Are E-Cigarettes Safe?

You’ve probably seen the ads – electronic, or “E” cigarettes that say they are an alternative to traditional tobacco products. But are they safer? Do they pose other risks?

We sat with Frank Leone, MD, MS, Director, Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Programs at Penn Medicine to talk about the trend in e-cigarettes.

What are e-cigarettes?

E-cigarettes as a class have been around for about 10 years, though individual brands have not been around that long. They are battery-powered devices that simulate tobacco smoking. An internal heating element vaporizes a liquid solution, which is inhaled and exhaled. Some vapor solutions contain a flavored solution, others have added nicotine.

It sounds safer than tobacco, is it?

In the short term, it probably isn’t that bad. Think about it. When you go see a theater performance, or a band perform, you might be exposed to “smoke” from a smoke machine. That smoke machine is using the same, or similar vapor as e-cigarettes. The vapor in e-cigarettes contains propylene glycol, a substance that is probably not best inhaled over long periods of time.

Short term effects of that smoke machine in a theater are probably okay, but what about the next 10, 15, 20 or 30 years? It might not accumulate in the lungs, but maybe the bladder or liver. It might do different harm than regular cigarettes.

Can e-cigarettes help people quit smoking?

E-cigarettes have the potential to be great if they can help people stop smoking, but the problem is it’s really not a way to quit smoking. It’s just substituting one smoking behavior for another.

In fact, in a recent study, researchers found that teens who used e-cigarettes were more likely to smoke real cigarettes, and less likely to quit than those that never used e-cigarettes.

Nicotine addiction is complex. People who are addicted to nicotine know it’s bad for them, yet they can’t stop. And those who aren’t addicted to nicotine can’t understand why smokers can’t quit. Even family members and friends have a hard time understanding nicotine addiction.

Quit Smoking with Penn

Penn Medicine’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program works hard to help smokers and their families understand why they feel trapped and powerless to change. The team tries to understand the specific needs of every smoker, whether it relates to health, family, work, or other aspects of their lives.

The program is based on the belief that smokers deserve to quit comfortably, so the treatment tends to be aggressive with medications in a way that helps keep that “devil inside” quiet. Most of all, the team respects the problem for what it is. And they respect the people struggling to find a way out from under it.

Specialists in Penn’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program have been fortunate to help thousands of patients overcome nicotine addiction over the years, and it’s amazingly rewarding. Patients keep in touch with the program throughout the years. Our staff answers their questions, provides them with support during difficult times, and helps them to get right back on track if they relapse.

The  Penn Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program can help you with your nicotine addiction, even if you don’t feel ready to quit. The staff is happy to answer your questions and discuss your options. No hassle. No pressure. Just help. 800-789-PENN (7366).

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Should Drug Stores Stop Selling Tobacco?

Recently, the CVS chain announced that it will no longer sell tobacco products in their stores. Their decision comes at a loss, however, as CVS estimates their ban on tobacco products will cost the company $2 billion a year in profits.

We recently caught up with Frank Leone, MD, MS, associate professor of medicine and director of Penn’s comprehensive smoking treatment programs, to ask what he thought of CVS’s newsworthy decision.

What do you think about the decision CVS made to not sell tobacco products?

It's great. Honestly, it’s the kind of thing that suggests to me large corporate organizations have a tremendous capacity to influence societal norms. CVS is being extremely brave stepping out in front to say we are not going to sell cigarettes.

Do you think large corporations have a responsibility to not sell tobacco products?

Each of us has our own little piece of responsibility.

Though cigarettes were never lauded as healthy, by the 1940s and 50s rumors were all around that smoking was hurting people. Smoking was presented as dangerous, but it was also an adult's right to smoke. Pharmacies and corner stores had a hard time not selling tobacco.

CVS’s decision to not sell tobacco products brings the topic, front of mind, that we all have some level of responsibility. What we do or say
can influence the likelihood of increased tobacco use in the future. CVS is taking a stand, and they are going to accept their small part of their responsibility of the tobacco epidemic.

