In an earlier edition of Tobacco Reporter, I described the globally widespread, misplaced fears about the health risks of nicotine—and the critical need for credible messengers to counter those fears (see “Watch Your Mouth,” Tobacco Reporter, March 2022).
People generally trust their doctors for health information. Smokers do too.
The limited data available suggest smokers trust their doctors over other sources of information on e-cigarettes and that most patients using e-cigarettes would appreciate at least a brief discussion or handout.
Are physicians positioned to take advantage of that trust? Can they effectively guide patients who can’t or won’t quit nicotine toward lifesaving alternatives to smoking? Getting patients to stop smoking is top priority.
Cigarettes are still the leading preventable cause of illness and death in the U.S. and many other nations. Smoking rates are stagnant among vulnerable populations, including those who are older, low-income or struggling with chronic physical or mental illness.4 Thanks in part to media-driven fears of vaping lung injuries and to e-cigarette flavor bans, cigarette sales are actually on the rise.
Cheryl K. Olson – Tobaccoreporter – 2022-05-02.
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