Electronic cigarettes are worth trying as a last option for smokers seeking to quit, the biggest US heart-health advocacy group said.
The American Heart Association, in a policy statement recently released, said that physicians shouldn’t discourage e-cigarette use as a last resort to drop a smoking habit.
E-cigarettes have leaped in popularity, and the US Food and Drug Administration is weighing regulations for the devices in a market that could total as much as $5 billion next year. Doctors are uncertain what advice they should offer about the products, said Aruni Bhatnagar, lead writer of the policy statement from the Dallas-based non-profit group and a professor of medicine at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
“If people cannot quit at all and have tried everything in the field, we would not discourage them,” Bhatnagar said of e-cigarettes. “It’s not something that we would suggest.”
“We do not know for sure, and the jury is still out whether or not these e-cigarettes are safe to use, so we do not say that they’re safe,” he said in a telephone interview.
E-cigarettes typically contain nicotine and none of the tobacco or tars, arsenic and other chemicals found in traditional cigarettes. The devices are battery-powered and produce a vapour to mimic smoking. Lorillard Inc. agreed to sell the popular Blu e-cig brand to Imperial Tobacco Group Plc as part of its proposed acquisition by Reynolds American Inc.
Mitch Zeller, head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said that the agency is keeping an open mind about whether the devices have a health benefit, such as helping someone stop smoking.
Last Chance
The heart association said that e-cigarette use should be supported as a quitting mechanism only if smokers are intolerant of, fail at, or refuse other options.
“However, subjects should be informed that although e-cigarette aerosol is likely to be much less toxic than cigarette smoking, the products are unregulated, may contain low levels of toxic chemicals, and have not been proven as cessation devices,” according to the heart group’s policy statement.
Smoking cessation products include London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Nicorette gum and NicoDerm CQ patch and New York-based Pfizer Inc.’s medicine, Chantix.
Cigarette smoking has been linked to coronary heart disease, which can lead to heart attacks, increased blood pressure and a higher risk of blood clots, according to the heart association. Nicotine can cause a short-term increase in blood pressure and heart rate, the group said.
Slowing Sales
While sales of the devices could reach $5 billion next year, up from $1.5 billion in 2013, according to Kenneth Shea, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, their use appears to have stalled, as traditional smokers reject the products and competition increases from generic vaporisers that can be refilled with liquid nicotine.
Sales of electronic smoking devices declined 2.9 per cent in the four weeks ended 18 May, compared with the previous year, and slid twice as fast the following month, according to data from Chicago researcher IRI.
The dip also comes after the FDA proposed in April to expand its regulation of cigarettes to the electronic versions and cigars. The agency would restrict sales to minors, ban free samples and require nicotine addiction warnings for the products, though it didn’t prohibit TV advertising or flavoured products.
The American Heart Association was part of a joint response to the FDA’s proposal calling on the FDA to ban flavours and marketing to youth. The heart association also said that e-cigarettes should be included in states’ smoke-free laws that prohibit smoking in certain places to limit second-hand exposure.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
