Vaping 'can damage vital immune system cells'

Article from BBC News
Vaping 'can damage vital immune system cells' - BBC News
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Vaping can damage vital immune system cells and may be more harmful than previously thought, a study suggests.

Researchers found e-cigarette vapour disabled important immune cells in the lung and boosted inflammation.

The researchers "caution against the widely held opinion that e-cigarettes are safe".

However, Public Health England advises they are much less harmful than smoking and people should not hesitate to use them as an aid to giving up cigarettes.

The small experimental study, led by Prof David Thickett, at the University of Birmingham, is published online in the journal Thorax.

Previous studies have focused on the chemical composition of e-cigarette liquid before it is vaped.

In this study, the researchers devised a mechanical procedure to mimic vaping in the laboratory, using lung tissue samples provided by eight non-smokers.

They found vapour caused inflammation and impaired the activity of alveolar macrophages, cells that remove potentially damaging dust particles, bacteria and allergens.

They said some of the effects were similar to those seen in regular smokers and people with chronic lung disease.

They caution the results are only in laboratory conditions and advise further research is needed to better understand the long-term health impact - the changes recorded took place only over 48 hours.

An independent review of the latest evidence on e-cigarettes was published by Public Health England in February.

The review concluded there was "overwhelming evidence" they were far safer than smoking and "of negligible risk to bystanders" and advised they should be available on prescription because of how successful they had been in helping people give up smoking.

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Prof Thickett said while e-cigarettes were safer than traditional cigarettes, they may still be harmful in the long-term as research was in its infancy.

"In terms of cancer causing molecules in cigarette smoke, as opposed to cigarette vapour, there are certainly reduced numbers of carcinogens," he said.

"They are safer in terms of cancer risk - but if you vape for 20 or 30 years and this can cause COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], then that's something we need to know about.

"I don't believe e-cigarettes are more harmful than ordinary cigarettes - but we should have a cautious scepticism that they are as safe as we are being led to believe."

Martin Dockrell, tobacco control lead at Public Health England, said: "E-cigarettes are not 100% risk-free but they are clearly much less harmful than smoking.

"Any smoker considering e-cigarettes should switch completely without delay."

 

expert reaction to lab study on the effects of e-cigarette vapour on lung cells


A paper published in Thorax looked at the effects of e-cigarette vapour on lung cells in the lab.



Prof Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, said:

“This is a well conducted study focused on a major immune cell at the interface of air and tissue in the lung – the alveolar macrophage. The authors show that alveolar macrophages release potential tissue damaging compounds when exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of e-cigarette vapour condensate.

“This study provides further evidence that challenges the view that vaping presents only minimal risks. The argument that, since vaping is better than smoking cigarettes any effects of vape on lung cells are not important – is increasingly becoming a specious one. First, because airway cells lining the lower airway are exposed to much lower concentrations of nicotine if it absorbed at sites other than the lower airway such as the gut and skin. Second, this study, and other studies using human airway cells and animal models, have shown that non-nicotine constituents of EC vapor also have adverse effects on lower lung cells. By contrast, other methods of smoking cessation will not expose lower airway cells to this complex mix of putative toxins.

“A limitation of this study, acknowledged by the authors, is that it remains difficult to replicate in laboratory studies, the duration and dose of EC vapour that alveolar macrophages are exposed under real-life conditions. However, this study convincingly shows that EC vapour has the capacity to induce adverse effects in these cells.”



Prof John Britton, Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies at the University of Nottingham, said:

“This study demonstrates evidence that lung cells exposed to electronic cigarette vapour become inflamed, as would be expected given that electronic cigarette vapour contains oxidant and other pro-inflammatory constituents. This indicates that long-term use of electronic cigarettes is likely to have adverse effects, as is widely recognised by leading health authorities in the UK including the Royal College of Physicians and Public Health England.

“However, since electronic cigarettes are used almost exclusively in the UK by current or former smokers, the key question is how this adverse effect compares with that of exposure to cigarette smoke. The current study does not address that question, but given the much lower levels and range of toxins in electronic cigarette vapour relative to cigarette smoke, the answer is likely to be substantially less.

“The harsh truth is that smoking kills, and smokers who switch completely to electronic cigarettes are likely substantially to reduce the likelihood of premature death and disability.”

expert reaction to lab study on the effects of e-cigarette vapour on lung cells | Science Media Centre

 

Horse shit. I still get the common cold every year since vaping (big deal) i swear when i was puffing on the cancer sticks i was getting sick more times each year. That nasty green chest cough was more prominent when i was smoking fags though.

 

Just read the study and to say it has been cherry picked is an understatement.
The author accepts a lot of issues with their own study, and cannot be taken as is suggested by Prof Jonathan Grigg.
I think that everyone accepts the risk and long term risks of any form of inhalation, but also as Prof John Britton Says E-cigs while still a risk are of a much lower risk than that of fags. There has just been a report from UK government lawyers and government scientists that the UK should make vaping easier than it is now.
What people seem to forget is that Vaping is aimed at smokers not none smokers and that age restrictions are in place. The use of Vaping of course will have a long term effect but it will most certainly be less than long term smoking.

Jes some of these studies should be locked away, as always studies are all subjective whether is be from the scientist running it or from the sponsor paying for it, and they should be treated as such.

Just my view anyhow.

 

And this is what PHE (Public Health England) says about it in an interview with BBC

 

Excellent interview--really well explained by PHC

 

True and yet again old studies been rehashed.
Now when are the LOS boffins gonna take notice, maybe when they no longer get kick backs to ignore it I guess