It's no secret that the US Gov, CDC, FDA, Big Pharma(s), and Big tobacco stand to loose billions of dollars with the introduction and proliferation of viable smoking alternatives. However, after numerous (hundreds if not thousands) case studies suggesting that most, if not all, traditional NRT's have serious side effects (including a well established increase risk of possible physiological derangement, cardiovascular damage, stroke, and death), this one study may become the benchmark for the new anti-ecig propaganda and push for reversion to taxable/controllable forms of smoking cessation. Link:
Quit-smoking drugs safe for your heart – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs
And their methodology is flawed. In the study, they looked at other studies and extrapolated "desired" results of combining all NRT's lumped into a single group instead of looking at the inherent risks of each individual drug:
"The new meta-analysis published this week in the journal Circulation is the largest analysis of its kind, with study authors surveying 63 different clinical trials encompassing more than 30,500 smokers. Unlike previous studies, which only looked at the effectiveness and safety of each individual drug, this analysis compared all three methods of smoking cessation."
In this study, it doesn't matter if one (single) of the included NRT's has a higher likelihood of severe adverse effects on the individual because the effect(s) are averaged in with other NRT's to balance out the statistical occurrence of any of the known adverse effects. They also present false or surmised information without clinical study:
"[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The study results even suggest that Wellbutrin may even protect against serious cardiovascular events. But the study authors cannot explain why."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The study also presents that using nicotine does not in and of itself cause heart disease or death, which I agree with, but implies that only the discussed NRT's have a lower risk than smoking:
"[/FONT]When looking specifically at the heart, "the main problem are side effects, not heart attack and death," said Dr. Russell Luepker, spokesman for the American Heart Association[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]. "The risks are low, and if you look at the benefits of quitting smoking, they are greater than the benefit.""[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The study does not include smoking alternatives such as the e-cig and, IMHO, is trying to bolster the use of pharmaceuticals that most of us know do not work. NRT's on average have an approximate 8% success rate for long term smoking/tobacco cessation. While on the other hand, smoking harm reduction alternatives (e-cigs) have an extremely high success rate due to addressing the habit(s) of the addiction in conjunction with the physical withdraw. [/FONT]
Quit-smoking drugs safe for your heart – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs
And their methodology is flawed. In the study, they looked at other studies and extrapolated "desired" results of combining all NRT's lumped into a single group instead of looking at the inherent risks of each individual drug:
"The new meta-analysis published this week in the journal Circulation is the largest analysis of its kind, with study authors surveying 63 different clinical trials encompassing more than 30,500 smokers. Unlike previous studies, which only looked at the effectiveness and safety of each individual drug, this analysis compared all three methods of smoking cessation."
In this study, it doesn't matter if one (single) of the included NRT's has a higher likelihood of severe adverse effects on the individual because the effect(s) are averaged in with other NRT's to balance out the statistical occurrence of any of the known adverse effects. They also present false or surmised information without clinical study:
"[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The study results even suggest that Wellbutrin may even protect against serious cardiovascular events. But the study authors cannot explain why."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The study also presents that using nicotine does not in and of itself cause heart disease or death, which I agree with, but implies that only the discussed NRT's have a lower risk than smoking:
"[/FONT]When looking specifically at the heart, "the main problem are side effects, not heart attack and death," said Dr. Russell Luepker, spokesman for the American Heart Association[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]. "The risks are low, and if you look at the benefits of quitting smoking, they are greater than the benefit.""[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The study does not include smoking alternatives such as the e-cig and, IMHO, is trying to bolster the use of pharmaceuticals that most of us know do not work. NRT's on average have an approximate 8% success rate for long term smoking/tobacco cessation. While on the other hand, smoking harm reduction alternatives (e-cigs) have an extremely high success rate due to addressing the habit(s) of the addiction in conjunction with the physical withdraw. [/FONT]
he/she's a doctor. they're infallible. that is all.
