Electronic cigarettes harm your lungs

Despite the fact that e-cigarettes are promoted as a safe alternative to traditional tobacco products, they may cause lung problems, Greek scientists have found, according to a press release from the European Lung Foundation.

The research was presented on Sunday at the annual congress of the European Respiratory Society in Vienna.

Electronic cigarettes deliver nicotine to the lungs using water vapor rather than smoke, without including a combustion stage in the smoking process. There is currently considerable debate about the safety and effectiveness of such a product.

Scientists from the University of Athens decided to evaluate the short-term effect of using e-cigarettes among various categories of people, including those who have not yet complained about their health, as well as smokers who already have pulmonary problems.

The experiment involved eight never-smoking volunteers, as well as 24 smokers, of whom 11 had healthy lungs and 13 suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma. Each participant smoked an e-cigarette for 10 minutes. The researchers looked at their airways using several tests, including spirometry (a method that measures lung capacity based on the force of exhalation).

The results showed that in all volunteers, e-cigarettes caused an increase in airway resistance (overcoming this resistance is part of normal pulmonary function) lasting up to 10 minutes. Among those who had never smoked, the rate ranged from 182% to 206%. Among smokers with normal spirometry, the increase in airway resistance ranged from 176% to 220%. Among those with asthma or chronic lung disease, e-cigarettes had no immediate effect on this measure.

"We do not yet know for sure whether products such as e-cigarettes may be safer than conventional cigarettes, as their manufacturers claim. This study helps us understand that these products may be potentially dangerous," the press release quoted him as saying. one of the authors, member of the tobacco control committee at the European Respiratory Society, Christina Grazu.

She said more research is needed to understand the long-term impact of vaping on human health.