How much research has been done on vaping?
There are at least two dozen new studies on vaping and nicotine published every week. Many of them are about vaping and health. They range from medical studies on vaping health risks to analysis of e-liquid or vapor constituents to research on vaping and nicotine addiction.
What does the science say about vaping?
“Harmless vaping” is a wrong concept, science found. Since most e-liquids contain nicotine, they damage a vaper’s heart and lungs gradually. Nicotine is always harmful, no matter which form you are consuming. When nicotine is absorbed in our body with vaping, it raises our blood pressure and heart rate.
Is vaping actually safer than smoking?
Neither smoking nor vaping is beneficial to human health. Based on the available evidence, smoking appears to be more harmful than vaping. However, this does not mean that vaping is safe. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, vaping may be slightly less harmful than smoking.
Why vaping is bad facts?
Vaping is not only bad for lung health, but it also causes problems for the teeth and gums as well. One study conducted in 2018 showed that several e-juices caused bacterial growth on the teeth, which led to users developing cavities.
What Conditions is Vaping Associated With?
What Research Currently Exists Around Vaping?
Why is vaping important?
What is the inflammatory condition that affects the tiniest airways within the lungs?
Is vaping good for lung damage?
Is vaping a toxin?
Is vaping a long term effect?
See 2 more
Vaping in England: 2021 evidence update summary - GOV.UK
Aim of the report. This is the seventh report in a series of independent reports commissioned by Public Health England (PHE) to summarise evidence on vaping products to inform policies and ...
Latest Research on Vaping - CASAA Information Library
This resource is collection of the best and latest research on vaping and other reduced-harm products, medical journal articles, as well as journalistic pieces organized by topic that contain valuable data, information, and perspectives on tobacco harm reduction, vaping, and safer nicotine products.
Vaping versus Smoking: A Quest for Efficacy and Safety of E ... - PubMed
Background: Electronic Cigarettes (ECIGs) are devices with a heating element which produces aerosol for inhalation. They have been propagated as a healthier alternative to tobacco smoking and a potential device for smoking cessation, despite non-documentation of their long-term adverse health effects.
What Conditions is Vaping Associated With?
The unique condition associated with vaping is referred by the new medical acronym EVALI.
What Research Currently Exists Around Vaping?
The association between vaping and EVALI is already an established scientific fact. However, it is not yet clear exactly what risk factors contribute to the development of EVALI.
Why is vaping important?
Vaping was initially hailed as an important innovation. It was believed smokers could use e-cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco. This would reduce exposure to nicotine, tar, and other hazardous substances. What’s more, many smokers considered vaping soothing, giving them “something to do with their hands” and a way to react in stressful ...
What is the inflammatory condition that affects the tiniest airways within the lungs?
EVALI is distinct from, but related to, bronchiolitis obliterans – also known as popcorn lung. This is an inflammatory condition that affects the tiniest airways within the lungs.
Is vaping good for lung damage?
Evidence of disease has been found in teens as well as elderly adults. Unfortunately, there is no treatment capable of reversing the lung damage caused by EVALI.
Is vaping a toxin?
Samples of lung tissue taken from victims have tested positive for high amounts of vitamin E acetate, a toxin in some vaping products. Vitamin E acetate is believed to be safe when used in nutritional supplements or skincare products, but not when ingested.
Is vaping a long term effect?
With that said, the long term effects of vaping have not been fully studied. While many individuals view vaping as a step in the right direction to eliminate smoking, more research needs to be compiled on the effects it can have on individuals and society as a whole.
How many chemicals are in e-cigarettes?
E-cigarettes heat nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic. While we don’t know exactly what chemicals are in e-cigarettes, Blaha says “there’s almost no doubt that they expose you to fewer toxic chemicals than traditional cigarettes.”
Why are e-cigarettes so popular?
First, many teens believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking. Second, e-cigarettes have a lower per-use cost than traditional cigarettes.
How many people died from vaping in 2020?
As of Jan. 21, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 60 deaths in patients with e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI).
How many people want to quit smoking?
If you have thought about trying to kick a smoking habit, you’re not alone. Nearly 7 of 10 smokers say they want to stop. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health — smoking harms nearly every organ in your body, including your heart. Nearly one-third of deaths from heart disease are the result of smoking and secondhand smoke.
