Ill Health from Tobacco Cigarettes and Electronic Cigarettes: An Overview.

Objective: Among the more than thousands of papers, reviews, commentaries and editorials published on the theme of ill health due to smoking tobacco products, I present an overview of the literature mostly published since 1980. Commentary: In 1908, less than 10 chemical compounds were identified from tobacco smoke. Now, this number has increased to over 8,000. Literature on the reviews in 30 inter-related themes covering the pathophysiology of smoking and representative studies that had focused on the damage to reproductive and other sensory systems due to nicotine use and tobacco smoke inhalation are presented in two tables. Recent revelations on the tobacco industry's nefarious links to the Hollywood movie industry as well as the expose of the research funding offered by the tobacco industry to leading medical researchers Hans Selye and Ernst Wynder are also highlighted. Conclusion: With the rising popularity of electronic cigarettes to a new generation of smokers in the past decade, services of specialty journals such as Tobacco Control, Tobacco Induced Diseases, as well as Nicotine and Tobacco Research becomes vital to combat the abuse of nicotine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]