A survey of North Carolina physicians documents that many understand
the benefit of e-cigarettes and some actively recommend that their smoking
patients switch. The results were
published in PLoS One by Kelly Kandra of Benedictine University and colleagues
from Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina (available here).
From the published paper: “Over two-thirds (67.2%) of the
physicians indicated that e-cigarettes are a helpful aid for smoking cessation, and 35.2%
recommended them to their patients. A
majority (64.8%) believed that e-cigarettes lower the risk of cancer for
patients who use them instead of smoking cigarettes.”
It is exceptionally good news that, despite a tsunami of
misinformation about e-cigarettes from federal and state health officials and
major medical societies, a majority of the state’s practicing physicians know
that the devices are helping smokers quit and reducing risk exposure.
Kandra and colleagues attempt to blunt the impact of their
data, writing that “physicians should remain cautious until more data is
available about recommending e-cigarettes as tobacco cessation tools in
clinical practice in favor of more effective modalities.” What are those “more effective
modalities”? Nicotine replacement
therapy (with a success rate of 5%, only slightly higher than placebo),
varenicline (Chantix, 7% success rate), and bupropion (5% success) (reference
here).
One of the study’s authors, Dr. Adam Goldstein, declared in
a press release: “Physicians may choose to use FDA approved medications rather
than devices and products not approved by FDA.”
In reality, physicians may also choose e-cigarettes after
“approved medications” fail. Doctors are
well equipped to weigh the risks and the benefits of consuming nicotine in
smoke-free forms, and counseling their patients accordingly.
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