What is the best way to protect your health?
One of the best things you can do to protect and improve your health is to stay informed. Your Health is a FREE e-newsletter that serves as your smart, simple connection to the world-class expertise of Johns Hopkins.
Is vitamin E acetate a cdc?
The CDC has identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern among people with EVALI. Vitamin E acetate is a thickening agent often used in THC vaping products, and it was found in all lung fluid samples of EVALI patients examined by the CDC.
Is vaping bad for you?
Is vaping bad for you? There are many unknowns about vaping, including what chemicals make up the vapor and how they affect physical health over the long term . “People need to understand that e-cigarettes are potentially dangerous to your health,” says Blaha. “Emerging data suggests links to chronic lung disease and asthma, and associations between dual use of e-cigarettes and smoking with cardiovascular disease. You’re exposing yourself to all kinds of chemicals that we don’t yet understand and that are probably not safe.”
What is an e-cigarette?
This raises significant health concerns [1]. Simply put, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are electronic devices designed to vaporize chemical compounds. These devices have different components, including a mouthpiece, a liquid tank, a heating element, and a battery [2]. They come in various shapes, sizes, and device types, and are known by different names to different users. The most common terminologies include e-cigs, vapes, e-hookahs, vape pens, mods, tanks, or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). The process of using the devices is sometimes referred to as vaping or juuling, the latter so named for the particular device brand [3].
What are the health risks of smoking e-cigarettes?
The device is made up of a mouthpiece, liquid tank, a heating element, and a battery. E-cigarette use may pose health risks in the form of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. These health risks have implications to not only the primary user, but the aerosols can also cause secondhand and thirdhand injuries to others in the vicinity. Acute lung injury may also be associated with the use of e-cigarettes, but the underlying cause remains unknown. Clinicians, including hospitalists, pulmonologists, intensivists, medical examiners, pathologists, and the like, should report possible cases as the medical community continues to assess the health risks of e-cigarette use.
What are the symptoms of e-cigarette use?
Most of the patients in their study presented with shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain [12]. The severity of the illness varied from mild shortness of breath requiring oxygen supplementation via nasal cannula to severe debilitating respiratory failure requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation [12,13]. Five patients identified in July and August 2019 had acute lung injury associated with e-cigarette use. These patients were identified in two different hospitals in North Carolina, all were admitted for hypoxemic respiratory failure. All the patients reported a history of recent e-cigarette use. They were initially admitted for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), but their symptoms worsened with conventional treatment for CAP. They were eventually diagnosed with acute exogenous lipoid pneumonia [13]. Another patient had presented with shortness of breath; investigations yielded a diagnosis of spontaneous pneumothorax. An 18-year-old patient had no history of cigarette smoking but endorsed daily use of e-cigarettes. The patient then had a recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax. He had no significant medical or surgical history to increase his propensity for spontaneous pneumothorax [14].
Why is it important to understand the nature and attitude of e-cigarettes use among young adults?
Understanding the nature and attitude of e-cigarettes use among young adults is very important as this is the period when they transition into social contexts (e.g., college, peer pressure, and workplace) often resulting in an increased prevalence in substance use and the development of addictive patterns [18] . This raises a public health concern as it suggests that the younger generations of users, which have the highest rates of electronic cigarettes use, might become addicted to these devices despite unknown long-term physiologic and pathologic consequences [19].
Is vaping associated with pulmonary disease?
