Source: Ivanhoe.com

 

Right now, there are 1.2 billion smokers worldwide, and 5 million of them die each year. Some experts say that death rate could double by the year 2030. While 1 million smokers now hope E-cigarettes cure their addiction, one academic says the data doesn’t add-up.

Hollywood got Freda Souligny smoking at just 13.

“It was a killer,” Souligny told Ivanhoe.

Now 81, she had a pack-a-day habit for 61 years. She stopped when emphysema led her to electric cigarettes two months ago.

“I didn’t feel this horrible withdrawal,” Souligny said.

Battery-operated, they deliver nicotine vapor through an adjustable cartridge and cost about 60 bucks to start. Souligny kicked her habit by slowly cutting the nicotine dose over several weeks. However, Professor Tom Eissenberg says E-cigs are misleading.

“We wanted to know if they really delivered nicotine — one of the things they’re supposed to do — if they really produce some of the same effects as a tobacco cigarette,” Eissenberg, Ph.D., from Virginia Commonwealth University, told Ivanhoe.

 

 

 

A pair of studies found while real cigarettes deliver nicotine, E-cigs do not — despite claiming to do so.

“Neither of them delivered nicotine, which was surprising, because that is, in fact, exactly what they are supposed to do,” Eissenberg said.

He says smoking an E-cig is just like puffing on an unlit cigarette. There’s no nicotine, no tobacco … nothing.

Souligny doesn’t agree.

“Well, you have to tell me what changed my life,” Souligny said. “It wasn’t medication, because I didn’t take medication.”

The studies do say E-cigs can cut the urge to smoke by nearly half, so Souligny’s mind may be tricking her body, but she doesn’t care.

“To me, it’s just been miraculous,” Souligny said.

Professor Eissenberg says E-cigs may indeed be a key tool in helping people quit standard cigarettes. Still, he’s calling for tighter government control of the products. The reason: if they don’t do what they claim to do, consumers have the right to know.

For additional research on this article, click here.