We are delighted to report that in addition to the generous contributions raised through this Indiegogo site ($2300), and the Elfenworks Foundation's generous match donation (additional $2300), the campaign has also attracted an additional $10,000 donation from the Elfenworks Foundation! (The Elfenworks donations are not reflected in the total listed at the upper right.) Thank you to everyone; every single donation of any size is tangibly helping us to get this research started NOW.
SUMMARY: Strong regulation has reduced the use of cigarettes, but other unregulated products are taking their place
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It’s common knowledge that smoking is bad for you, as is breathing someone else’s secondhand smoke.
Regulations on sales and use of cigarettes have led to a decrease in cigarette smoking and have made it easier for non-smokers to avoid cigarette smoke. However, the arrival of new products (e-cigarettes), and renewed interest in older products (cigarillos and little cigars), are once again contributing to increased youth smoking and potentially to lower air quality in public places.
Appropriate regulation of these products requires a better understanding of their risks.
We have developed a way to study in the laboratory how cigarette smoke harms the cardiovascular system, sometimes within minutes of exposure. With your help, we can study smoke and vapors from these products to find out whether they cause cardiovascular problems that are caused by cigarette smoke, which will help the FDA determine effective and fair regulatory policies.
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Current regulations on cigarettes
The health risks of smoking cigarettes and of breathing secondhand cigarette smoke are well established. As a result, cigarettes are highly regulated in ways that discourage youth smoking and protect the non-smoking public from exposure to secondhand smoke. For example, cigarettes can only be sold in packages of 20 or more, cannot be flavored with the exception of menthol, and are highly taxed, making them more expensive. Smoking is banned in enclosed places like airplanes and restaurants, and smoking in public outdoor places is severely limited.
However, there’s been increasing popularity of old and new products that have similarities to cigarettes, but are less expensive, less regulated, and less restricted in public; because most of these regulatory limitations only apply to “cigarettes.”
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Cigarillos and little cigars
In some cases, such as cigarillos and little cigars, the similarity is obvious and it is very likely that the alternative products are as toxic. Nevertheless, the popularity of cigarillos and little cigars is skyrocketing, especially among youth, because they can avoid the high taxes of cigarettes and are less expensive, they come in fun flavors (ranging from rum and wine to cherry, vanilla, and chocolate), and cigarillos in particular can be sold individually.
But make no mistake, these are rolls of tobacco that are burned, and many people inhale the smoke as in cigarette smoking. Bystanders certainly inhale the secondhand smoke. We suspect that the smoke from cigarillos and little cigars has the same toxic effects as cigarette smoke. Our research can help to determine this, giving the FDA valuable information to help them decide whether/how to regulate these cigarette alternatives.
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E-cigarettes
A relatively new and hugely successful product is the electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), which contains no tobacco and instead holds a cartridge of liquid propylene glycol or glycerin that contains flavorings and nicotine. A heating element vaporizes a small amount of the mixture, delivering a puff of nicotine-containing vapor to the lungs that is subsequently exhaled into the surrounding air (they're calling it “vaping”). E-cigarettes have many apparent advantages to users and bystanders, such as not producing smoke/vapor between puffs as in a smoldering cigarette, and lacking at least the vast majority of the thousands of chemicals that result from burning tobacco leaves.
The problem? Many people equate “safer” with “safe,” and there has been a rush to allow people to use e-cigarettes wherever they feel like it, including schools, clinics, and day care centers. However, nicotine is still bad for you, bystanders can show signs of nicotine exposure, and there’s evidence that a few of the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke are also present in e-cigarette emissions, although in low amounts and it isn’t yet clear whether they are harmful. Lots of companies make them, with no set standards on quality or chemicals in the vapor. There are not uniform restrictions on sales to minors, and flavorings include not only menthol, fruits, and chocolate, but even bubblegum!
There is a public conception that they aren’t harmful, and while the research struggles to catch up to determine safety, public use is on the rise in a regulatory void. Are they harmful to the users? Is public “vaping” harmful to bystanders? We don’t know yet, but because of what is known about nicotine and about the other chemicals sometimes found in the vapors, it’s essential to learn more about the risks before assuming that vaping is harmless and exposing the public haphazardly to these vapors.
(Please see my 8/6/13 update about e-cigarettes for some clarification)
How can you help us solve the problem?
Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke both rapidly cause blood vessels to temporarily function abnormally. Even this temporary malfunction may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, and we think that repeated temporary malfunctions over time can lead to long-term functional problems even when not exposed to smoke, a situation linked to atherosclerosis.
We can study this blood vessel function in the laboratory with ultrasound, and have observed vascular problems in humans and rats after just 30 minutes of smoke exposure, using a machine that smokes cigarettes and collects the smoke. In the rats, we’ve been able to detect the problem starting after just one minute of exposure. We plan to study the smoke from little cigars and cigarillos, and the vapor from e-cigarettes, to learn whether it causes the same kind of vascular problems that cigarette smoke causes. Both the public and the FDA will benefit from this research, but while this work has previously been funded by the NIH and a medical foundation (FAMRI), biomedical funding levels are at historic lows and we do not yet have sufficient resources to carry out these next important steps. While we may be able to eventually get a grant for this research—perhaps in a year or so—these are problems that are current, and decisions are being made now by lawmakers. We need YOU so that we can move forward with this research NOW.
What happens if we exceed or don't meet our goals?
If we do not raise our full target amount in this campaign, the funds received will still help get us closer to completing this research; it will just take longer. In the event that we exceed our target amount, we will be able to afford more technician time, and the research will occur even faster. The sooner this information is available to the public and the FDA, the sooner it can make a difference—the sooner YOU can make a difference. Larger amounts raised over the target are extremely appreciated, as they will help us to stabilize the research program during this time of unprecedented research funding uncertainties.
Your contribution to the Springer Laboratory at UCSF is tax-deductible and you will receive an official tax receipt from UCSF. And, check with your employer, because sometimes companies match your donation, making it go twice as far!
Elfenworks In Harmony With Hope® will generously match the first $10,000 raised on Indiegogo. For every pledge to us, we'll get a matching donation from Elfenworks.
Thank you for your generosity, and for your role in guarding the health of our youth and the non-smoking public.
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About Matt Springer (center): I've been a professor at UCSF for almost 10 years, after attending college at UC Berkeley and graduate school at Stanford University followed by additional research at Stanford. My laboratory studies heart attack treatments, blood vessel growth, and conditions that improve or impair the function of arteries. The harmful effect of cigarette secondhand smoke on arterial function has become a major interest of the lab in the last few years. My research group consists of researchers from around the world, including those with PhDs and MDs and with backgrounds ranging from biochemistry to cardiology, who are enthusiastic about conducting research to advance health. We all thank you for your support!