So far, most of the literature on vaping-associated pulmonary disease we have are case reports and case series. A high index of suspicion is paramount as there are reports of patients that rapidly progressed to acute respiratory failure requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation [3]. The use of ENDS continues to grow in the United States. For example, while the use of combustible tobacco cigarettes has declined significantly, the United States ENDS market now exceeds 8 billion dollars [4]. At the moment, there are regular advertisements for e-cigarettes, promoting them as viable and safe alternatives to cigarettes smoking despite an absence of any studies to prove superior efficacy to conventional smoking cessation strategies already studied, such as nicotine replacement, bupropion hydrochloride, varenicline, and counseling [5]. E-cigarettes use may pose health risks in the form of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Tobacco cigarette smoking is the primary cause of preventable cardiovascular death in the United States, and smoking cessation has long been the focus of significant public health efforts. The rates of tobacco smoking in the United States have continued to decline and reached historic lows according to a Surgeon General report in 2014. However, with this decline, the use of electronic cigarettes, introduced in 2007, has markedly increased, especially among young people [6]. Healthcare providers should be on the alert for symptoms suggestive of acute lung injury secondary to vaping and remind patients that even though some e-cigarettes contain nicotine, they are currently not approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a cessation aid for smokers. Clinicians, including hospitalists, pulmonologists, medical examiners, primary care physicians, pathologists, and the like, are reminded to report possible cases [3,7]. People should consider not using e-cigarettes. This is especially the case for high-risk groups, including those without prior experiences, teenagers, pregnant women/nursing mothers, or adults who do not currently use oral tobacco products. These health risks have implications to not only the primary user, but the aerosols can also cause secondhand and thirdhand injuries to others in the vicinity. However, the regulations for public e-cigarette use vary across states and are inconsistent across cities within certain states. These variations in restrictions exist in both locations and types of product use, public versus private use, and types of products allowed in certain places [7]. Consumers in most states must be 18 years or older to purchase the device, although underage sales have been reported in retailers and online. The Food and Drug Administration has expressed concerns that certain flavored e-cigarettes are appealing to youth who may be unaware of the products’ addictiveness and some others who may have never tried a nicotine product [8]. There are many compounds in the aerosols and liquids and the selling point mostly used is that it can serve as a “Healthier” alternative to tobacco smoking even though the Food and Drug Administration has not approved this. The American Cancer Society discourages the dual use of electronic cigarettes and cigarettes because such use has not resulted in reduced exposures to the harmful effects of smoking [9,10]. Flavoring was considered by most users as the most important reason for vaping [10]. Over the past year, the Center for Disease Control has drawn attention to severe pulmonary disease associated with the use of electronic cigarette products. There have been reports of more than 200 cases associated with the use of these devices, using both known and unknown products [11]. The exact cause of these findings is still uncertain. Available data have been either case reports or case series. Some of the reported cases of e-cigarette-associated pulmonary illnesses include spontaneous pneumothorax, acute eosinophilic pneumonia, respiratory bronchiolitis-associated interstitial lung disease, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, organizing pneumonia, and acute exogenous lipoid pneumonia [12-14].
Does vaping cause ground glass opacities?
Chest computed tomography scans obtained from patients with vaping-associated lung disease showed significant findings. Ground-glass opacities seem to be a common finding in the imaging studies of most patients with e-cigarette-associated lung disease [16,17].
How does vaping affect heart, lung, and circulatory health?
There is no true long-term vaping research—because the products haven’t been around long enough, but also because most vapers previously smoked cigarettes, and it’s probably impossible to separate the effects caused by years of smoking from any health problems potentially caused by vaping. That’s what makes this 2017 vape study unique. It tracked health markers for 3.5 years in a group of vapers who had never smoked.
Can vaping help smokers quit cigarettes?
It’s often claimed that vaping doesn’t help smokers quit, or even that vaping impedes smoking cessation. However, population studies and a high-quality randomized controlled trial (RCT) of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool indicate otherwise. Vaping seems to be a viable and popular way to reduce or quit cigarette smoking.
Are there dangerous levels of formaldehyde?
A 2015 research letter to the New England Journal of Medicine caused an uproar when its Portland State University authors claimed that e-cigarettes emitted dangerous levels of the carcinogen formaldehyde. The study was immediately challenged for using primitive vaping equipment at unreasonably high voltage levels, thus producing vapor that no user would be able to tolerate.
Is vaping a gateway to teenage smoking?
Many e-cigarette skeptics worry that vaping might lead naive adolescent users to smoking cigarettes, undoing decades of progress in reducing smoking uptake among teens. But that hasn’t happened—at least not at a population level. In fact, since the advent of vaping, teen smoking has fallen rapidly to its lowest level ever. Just 4.2 percent of 12th graders smoked in 2017, according to the CDC. Compare that to 24.6 percent in 1997.
What percentage of vapers quit smoking?
