Sometimes, I struggle to fathom the motives behind certain organisations. I truly do. Here we have a respectable organisation in the American Lung Association saying that e-cigarettes are a “new” tobacco product that have still largely unknown health effects. Then there’s a link to this page, which I wouldn’t click on if I were you; you’ll probably get asked to donate to them like the American Cancer Society (quick tip, don’t).
You will of course remember the slew of scary sounding headlines between Christmas and the New Year, each one blindly repeating the same headline and the contents of a press release of a terrible study without any regard whether or not the press release relates to the study in any way shape or form. (more…)
It doesn’t take much to spark some errant thinking and lengthy discussions. In this instance it was the release of the final quarter statistics of 2015 from the Smoking Toolkit Study which is of course performed by Professor Robert West. This survey is used, along with other evidence, to inform those that need to know how many folks are smoking, whether or not they quit smoking and how they quit.
I have used the STS statistics in a lot of correspondence to my MP and as evidence when responding to consultations, simply because the information contained in the STS is detailed, and above all asks the right questions. (more…)
We all know that reading scientific research can actually be a bit of a bore, long phrases and technical jargon litters the vast majority of studies. Heck, they even have their own terminology; as if doing that makes the research they produce not for us mere mortals. (more…)
The next few days are going to be more than a little interesting. In case you weren’t aware, the BMA are holding their annual representatives meeting at the BT Convention Centre in Liverpool. Should we be worried ? Of course we should, the BMA aren’t exactly known for their openness or positivity to e-cigarettes. (more…)
Facts Do Matter 