HEALTH ISSUES SURROUNDING VAPING

In recent years, increasing numbers of people have turned to electronic cigarettes in light of the established health risks associated with smoking. However, it would be fair to say that the jury is still out on the long-term benefits of switching to e-cigarettes.

A study published in Science News (12 February, 2016) explored some of the slowly-emerging research done so far on this issue. It quotes Ilona Jaspers of the University of North Carolina and a study that identifies new health risks associated with the practice of vaping. Her and her colleagues also questioned how effectively vaping reduces the already-known health risks of conventional smoking practices. They scraped cells from the nostrils of otherwise healthy people who smoked or vaped or did neither. They then measured activity levels in these cells of 594 genes associated with immune response. Among the smokers, 53 genes functioned less effectively. However, in the vapers, 358 in total were working less effectively.

Clinical results indicated that some of the liquids used for vaping seemed to be more harmful than others. The compound cinnamaldehyde, which is found in cola-flavoured vaping liquid and others, seemed particularly harmful.

The same article also quoted research from the University of Louisville in Kentucky that found that exposing mice to e-cigarette vapers increased plaque build-up in the circulatory system, which is a sign of atherosclerosis associated with cardiac disease.

Further information about this can be found at: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/vaping-linked-host-new-health-risks

For more information about smoking cessation and acupuncture, go here: http://www.londonacupuncturetherapy.co.uk/smoking.php