After a year, 18 percent of the vaping group was abstinent from cigarettes—almost twice as many as the smokers who used pharmaceutical nicotine products (9.9 percent). “The figure may sound low,” said the study leader Prof. Peter Hajek, “but…if they were quitting on their own, the quit rate would be about 3 percent.”.
What flavor do vapers prefer?
The survey showed that more than 80 percent of current, former and never smokers who vape preferred fruit or dessert/pastry/bakery flavors. And among the vapers who have completely quit smoking, just 7.7 percent prefer to vape tobacco flavors.
What flavors do vapers like?
Two papers published in 2018 confirm that adult vapers prefer sweet and fruity flavors to the tobacco flavors that most non-vapers assume ex-smokers would like.
What are vaping devices?
Vaping devices, also known as e-cigarettes, vape pens, and e-hookahs among other terms, come in many shapes and sizes. Some look like traditional cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Others are shaped like every-day objects, such as pens or USB memory sticks.
What chemicals are in vaping?
Vaping exposes the lungs to a variety of chemicals. These may include the main active chemicals in tobacco (nicotine) or marijuana (THC), flavorants, and other ingredients that are added to vaping liquids. Plus, other chemicals can be produced during the vaporizing process.
How old do you have to be to vape?
New laws are aimed at curbing vaping among teens. People must now be 21 to buy any tobacco product, including vaping products. And companies can no longer produce and sell flavors that appeal to children like fruit and mint. If you’ve already started vaping or smoking cigarettes, it’s never too late to quit.
Can nicotine be inhaled in a vaporizer?
Plus, other chemicals can be produced during the vaporizing process. “If the liquid has nicotine in it, then the user is inhaling nicotine along with the other ingredients in the liquid,” explains Dr. Thomas Eissenberg, an expert on tobacco research at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Is vaping harmful?
So how safe is vaping? Studies suggest nicotine vaping may be less harmful than traditional cigarettes when people who regularly smoke switch to them as a complete replacement. But nicotine vaping could still damage your health.
Is vaping more popular in high school?
Vaping is now more popular among teens than smoking traditional cigarettes. One in four high school seniors say they vaped nicotine in the past month. And studies have found that teens who vape nicotine may be more likely to go on to smoke traditional cigarettes.
What is the gateway effect of e-cigarettes?
The “gateway” effect of e-cigarettes may be explained by a genetic liability to risk-taking. Wayne Hall, Gary Chan. "E-cigarette use has also not been accompanied by increased cigarette smoking among young people in the United States, as would be the case if e-cigarette use were a major gateway to cigarette smoking.
Does e-cigarette use increase smoking?
"E-cigarette use has also not been accompanied by increased cigarette smoking among young people in the United States , as would be the case if e-cigarette use were a major gateway to cigarette smoking . The latter findings suggest that any gateway effect of e-cigarettes is small at the population level because smoking prevalence has continued to decline, despite an increased uptake of e-cigarettes among young adults in countries that allow their sale."
Did the Massachusetts flavor ban reduce e-cigarette use?
Amanda Katchmar, Adrian Gunawan, Michael Siegel. "These results suggest that the Massachusetts flavor ban and tax did not reduce e-cigarette consumption in the Greater Boston area, and that messaging questioning the safety of e-cigarettes led to an increase in combustible cigarette use.".
Did the Massachusetts flavor ban and tax reduce e-cigarette consumption in the Greater Boston area?
"These results suggest that the Massachusetts flavor ban and tax did not reduce e-cigarette consumption in the Greater Boston area, and that messaging questioning the safety of e-cigarettes led to an increase in combustible cigarette use."
Why is vaping so successful?
Vaping is more success full than other methods because it also mimics (mimics, not reality) other parts of the smoking "experience.". You're inhaling. It has a flavor. It produces what looks like, but isn't, smoke.
Does vaping help with smoking?
ACSH has previously reported that vaping very likely helps smokers quit cigarettes, and maybe even nicotine, for good. Citing some of the same literature we have, Barton reached a similar conclusion about smoking cessation. While acknowledging the limitations of these studies ( discussed here ), she explained:
Is vaping safe for 2021?
