FOUR OUT OF FIVE US DOCTORS THINK NICOTINE CAUSES CANCER
… while even more wrongly blame nicotine for causing heart disease .
Words : Gordon Stribling
The contrast between the British and American health communities ’ stance of vaping could not be more stark . Here , Public Health England , the Royal College of Physicians , Cancer Research UK and more back e-cigarettes as a less harmful , smoking cessation tool . But in the US , vaping is lumped together with tobacco and is even considered worse in some quarters . Now , a new study from Rutgers University has shed some light on why so many outspoken individuals in the US public health community refused to acknowledge the potential benefits of switching to vaping . The survey of 1,020 doctors from six specialities found that 80 percent believed that nicotine caused cancer , rather than the toxic substances in tobacco smoke . When asked about heart disease , 83 percent strongly believed that nicotine was directly linked to the condition and 81 percent thought it contributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ). Pulmonologists who focus on the respiratory system were less likely than other physicians to think that nicotine contributed to the condition . Michael B . Steinberg , medical director of the Rutgers
Center for Tobacco Studies , said : “ Physicians must understand the actual risk of nicotine use as they are critical in the prescription and recommendation of FDAapproved nicotine replacement therapy products to help patients who use other dangerous forms of tobacco . “ Doctors should be able to accurately communicate these risks , which may include low-nicotine cigarettes , which are not safer than traditional cigarettes .” The researchers suggested that a communications initiative could help correct the misperceptions so that doctors can better assist patients addicted to more harmful tobacco products . The CDC estimates that more than 34 million Americans continue to smoke despite the risks and alternatives available , such as e-cigarettes . The health body states that e-cigarettes ‘ have the potential to benefit adults who smoke and who are not pregnant if used as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products .’ However , government authorities , health charities and anti-tobacco groups remain hostile towards vaping . Cristine Delnevo , director of the Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies and professor at the Rutgers School
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