e-cigarettes On MSN HEALTH

[Rexa]

I have msn.com set as my homepage and I saw the link to the article on their front page news stores:

E-Cigarettes: Can They Help You Quit? - MSN Health & Fitness - Quit Smoking

Not like you'd be reading anything new in there which hasn't been said nor debated before but oh well. They did mention the "an action being challenged in court" which refers to smokingeverywhere i guess.

This article will garnish ALOT of exposure considering it was right on the main page of MSN.

 

[Sar]

Yet another superficial report. Are there any real journalists anymore?

Dr. Jack Henningfield, an expert on addiction who serves as a scientific adviser on tobacco to the World Health Organization (WHO), calls e-cigarettes "renegade products" for which "we have no scientific information." The electronic cigarette, he says, is a vehicle to deliver nicotine to the body. Its effects, he says, "are not benign," especially when breathed into the lungs.

While there is a "data void," scientists worldwide question the claim that e-cigarettes help stop smoking. If anything, they worry that these aggressively marketed products could introduce more people to an addiction they never had. Indeed, the WHO has stated that e-cigarettes are not "a legitimate therapy for smokers trying to quit." Dr. Henningfield notes that some manufacturers "blatantly go after young people," advertising e-cigarettes with flavors "like chocolate and candy."

 

[master_meow]

Its the same article that was in parade Magazine(see previous post on it) I have msn set to my main page and must have missed that today.(nice find btw I just saw the link after reading it was there) Those links really get a lot of hits from people. The downside of course is it was a crappy article, in my opinion at least. Now if it was only a positive spin it would have been GREAT.

 

[DaBrat]

Discuss it here on newsvine:
Newsvine - E-Cigarettes: Can They Help You Quit? - MSN Health & Fitness - Quit Smoking

 

[Rexa]

Yea I wasn't really happy with what I read. It's just hearsay. Why put an article on MSN Health unless you have actual "health" findings regarding what you are reporting on. It's all just assumptions/speculation which sort of ...... me off.

I caught the article around 4pm EST on MSN - they rotate links btw.

 

[Vocalek]

Jack Henningfield has been conducting research on smoking for many years. He worked at the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) in the past. He currently teaches at Johns Hopkins and works for Pinney Associates PinneyAssociates – Pharmaceutical Risk Management, Consumer Health, and Biologics

Here is Pinney's "Our Company" blurb:

Our interdisciplinary teams take a prospective view of our clients' needs. We work closely with clients' marketing, business development, research and development, scientific and regulatory affairs, government affairs, and legal divisions, throughout all stages of a product's lifecycle.

Jack Henningfield, of all people, should understand what smokers go through without nicotine. He once conducted an experiment where he watched abstinent smokers for two weeks in an in-hospital setting and reported that their "cognitive deficits" did not improve until they resumed smoking.

I have emailed him my personal story and asked him to reconsider his position. I pointed out that e-cigarette safety should be compared to the safety of tobacco smoking. I ended with "Think about the lives that will be wasted if thousands return to tobacco when their alternative is made unavailable. Think about the thousands more who might have been able to stop inhaling tobacco smoke if they had this as an alternative."

I realize that its a long shot, given that the company he works for appears to be the PR and lobbying arm for other (perhaps competitive) products. But Henningfield is a scientist and a doctor. Maybe his oath might kick in?

 

[Sar]

... I have emailed him my personal story and asked him to reconsider his position. I pointed out that e-cigarette safety should be compared to the safety of tobacco smoking. I ended with "Think about the lives that will be wasted if thousands return to tobacco when their alternative is made unavailable. Think about the thousands more who might have been able to stop inhaling tobacco smoke if they had this as an alternative."

I realize that its a long shot, given that the company he works for appears to be the PR and lobbying arm for other (perhaps competitive) products. But Henningfield is a scientist and a doctor. Maybe his oath might kick in?

That was very well put and what you wrote may resonate with him. Scientists are thought to be impartial and objective, trained to work without getting their emotions and prejudices influencing their research. Doctors on the other hand are dealing with human connections and emotions. It may be interesting to see if Henningfield the scientist, or Henningfield the doctor reads your plea.

 

[vjnnc]

I still just don't get it! It is SO clear that these are a FAR better alternative to smoking cigarettes with in excess of 4,000 different chemicals in them!

As for whether or not they help you quit smoking - I'm one who smoked cigarettes for more than THIRTY YEARS - never made a single serious attempt to stop - didn't want to stop, found the effect of the e-cigarette mimicked that of traditional cigarettes - and after just a couple of weeks of alternating between the two, found real smokes distasteful and unsatisfying. If the e-cigarette didn't offer me what I got from analogs, I'd still be a cigarette smoker.

These people who claim e-cigarettes are not a better alternative are whacked in the head.

 

[Sar]

I still just don't get it! It is SO clear that these are a FAR better alternative to smoking cigarettes with in excess of 4,000 different chemicals in them!

As for whether or not they help you quit smoking - I'm one who smoked cigarettes for more than THIRTY YEARS - never made a single serious attempt to stop - didn't want to stop, found the effect of the e-cigarette mimicked that of traditional cigarettes - and after just a couple of weeks of alternating between the two, found real smokes distasteful and unsatisfying. If the e-cigarette didn't offer me what I got from analogs, I'd still be a cigarette smoker.

These people who claim e-cigarettes are not a better alternative are whacked in the head.

That is the one aspect of PVs that is completely unique! With other smoking cessations the smoker really needs to have a very strong commitment to quit. But with PVs, some vapers quit smoking almost as a side-effect. And not just casual smokers, but heavy smokers! This is really spectacular!

If I was a health professional trying to get smokers off tobacco I would be all over this. I don't really care if it is a PV or a chewing gum that has this effect.