By Cameron English — May 25, 2021. Despite increasing evidence that vaping is safer than smoking, uncertainty surrounds the long-term effects of electronic cigarette use. Many in the tobacco control field have used the lack of data to speculate about these unknown risks.
Is vaping bad for you?
After contrasting the overall risk of vaping with smoking, Barton added that some preliminary studies have indeed associated e-cigarette use with various negative outcomes. For example, an onslaught of headlines in mid-2019 warned the public about an outbreak of “e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury” (EVALI). Under-reported at the time was the fact that the injury-causing devices were typically purchased illegally and contained THC or certain dangerous additives, which made them far more harmful than the nicotine-containing devices adult customers can legally purchase in licensed vape shops in the US and UK. Surveying the literature nearly two years later, we get a better sense of the problem:
Is nicotine replacement a tobacco product?
According to Nicotine and Tobacco Research, "If all products containing nicotine derived from tobacco were labeled as 'tobacco products' internationally, then nicotine-replacement therapies would be classified as tobacco products, which they are clearly not.".
Can you buy THC in vape shops?
Under-reported at the time was the fact that the injury-causing devices were typically purchased illegally and contained THC or certain dangerous additives, which made them far more harmful than the nicotine-containing devices adult customers can legally purchase in licensed vape shops in the US and UK.
Is vaping better than smoking?
Compared to the typical news report about vaping —"Vaping is not better than smoking, and it still causes long-term lung damage"—Barton's article illustrated how we should talk about scientific issues when the evidence surrounding them is evolving. Let's consider a few examples.
What is a vape pen?
With vaping, a device (typically a vape pen or a mod — an enhanced vape pen — that may look like a flash drive) heats up a liquid ( called vape juice or e -liquid) until it turns into a vapor that you inhale. “Vaping is a delivery system similar to a nebulizer, which people with asthma or other lung conditions may be familiar with,” says Broderick. ...
What is the food additive used to deepen e-cigarette flavors?
Diacetyl: This food additive, used to deepen e-cigarette flavors, is known to damage small passageways in the lungs.
Is second hand vapor safe?
Secondhand Vapor Isn’t Safe Either. It’s a myth that secondhand emissions from e-cigarettes are harmless. Many people think the secondhand vapor is just water, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The vapor emitted when someone exhales contains a variety of dangerous substances, which may include: Nicotine.
Is it safe to take vitamin E?
And, while it’s safe when taken orally as a supplement or used on the skin, it’s likely an irritant when inhaled. It’s been found in the lungs of people with severe, vaping-related damage.
Does vaping affect the lungs?
Instead of bathing lung tissue with a therapeutic mist, just as a nebulizer does, vaping coats lungs with potentially harmful chemicals. E-liquid concoctions usually include some mix of flavorings, aromatic additives and nicotine or THC (the chemical in marijuana that causes psychological effects), dissolved in an oily liquid base.
What Conditions is Vaping Associated With?
The unique condition associated with vaping is referred by the new medical acronym EVALI.
What Research Currently Exists Around Vaping?
The association between vaping and EVALI is already an established scientific fact. However, it is not yet clear exactly what risk factors contribute to the development of EVALI.
Why is vaping important?
Vaping was initially hailed as an important innovation. It was believed smokers could use e-cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco. This would reduce exposure to nicotine, tar, and other hazardous substances. What’s more, many smokers considered vaping soothing, giving them “something to do with their hands” and a way to react in stressful ...
What is the inflammatory condition that affects the tiniest airways within the lungs?
EVALI is distinct from, but related to, bronchiolitis obliterans – also known as popcorn lung. This is an inflammatory condition that affects the tiniest airways within the lungs.
Is vaping good for lung damage?
Evidence of disease has been found in teens as well as elderly adults. Unfortunately, there is no treatment capable of reversing the lung damage caused by EVALI.
Is vaping a toxin?
Samples of lung tissue taken from victims have tested positive for high amounts of vitamin E acetate, a toxin in some vaping products. Vitamin E acetate is believed to be safe when used in nutritional supplements or skincare products, but not when ingested.
Is vaping a long term effect?
With that said, the long term effects of vaping have not been fully studied. While many individuals view vaping as a step in the right direction to eliminate smoking, more research needs to be compiled on the effects it can have on individuals and society as a whole.
