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Successful Nicotine Intake in Medical Assisted Use of E-Cigarettes: A Pilot Study

The electronic cigarette (e-cig) has gained popularity as an aid in smoking cessation programs mainly because it maintains the gestures and rituals of tobacco smoking. However, it has been shown in inexperienced e-cig users that ineffective nicotine delivery can cause tobacco craving that could be r...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pacifici, Roberta, Pichini, Simona, Graziano, Silvia, Pellegrini, Manuela, Massaro, Giuseppina, Beatrice, Fabio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4515680/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26184244
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120707638
Descripción
Sumario:The electronic cigarette (e-cig) has gained popularity as an aid in smoking cessation programs mainly because it maintains the gestures and rituals of tobacco smoking. However, it has been shown in inexperienced e-cig users that ineffective nicotine delivery can cause tobacco craving that could be responsible for unsuccessful smoking reduction/cessation. Moreover, the incorrect use of an e-cig could also led to potential nicotine overdosage and intoxication. Medically assisted training on the proper use of an e-cig plus behavioral support for tobacco dependence could be a pivotal step in avoiding both issues. We performed an eight-month pilot study of adult smokers who started e-cig use after receiving a multi-component medically assisted training program with monitoring of nicotine intake as a biomarker of correct e-cig use. Participants were tested during follow-up for breath carbon monoxide (CO), plasma cotinine and trans-3’-hydroxycotinine, and number of tobacco cigarettes smoked. At the end of the first, fourth, and eighth month of follow-up, 91.1, 73.5, and 76.5% of participants respectively were e-cig users (‘only e-cig’ and ‘dual users’). They showed no significant variation in plasma cotinine and trans-3’-hydroxycotinine with respect to the start of the study when they smoked only tobacco cigarettes, but a significant reduction in breath CO. The proposed medically assisted training program of e-cig use led to a successful nicotine intake, lack of typical cigarette craving and overdosage symptoms and a significant decrease in the biomarker of cigarette combustion products.