E-cigarettes – Not good for your health at all
E-cigarettes are becoming more and more popular, not least because of the massive advertising by e-cigarette retailers, which has repeatedly led to the research organization’s study Public Health England quote. According to this study, e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
It remains to be seen whether this percentage is correct. The fact is, however, that with the current far too little knowledge about the effects of vaping e-cigarettes, the health risk cannot be assessed. Researchers are discovering new health disadvantages of these cigarettes almost weekly, making them not a real alternative to smoking if you want to stay healthy.
Also, chronic long-term consequences of vaping are not unknown because they do not exist, but only because no studies, especially no long-term studies, have been carried out in this area.
However, as we have reported in the last few months, the first warnings are definitely there:
For example, in June 2016, researchers of the University of North Carolinathat e-cigarettes appear to have worse consequences for the immune system than regular smoking: e-cigarettes are bad for the immune system
In November 2016, researchers from the Desert Research Institutes DRI in the USA that e-cigarettes contain carcinogenic substances, which have not yet been taken into account
In the same month and year, scientists of the University of Southern Californiathat adolescents smoked more frequently if they had previously vaped and eventually even became heavier smokers if they had started smoking through vaping.
We have explained the effects of cytotoxic, addictive and cancer-promoting nicotine, which can also trigger and promote chronic inflammation, here: Nicotine – The disease maker
E-cigarettes cause lung damage
Many people believe that they are protecting their lungs and bronchi in particular if they use an e-cigarette instead of a tobacco cigarette. However, a study from November 2016 raises clear doubts:
The study, entitled “E-cigarette use and respiratory problems in young people,” was published in the journal der American Thoracic Society (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine). Lead author was Dr. Rob McConnell, Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine the University of Southern California ( 1 ) ( 2 ).
dr McConnell and colleagues report an association between vaping e-cigarettes and persistent cough, bronchitis, phlegm, or phlegm, according to data from the Southern California Children’s Health Study.
It is now known that vaping e-cigarettes delivers toxic chemicals into the lungs, such as: E.g. toxic metals, alkaloids, nitrosamines, nicotine, aldehydes and others,” says Dr. McConnell. “Nevertheless, there are very few studies on the chronic health effects of e-cigarettes. the The Children’s Health Study presented a good opportunity to find out how high the risk of vaping is for developing the symptoms of respiratory irritation and disease so typical of smokers.”
Vaping doubles the risk of respiratory problems
Seventy-six percent of study participants had never vaped, 14 percent had vaped in the past, and almost 10 percent were current vapers.
It was shown that the risk of developing respiratory symptoms was lower than that of non-vapers
- was up 85 percent among those who had vaped in the past and
- was twice as high for regular vapers.
The more frequently a person vaped, the more likely they were to suffer from a chronic cough or other respiratory problems.
When evaluating the data, a possible risk from additional smoking of ordinary cigarettes or from passive smoking was of course taken into account or excluded. Sociodemographic factors were also excluded.
An increased risk of asthma or narrowed airways in adolescents has not yet been associated with vaping. Instead, a study from August 2017 showed that e-cigarettes damage the blood vessels – after just five minutes of vaping:
E-cigarettes accelerate the aging of blood vessels
Researchers at West Virginia University found – unfortunately in animal experiments – that just one exposure to e-cigarette vapor is enough to impair vascular function. Blood vessels constricted by 30 percent within an hour of exposure to e-cigarette vapor for just five minutes ( 3 ).
If you steam continuously, for example 20 hours a week, the researchers suspect that negative consequences for vascular health will develop in less than a year. In the present study, the arteries had already hardened after 8 months. Therefore, e-cigarettes should not be considered safe as they can have significant harmful effects on blood vessel health.
E-cigarette bans to protect young people
Not least for the reasons mentioned, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently banned the sale of e-cigarettes to young people under the age of 18, and in California the sale to people under the age of 21 was prohibited.
Our results suggest that these regulations, which discourage vaping initiation, will curb chronic lung disease in adolescents. However, since the use of e-cigarettes is still relatively new at the current scale, we need to conduct further research to find out the long-term effects and to understand their mechanisms,” concludes Dr. McConnell.
For more information on e-cigarettes, see the links above and our main article on e-cigarettes: Are e-cigarettes harmful?
In the meantime, researchers have also dealt with the topic of heavy metals in e-cigarettes.
For tips on how to quit smoking, see 10 tips to quit smoking
Also read: Make your own lung cleansing drink.
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