Juul released limited results from their first-ever clinical trial on Saturday. The company, which has gained a reputation for aggressively marketing their pod-based e-cigarettes to teens, claims that the results show that using a Juul is much safer than using cigarettes.
The company presented a summary poster of the results of the clinical trial to the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco on Saturday. The poster, which the company also released online, is the first Juul-sponsored research that the company has publicly released.
In the research presented on Saturday, Juul scientists and one outside researcher looked at what happens to the levels of a specific set of biomarkers when a group of smokers either quit or exclusively used the Juul for a period of five days. The biomarkers were chosen because they are known to affected by using tobacco and are linked to cancer.
Not surprisingly, the trial showed positive results for smokers who switched to using the Juul exclusively. The biomarker levels in this group were similar to the levels of the ones who quit cold turkey.
What do the results mean?
The results are definitely good news for smokers who have completely transitioned to vaping (whether they use Juul’s devices or not). That’s how Juul presented their work. A press release summing up the results claims that the study “reaffirm[ed] the potential for vapor products as a viable alternative to combustible cigarettes.”
Of course, the results are not surprising. Most people are well-aware of the fact that vapes do not contain tobacco, so it’s seemingly insignificant that they wouldn’t affect biolevels that are specific to tobacco.
However, the e-cig industry has been taking a lot of flack lately. Any positive news from the industry is absolutely vital at this point considering the amount of misinformation floating around out there.
How was the study conducted?
The researched divided 90 participants into groups. Over the course of five days, some groups were instructed to completely abstain from nicotine. Another group was told to use the Juul exclusively. The third group continued using cigarettes normally.
The measured biomarkers dropped dramatically in both the Juul-exclusive and the cold turkey groups. The group who vaped with a Juul saw their levels drop by 85%. The abstinence group saw their levels drop by 85.3%. The authors concluded that using a Juul does not expose people to the same cancer-causing effects that cigarettes cause.
