I am a physician, and while I am always happy to hear someone has quit smoking, I worry that we shouldn't see e-cigarettes as a miracle cure ("It made a health difference for me," Readers Write, Nov. 11).
While the letter writer does not mention if he has a medical or scientific background, some of his claims are mistaken. His assertion that "vapor technology is not a tobacco product," is simply false. The nicotine present in e-liquid used for vaping is extracted from tobacco plants. Often this liquid contains much higher levels of nicotine than traditional cigarettes, as well as heavy metals and fine particulates that can lodge deeply in the lungs. A recent paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that some e-liquids contain diacetyl, which has been found to cause irreversible lung damage when inhaled. The long-term health effects of vaping will remain unknown until further research emerges.
There's also a very real concern that e-cigarettes are attracting kids to nicotine and addiction. Nicotine is dangerous for young people's brain development, and the tobacco industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars marketing their products to addict new smokers. The Minnesota Department of Health's recently released Minnesota Student Survey shows an alarming increase in e-cigarette use among our young people. Half of students using vapor technology are also using at least one other tobacco product. I think the letter writer would agree, having personally struggled with the health challenges of tobacco use since the age of 16, that we cannot continue to put our young people at risk for a lifetime of nicotine addiction.
We must continue to focus our efforts on limiting the harmful effects of nicotine on our communities. Common-sense regulations are justified to keep our kids safe.
Dr. Carolyn McClain, Edina
The writer is president of the Twin Cities Medical Society.
PRESCRIBING STATINS WIDELY
Lifestyle changes seem like the far wiser first step
Regarding the Nov. 14 article "Panel advises wider statin use," about the idea that everyone over 40 should consider taking drugs to lower cholesterol, someone should point out that the president of the American College of Cardiology is vegan. He says that lifestyle choice might not work for everyone but that it might work for some, and it's cheaper, without the side effects of drugs. If I had high cholesterol, that would be the first thing I would try before committing to a lifetime of taking expensive drugs with possible bad side effects.
Steven White, Minneapolis
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Of course the medical industry and the "research" it controls recommend far broader use of statins; the industry reaps the tremendous profits from ever more expensive drug sales. Everyone has some risk of a heart attack or stroke, some more than others, but statins just have too many risky side effects that often cause more harm than good.
