HERALD-CITIZEN/REGIONAL BUYERS GUIDE, Cookeville, Tenn. — www.herald-citizen.com — Wednesday, Janaury 29, 2014 — A-17
MEDICAL DIRECTORY E-cigarettes cause concern among health professionals By LAURA MILITANA HERALD-CITIZEN Staff
COOKEVILLE — It’s the new rage — electronic cigarettes. But what exactly is in the vapor that is emitted from the cigarette-like packaging? “According to the Centers for Disease Control, we don’t know what’s in them,” Colleen Schabacker, director of the respiratory therapy unit at Cookeville Regional Medical Center, said. “You’re still inhaling a vapor.” The major concern is the fact that the Food and Drug Administration does not regulate what goes into the vials. “It’s also been found that the usage of e-cigarettes has doubled in middle schoolers,” Kyle Allmond, PharmD, said. “This may become a gateway drug into smoking.” According to the e-cigarette documentation, different levels
of nicotine can be inserted into the vials, which heat up and allows the user to fell like they are smoking, but actually emitting a water vapor. “It’s the nicotine that’s the addicting element, but the tar is what is damaging,” Schabacker explained. “Sure, there’s no second hand smoke with an e-cig, but since it’s not regulated, we don’t know what’s in it.” Some reports have found carcinogens in the vapor, but with so many types of e-cigarettes on the market, it’s hard to break it down. “There’s also the concern that since they are operated by battery that the battery could overheat or spark, causing injury,” Allmond noted. CRMC policy states that employees, patients and patient families cannot smoke e-cigarettes on the hospital campus, something that was put into effect last year.
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This is one of the many electronic cigarettes on the market. Ty Kernea | Herald-Citizen