Two in three regular smokers are likely to die prematurely from smoking-related illness. Although many tobacco control policies have already been put in place, such as increasing taxes on cigarettes, banning smoking in public places, quitting aid programs and advertising restrictions, their potential to generate rapid drop in smoking is limited.
Rather than focusing on policies designed exclusively for reduce cigarette consumption, some public health experts suggest a complementary approach to encourage the use of less harmful products, such as electronic cigarettes, in place of cigarettes.
American scientists at the Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center set out to find out what would happen if cigarette smokers became “vapers”. Their results are published in the journal Tobacco Control.
86.7 million more years of life!
This first study aiming to model the results if the cigarette were replaced largely by electronic cigarettes supports, without hiding it, a political strategy which encourages the use of the e-cigarette to improve the health of the smokers.
Two projections, one described as optimistic and one described as pessimistic, were made based on different scenarios taking into account the relative harms of electronic cigarettes compared to normal cigarettes as well as the ages when people start to smoke, when they quit and when they stop smoking. they move from one product to another.
Both scenarios conclude that there would still be considerable premature deaths, but also a much larger number of life years saved.
Over a 10-year period, the “optimistic” scenario reveals that up to 6.6 million cigarette smokers will live much longer if the cigarette is replaced. In total, this represents 86.7 million more years of life, or 13 more years per person. The “pessimistic” scenario says, meanwhile, that it is only 1.6 million of these former smokers who will have an increased lifespan of 20.8 million years.
“In addition, there would be huge health benefits with less illness, and reduced exposure to cigarette smoke in the case of passive smoking “, says Dr. Levy, lead author of the study. “Even the darkest analysis shows a significant gain in years of life if nicotine is supplied by vaping instead of a much more lethal amount of toxic substances inhaled with cigarette smoke.”.
Encourage smokers to switch to electronic cigarettes?
Recent research has shown that the use of electronic cigarettes can help quit smoking and release much less toxic substances. “Old policies must be complemented by new ones that encourage substitution by electronic cigarettes”adds Dr. Levy. “Together, these policies, along with the regulation of cigarette content, have the power to dramatically reduce the massive harms of tobacco.”.
However, some experts and public health officials are concerned that e-cigarette use may increase the general harm caused by tobacco by serving as a gateway for smoking real cigarettes or by enticing smokers to use both instead of quitting altogether. .
Read also :
The electronic cigarette in the office, it’s over
It only takes one cigarette a day to increase the risk of cancer
