Tag: Konstantinos Farsalinos

  • Flavor Ban Risks Lives, Warns Cardiologist

    Flavor Ban Risks Lives, Warns Cardiologist

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Restrictions on flavors in vaping products would be a drastic setback in the battle to reduce the 48,000 Canadian lives lost every year to smoking, according to a new independent study released on Jan. 11.

    The review, covering more than 340 articles of evidence on e-cigarette flavorings, concludes that they are “inextricably linked” to smoking cessation and should be made more accessible and affordable to adults trying to quit.

    “Well-regulated use of flavors can and should be considered as a valuable tool to help prevent disease and save the lives of adult smokers who cannot or will not quit by themselves or with other approved methods,” says report author Konstantinos Farsalinos, a cardiologist with a career devoted to tobacco harm reduction.

    Farsalinos released his review at a webinar on Dec. 15, 2021. 

    The report, which examines the science, consumer insights, risks and regulatory considerations related to e-cigarettes, comes as Health Canada seeks to implement a ban on flavored vapes.

    “We’re at a crossroads where policymakers are about to turn away from the evidence showing flavors help smokers transition to products that carry only a fraction of the risk of combustible cigarettes, thereby preventing disease and saving lives,” said Farsalinos.

    “If bans were allowed, it would ultimately drive consumers to tampering, illicitly traded products, towards the black market, or back to traditional cigarettes.”

    Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are now the overriding method of choice for smokers who want to quit, says the report. Studies show users of flavored e-cigarettes are up to three times more successful.

    The review highlights the work of David Levy, who developed the Smoking and Vaping Model, which allows researchers to calculate the life-saving potential if all adult cigarette smokers were to switch to nicotine vaping products. Applied to Canada, 130,000 deaths could be avoided between 2012 and 2052 if Canadian smokers switched to vaping. This would save 2.5 million life years.

    The report points out that flavors are used to improve the efficacy of nicotine replacement therapy products, such as lozenges and gums, which feature on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines.

    “Surely, if the WHO considers flavorings an essential anti-smoking tool in nicotine lozenges, the same should apply for consumer acceptance in nicotine vaping products” said Farsalinos.

    “Vaping is already delivering results in Canada by helping long-term smokers who have struggled to quit to finally give up the habit. To misguidedly deny desperate smokers their best chance of quitting is needlessly putting their health at risk.”

    The report recommends better access and affordability for quitting tools such as flavored vapes “through proportionate, risk-based regulation and robust monitoring.”

    Concerns about underage use of vapes would be best addressed by focusing on youth access at the point of sale and the elimination of flavor descriptors clearly targeting the young, it adds.

  • Greek cardiologist supports e-cig use

    Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, a cardiologist from Greece, has argued that e-cigarettes should be made available to smokers who want to stop using combustible cigarettes but don’t want to give up nicotine, according to Mayalsia’s The Star.

    Farsalinos, who is a cardiologist and researcher at the University of Patras’ Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, has indicated that e-cigarettes play an important role in tobacco harm reduction. “Most smokers do not want to go to the doctor,” he said in a media briefing initiated by the Malaysian Organisation of Vape Entity.

    Farsalinos also quoted studies that said current nicotine-replacement therapies had a success rate of less than 6 percent, while oral medications had a success rate below 20 percent. He argued that e-cigarette use was a more acceptable method for smokers to reduce smoking, saying e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than cigarettes.

    Malaysia’s health minister, Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam, on Aug. 13 announced that the country’s ministry of health was in discussions with various agencies and parties about the effects different methods of smoking have on an individual’s health. He urged the public to stop using e-cigarettes until comprehensive findings on the risks involved in vaping were released.

    Of the 400 Malaysian smokers aged 18 and above surveyed online by Ipsos from June 3 to June 17, 82 percent believed that “e-cigarettes represent a positive alternative to today’s [combustible] cigarettes,” and 75 percent would “consider switching to e-cigarettes if they were legal, met quality and safety standards, and were conveniently available like regular tobacco products,” according to John Boley, co-founder of the consumer advocacy group Factasia.org.