Pneumologists again warn against e-cigarettes

In a recent statement, the German Society for Pneumology has again spoken out against recommending e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters for smoking cessation. One reason for this is the unknown long-term risks.

Berlin. A recent Cochrane review found that e-cigarettes are more likely to help people quit smoking than nicotine replacement products (Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2020; online October 14). Although some cigarette smokers become e-cigarette smokers – or even both – there are some recent publications in which e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters are considered and recommended as beneficial in terms of harm reduction as a means of smoking cessation.

For the German Society for Pneumology (DGP), this was an opportunity to make their negative position clear again. The current statement states: "The DGP is against propagating e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters for smoking cessation."

Two main reasons are given for the rejection:

In their statement, the pulmonologists mention a third and highly topical argument for not using e-cigarettes: According to a study with adolescents and young adults, not only cigarette smokers but also e-cigarette smokers have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 (J Adolesc Health 2020; online August 11).