the United States and 6.4 million children. The reason why so many people get addicted to cigarettes is because of nicotine. Medicinenet.com says that nicotine is “made by the tobacco plant or produced synthetically”. Nicotine has powerful pharmacologic effects (including increased heart rate, heart stroke volume, and oxygen consumption by the heart muscle), as well as powerful psychodynamic effects (such as euphoria, increased alertness, and a sense of relaxation). Nicotine is also powerfully addictive.”
Also nicotine effects “Anxiety and Irritability”, and is the “Another Cold, Another Flu” its means people who smokes can get sick very easily. The most common effect is “Lung Diseases”. Dr. Wilson says, “Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women, and is one of the hardest cancers to treat”. In research says that smoking women most likely dies before smoking man. Also smoking damages your entire “Cardiovascular System”. Nicotine makes your blood be tighter, which effects blood flowing. When you begin smoke your lungs begin lose their ability to filter harmful
(Junior Scholastic, 2006) When you utilize tobacco products, nicotine is expeditiously absorbed into your bloodstream. Within 10 seconds of entering your body, the nicotine reaches your brain. It causes the brain to relinquish adrenaline, engendering a buzz of pleasure and energy. The buzz fades expeditiously though, and leaves you feeling tired, a little down, and wanting the buzz again.