Podcast on Annals of Internal Medicine - E-Cig Review

[StormFinch]

I got this via tweet. it's an interview with Asaf Bitton, MD, MPH, of Harvard Medical School. I haven't listened to all of it, it's about 24 minutes long, but it's not sounding very good. I'm so tired of this.

http://www.annals.org/site/podcast/index.xhtml

It's the podcast at the top of the list, dated November 2nd.

Kristin! Elaine! We need another letter written!

 

[Vocalek]

I have sent off a rather long letter to Dr. Bitton in response to his assertions in the podcast.

 

[BCB]

Thank you once again, Elaine. Listened to much of the podcast. What a crock. I paraphrase: "they are being marketed using numbers and colors, especially green." That certainly seems sinister.

 

[Vocalek]

In the article, the footnote for that assertion is the web site for Green Smoke. I'm surprised that they are not accusing Blu of making e-cigarette users depressed.

 

[StormFinch]

Thanks so much Elaine. You and Kristin are just soooo good at giving nay sayers the what for in a pointed yet polite way.

BCB I had to shake my head at the colors thing. If they think green is saying something, I wonder what they'd read into all the black eGos we're buying up by the thousands?

 

[BCB]

Yeah, most of my color purchases are actually political statements. Numbers like "510" and "KR808" really suck me in, too. I remember as a teen, certain letter/number combinations drew me like a moth to a flame...

WD-40? irresistable

 

[Vocalek]

Yeah, most of my color purchases are actually political statements. Numbers like "510" and "KR808" really suck me in, too. I remember as a teen, certain letter/number combinations drew me like a moth to a flame...

WD-40? irresistable

Do I detect a note of sarcasm?

 

[pianoguy]

He said they're being marketed to young people, 50 and under. When I turned 50 I would've been thrilled to be considered young.

 

[Vocalek]

This is what I wrote to him regarding the topic of age. But when you have someone who asserts that young is less than age 50 all bets are off. I may run into the "Don't confuse me with the facts" problem.

Who Uses E-Cigarettes

Every anti-smoking group imaginable has accused e-cigarette vendors of targeting children. Nevertheless, not a shred of proof has been presented to uphold this view. Therefore, I am appalled that you don’t even bother to question your older patients about their use of e-cigarettes. In your Podcast, when you discussed Etter’s study you stated that users were young. In point of fact, users’ ages in Etter’s survey ranged from 19 to 65, with the median age being 37. There are other survey results available, with larger sample sizes. Heavner, et al surveyed 303 subjects. The results were published as Chapter 19 of the tobacco Harm Reduction 2010 Yearbook, which can be downloaded at THR2010. (tobaccoharmreduction.org) The report states, “About half (55%) were 31-50, while 32% were >50 years old.”

An unpublished survey conducted by the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA.org) found that 50.9% of the 2,217 respondents were between the ages of 30 and 49. Another 27.4% were age 50 or older. https://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=HrpzL8PN5cP366RWhWvCTjggiZM_2b8yQJHfwE9UXRNhE_3d

All of these survey results are in the same ball park. Do these numbers support your assertion that users are mostly young people?

 

[rothenbj]

Yeah, most of my color purchases are actually political statements. Numbers like "510" and "KR808" really suck me in, too. I remember as a teen, certain letter/number combinations drew me like a moth to a flame...

WD-40? irresistable

BCB, me too, but I was more drawn in to K9 and TR4 and 6,,,,oh. never mind.

 

[rothenbj]

He said they're being marketed to young people, 50 and under. When I turned 50 I would've been thrilled to be considered young.

Pianoguy, don't you know, old people are ALWAYS 15 years older than you are today.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Elaine,
Please post Asaf Bitton's e-mail address. His comments on the podcast cited e-cigarette Greg Connolly as the source of much of his information.

Several weeks ago, Connolly's letter to Tobacco Control declared war on e-cigarette companies without providing any public health rationale. Electronic cigarettes: a new ‘tobacco’ industry? -- Noel et al. -- Tobacco Control

 

[StormFinch]

Yeah, most of my color purchases are actually political statements. Numbers like "510" and "KR808" really suck me in, too. I remember as a teen, certain letter/number combinations drew me like a moth to a flame...

WD-40? irresistable

And all the pretty led lights, we can't forget the lights! It's like moths to the flame you know.

 

[StormFinch]

This is what I wrote to him regarding the topic of age. But when you have someone who asserts that young is less than age 50 all bets are off. I may run into the "Don't confuse me with the facts" problem.

Nice Elaine. Let us know if he indeed comes back to you with fact confusion.


It's fine that he considers anyone under the age of 50 young, but could somebody please have him explain that to my body? I'm not sure it's gotten the message.

 

[Vocalek]

Elaine,
Please post Asaf Bitton's e-mail address. His comments on the podcast cited e-cigarette Greg Connolly as the source of much of his information.

Several weeks ago, Connolly's letter to Tobacco Control declared war on e-cigarette companies without providing any public health rationale. Electronic cigarettes: a new ‘tobacco’ industry? -- Noel et al. -- Tobacco Control

I had to make an educated guess regarding his email address, based on the format of email address supplied in the article for his colleague. I sent my message to this address, and it has not (so far) come back rejected by the email server: abitton@partners.org

 

[Vocalek]

And all the pretty led lights, we can't forget the lights! It's like moths to the flame you know.

And according to the Podcast, the only reason for the pretty lights is to emulate the burnind end of a real cigarette. Couldn't possibly be an indicator that the battery is working, now could it?

And I really want to know how many of you have had a plume of vapor appear at the lighted end of your PV....

 

[pianoguy]

And according to the Podcast, the only reason for the pretty lights is to emulate the burnind end of a real cigarette. Couldn't possibly be an indicator that the battery is working, now could it?

And I really want to know how many of you have had a plume of vapor appear at the lighted end of your PV....

A plume of vapor at the lighted end of your PV is usually an indication that the battery has blowed up real good

 

[Vocalek]

A plume of vapor at the lighted end of your PV is usually an indication that the battery has blowed up real good

Yikes! 8-o8-o

 

[pianoguy]

According to this profile, that looks like the right e-mail address:

Asaf Bitton | Harvard Catalyst Profiles | Harvard Catalyst