Should also stop selling other products that can affect health, like junk food?

These type of arguments deflect from the reality that nicotine is one of the most addictive compounds we know. Nicotine alters brain chemistry in order to change behaviors, irrevocably. We're not talking about whether or not it’s a matter of preference or self-determination, nicotine exposure causes more deaths, disabilities and disappointments than any other thing.

What do you think of CVS’s decision? Would you like to see other retailers ban tobacco?

Quit Smoking with Penn

Penn Medicine’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program works hard to help smokers and their families understand why they feel trapped and powerless to change. The team tries to understand the specific needs of every smoker, whether it relates to health, family, work, or other aspects of their lives.

The program is based on the belief that smokers deserve to quit comfortably, so the treatment tends to be aggressive with medications in a way that helps keep that “devil inside” quiet. Most of all, the team respects the problem for what it is. And they respect the people struggling to find a way out from under it.

Specialists in Penn’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program have been fortunate to help thousands of patients overcome nicotine addiction over the years, and it’s amazingly rewarding. Patients keep in touch with the program throughout the years. Our staff answers their questions, provides them with support during difficult times, and helps them to get right back on track if they relapse.

Call the Penn Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program for help with your nicotine addiction, even if you don’t feel ready to quit. The staff is happy to answer your questions and discuss your options. No hassle. No pressure. Just help. 800-789-PENN (7366).

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A Great Day to Be a Quitter

Thinking about giving up smoking but not sure where – or when – to start? Today is your day!

In celebration of World No Tobacco Day, we at Penn Medicine are here to help you stop smoking for good. Even giving up this dangerous habit for one day can dramatically improve your health.

If you’re ready to stub the smokes and want to try to quit on your own, here are a few tips to helping you take the first steps towards successfully quitting.*

Set a date: Whether you choose to quit smoking today, tomorrow, or the third Tuesday next month, pick a date to quit and stick to it. Having a start date will keep you focused on your goal and can help you plan ahead.

1. Voice your decision: Quitting tobacco and smoking isn’t an easy process, so don’t think you have to do it alone! Tell your friends and family that you are quitting (let them know when your start date is) and ask for their encouragement to keep you on track.
2. Plan for the bad days: Breaking the smoking habit is not an overnight thing – you’re likely to have bad days along the way. The difference between picking back up or maintaining your goal is identifying your challenges and smoking triggers and having a plan for coping with them.
3. Get it out of sight: When you’re ready to quit, remove all cigarettes and other tobacco products from your home, workplace, and car, to keep temptation at bay.
4. Talk to a professional: Be honest with your doctor about your decision and talk about getting help to quit smoking.
5. Get help at Penn's Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program, which provides state-of-the-art and individualized treatment to help smokers quit safely and comfortably. Specialists at the center offer treatment that is respectful and supportive, without guilt or pressure.

Learn how you can get help to quit smoking at Penn.

Watch Frank Leone, MD, MS, director of the Comprehensive Smoking Cessation Treatment Program at Penn talk about how Penn can help you quit smoking. 

*Tips for quitting tobacco and cigarette smoking were taken from the website, Smokefree.gov.

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Squash the Cigarettes – National Smokeout Day

Today is the Great American Smokeout. It’s a day many people who smoke use as their quit date. It’s also a day to remind everyone about the dangers of smoking, and how by even quitting for one day, people who smoke can take an important step in a healthier lifestyle.

How to Quit Smoking

If you are looking for ways to quit smoking or tobacco use, the Comprehensive Smoking Cessation Treatment at Penn Medicine can help you quit for good.

If you want to try to quit smoking on your own, here are some things you can do to take the first steps.*

1. Set a Quit Date: Whether it is today, on National Smokeout Day, or another day, setting a quit date can help you focus your efforts and plan accordingly.
2. Tell People: Tell your friends and family members you are quitting smoking on that date. Let them help you and support you along the way and on that day.
3. Anticipate the challenges. Identify what they are and plan on how you will cope with them.
4. Remove cigarettes and all tobacco products from your home, work and car.
5. Talk to your doctor about getting help to quit smoking.

