Health Studies, Vaping Saftey, Vaping Studies, Vaping vs. Smoking
No Negagtive Health Impact On Vapors Who Never Smoked
Dec
image courtesy of Vaping360
One survey of e-cigarette users shows that 99% of vapers are former smokers. Based on a scientific study of the health risks of vaping compared to smoking, both Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians estimate that vaping is at least 95% safer than smoking.
Long-term studies on the effects of vaping on users haven’t been studied but vaping has been around since the earlier 2000’s and thus far there is no evidence of harm to health. In comparison, smoking is well-known to lead to lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, or COPD from long-term exposure to toxic cigarette smoke. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates nearly half a million American smokers are exposed to these ailments in the form of tar, carbon monoxide, and harmful toxicants caused by burning tobacco leaf. E-cigarettes and vapor products don’t contain tobacco and produce no smoke. This is why public health researchers are increasingly recommending smokers to switch to vaping.
Dr. Riccardo Polosa and researchers from the University of Catania in Italy recently published a long-term study in the journal Nature. The study tracked the respiratory health of two groups – vapers who were never smokers and non-smokers (who were also non-vapers over a 3.5-year period and found no evidence of health concerns in the long-term use of e-cigarettes among those who have never smoked. The goal of the study was to compare blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, lung function, respiratory symptoms, as well as exhaled biomarkers of airway inflammation between daily e-cigarette users and non-smokers who have never vaped. Vapers were also offered high-resolution computed tomography of the lungs at the end of the follow-up to assess risks for early signs of lung damage. The researchers found no evidence of any respiratory damage in daily e-cigarette users who were never smokers.
“In spite of previous health scares, our study shows for the first time no risk in long-term vapers who have never smoked in their lives,” said Polosa to the E-Cigarette Summit in London last week.
Unlike most U.S. public health authorities those in the UK have embraced tobacco harm reduction. This involves decreasing total damage to health associated with low-risk, non-combustible products like e-cigarettes and non-burning, smokeless tobacco products. Vaping has been proven to be more effective in helping smokers to quit than patches or gum therapy. These have been shown to fail over 90% of the time.
“Mouse and cell studies may generate salacious headlines about the supposed dangers of vaping, but they are no replacement for actual studies on humans,” said Gregory Conley, President of the American Vaping Association. “If no negative health impacts can be seen from daily vaping among those who previously did not smoke, how is it ethical to continue warning smokers away from using these products?”
Polosa and his colleagues also recently published a review of the evidence on the impact of e-cigarettes on COPD patients.
