Vaping Could Cause Cancer and Heart Disease, Study Says

A woman vapes in a file photograph. Steven Senne/AP Photo

Vaping could cause cancer and heart disease, according to a study.

Researchers found that nicotine inhaled from e-cigarettes can be converted into chemicals that damage DNA.

The team from New York University exposed mice and human bladder and lung cells to e-cigarette smoke and found DNA changes that were similar to those observed with secondhand smoke.

The team is warning that their findings call into question the belief that vaping is a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.

A smoker is engulfed by vapours as he smokes an electronic vaping machine during lunch time in central London on Aug. 9, 2017. Photo by Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

Cells in the mice mutated and became cancerous at a much higher rate than in a control group of animals that breathed filtered air.

The lung and bladder cells that were exposed to nicotine turned into tumor tissue more easily.

The mice were exposed to smoke with 10 milligrams of nicotine per millimeter, meaning it was as potent as the smoke that humans inhale.

Because of this and other factors, some researchers have dismissed the findings.

Mass. A school-based survey shows nearly 1 in 11 U.S. students have used marijuana in electronic cigarettes, heightening concern about the new popularity of vaping among teens. E-cigarettes typically contain nicotine, but results published Monday, Sept. 17 Fox screenshot

“This study shows nothing at all about the dangers of vaping,” Peter Hajek, director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London told the Guardian. “It doesn’t show that vaping causes cancer.”

“This is one in a long line of false alarms which may be putting people off the switch from smoking to vaping which would undoubtedly be of great benefit to them,” he added. “The best current estimate is that vaping poses, at worst, some 5% of risks of smoking.”

Tobacco smoke contains over 70 chemicals that are known to cause cancer, while e-cigarette vapor contains far fewer toxic chemicals.

A man smokes an electronic cigarette in the street. As “vaping” grows in popularity, a parliamentary report released is recommending that the government establish new legislation for regulating e-cigarettes. AP Photo/Richard Vogel

Despite this, e-cigarette smokers could still have a higher risk than nonsmokers of developing lung and bladder cancers and heart diseases.

The study’s authors recommend that further long-term studies are needed.

New Study: Vapers Are Nearly Twice as Likely to Wheeze

The use of electronic cigarettes, or E-cigarettes, is associated with wheezing in adults, according to a new study.

Researchers with the University of Rochester Medical Center have discovered that vapers are nearly twice as likely to suffer wheezing and difficulty breathing compared with those who do not smoke or use E-cigarettes.

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Study author Deborah J. Ossip said the discovery is consistent with prior research that suggests vaping can damage lung cells.

“The take-home message is that electronic cigarettes are not safe when it comes to lung health,” said Ossip, a tobacco research expert and professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center

The researcher said that the “changes we’re seeing with vaping, both in laboratory experiments and studies of people who vape, are consistent with early signs of lung damage, which is very worrisome.”

Wheezing, according to the Mayo Clinic, is described as a high-pitched sound made while breathing.

What’s more, data from the United States shows that younger people are vaping. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2018, E-cigarette usage increased by 78 percent among ninth to 12th graders and about 48 percent in sixth to eighth graders.