Aarti Kamat, a soon-to-be graduate of the Wayne State University School of Medicine Class of 2017, and Alison Van Dyke, M.D., Ph.D., Class of 2011 alumna and a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute, together published an article reviewing and providing public health recommendations regarding the use of e-cigarettes among middle and high school students.
"Use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Among Adolescents: Status of the Evidence and Public Health Recommendations" was featured in the February issue of Pediatric Annals, and provides information on awareness, regulation, ease of access, perception of safety in using the products, addiction risk and the impact on the developing brain, and a summary of position statements from several health agencies.
In the United States, while traditional tobacco use has decreased, use of electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS, including e-cigarettes, vaporizers and hookahs, is rising. A two-year National Youth Tobacco Survey published in 2013 showed that more than 250,000 children and adolescents in six through 12th grades surveyed in 2013 had used ENDS, a three-fold increase from students in the same grades surveyed in 2011. A 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey showed that 70 percent of middle and high school students have been exposed to advertising of the products, and 75 percent of students are aware of the products in general, which aerosolize nicotine solutions that include solvents and flavorings like bubble gym, cinnamon and pina colada.
"It feels truly amazing and exciting to have it published. It's a great experience to see my name in print and be able to share something that we put so much time and effort into writing," Kamat said.
Following her expected graduation from the School of Medicine on June 6, Kamat will begin a Pediatrics presidency at Helen Devos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich.
"While I was doing my rotations, I noticed a lot of patients and parents were asking about the safety of e-cigarettes, and I realized I did not know much about them," Kamat said. "I wanted to look further into it so I could correctly educate patients. Since I am going into Pediatrics, I decided to narrow my focus to children. My mother, (WSU's Graduate School Dean Ambika Mathur, Ph.D.) put me in contact with Alison, and the rest is history."
Dr. Van Dyke now works in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch of the NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. She received her doctorate in Cancer Biology, and her medical degree, from the School of Medicine in 2011 as a member of the school's first dual-degree program cohort.
She offered to help Kamat write the review while on a trip to see friends, mentors and mentees at WSU.