Penn's Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program provides state-of-the-art and individualized treatment to help smokers quit safely and comfortably. Specialists at the center offer treatment that is respectful and supportive, without guilt or pressure.

Learn how you can get help to quit smoking at Penn. 

Watch Frank Leone, MD, MS, director of the Comprehensive Smoking Cessation Treatment Program at Penn talk about how Penn can help you quit smoking.

*These steps were taken from the website, Smokefree.gov.

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What You Need To Know About Nicotine Addiction

Frank T. Leone, MD, MS, associate professor of medicine, is director of the Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program at Penn Medicine. You can listen to Dr. Leone talk more about smoking-related health complications and how those who smoke find it hard to quit – even with the growing trend against smoking in public locations.

My patients are people who smoke, but know they should stop. They often try to tell me how it feels. They describe feeling sad, angry, and hopeless. They tell me it’s frustrating and confusing; embarrassing and shameful. They feel trapped between desperately wanting to stop and desperately wanting NOT to stop.

Their lives are literally on the line, and they have no idea how to get “un-stuck” from this trap. They are facing cancer and are afraid.

Nicotine addiction is complex. People who are addicted to nicotine know it’s bad for them, yet they can’t stop. And those who aren’t addicted to nicotine can’t understand why they just can’t quit. Even family members and friends have a hard time understanding nicotine addiction.

Nicotine addiction is simultaneously one of the most common, powerful, and deadly addictions in our society. It is also one of the least understood. Nicotine works in that place in the brain where survival instincts are born. Nicotine addiction takes those normal instincts and “hijacks” them so that they get turned inside out: The more a person wants to change, the more their instincts tell them that change is bad. The net effect is that people spend a lifetime telling themselves “I want to quit… soon.” But sometimes soon doesn’t come soon enough.

Penn Medicine’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program works hard to help smokers and their families understand why they feel trapped and powerless to change. The team tries to understand the specific needs of every smoker, whether it relates to health, family, work, or other aspects of their lives.

The program is based on the belief that smokers deserve to quit comfortably, so the treatment tends to be aggressive with medications in a way that helps keep that “devil inside” quiet. Most of all, the team respects the problem for what it is. And they respect the people struggling to find a way out from under it.

Specialists in Penn’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program have been fortunate to help thousands of patients overcome nicotine addiction over the years, and it’s amazingly rewarding. Patients keep in touch with the program throughout the years. Our staff answers their questions, provides them with support during difficult times, and helps them to get right back on track if they relapse.

It’s not about success or failure. It’s not about blame or disappointment. It’s about long-term control over the compulsion to smoke.

Here are a few helpful tips that may make it easier for a person to overcome nicotine addiction. Whether you smoke, or care about someone who smokes, try having an honest discussion about the following:

• How smoking affects your life. Of course you like smoking. Why wouldn’t you? But of course you don’t like what smoking does to you. Try to understand how your nicotine addiction has been keeping you from taking control and making progress.
• Start working on solution-based thinking. For now, ignore all the reasons you want to quit smoking and focus instead on all the reasons you’d like to keep smoking. Don’t be surprised if these reasons are hard to put into words. Now, start figuring out what you need to do to start overcoming some of these obstacles. Review all the things that have helped in the past. Was it a medication? Someone in your family? Make a list of things you want to learn more about from your doctor. Find a source of support, like a friend or a colleague who won’t judge you, but who will focus instead on finding solutions.
• Ask for help from a professional. There are lots of resources, like Penn’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program, to help people who smoke overcome nicotine addiction. Community quit classes, research-based quit programs that look into novel approaches, telephone quit lines, even Internet resources. Find a program that fits your style and use it to its fullest potential.

Call the Penn Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program for help with your nicotine addiction, even if you don’t feel ready to quit. The staff is happy to answer your questions and discuss your options. No hassle. No pressure. Just help. 800-789-PENN (7366).


Post a comment below. Tell your personal story around tobacco. How did it affect your life? How did it affect those you love? How can the community do a better job dealing with this problem?

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