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Electronic cigarettes are harmful to the lungs
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The latest study determined that, despite the fact that electronic cigarettes are advertised as a potentially safer alternative to conventional cigarettes, they are still dangerous to the human respiratory tract.
The results of the study were presented at the Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society in Vienna. They are new evidence not in favor of products that are alternative to cigarettes.
When smoking electronic cigarettes a person receives nicotine not through smoke, but through steam. Although a malicious burning process does not occur in this case, the electronic device is still an analog of a conventional cigarette with tobacco. The emergence of electronic cigarettes caused heated discussions about their advertised harmlessness, but convincing scientific arguments could not boast of supporters or opponents of new devices for smoking.
Greek scientists from the University of Athens decided to investigate the short-term effects of using electronic cigarettes on different people, including those who did not have health problems, as well as smokers with normal and damaged lungs.
The study involved eight people who never smoked, and 24 smokers, of whom eleven lungs worked normally, and thirteen suffered from either chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma.
Each of these people smoked an electronic cigarette for ten minutes. After that, the scientists checked the condition of their respiratory tract with a series of tests, including spirometry.
The results showed that in the survey participants electronic cigarettes caused a sharp increase in the resistance of the respiratory tract for ten minutes. Those who have never smoked, the resistance of the airways increased to 206 percent at a rate of 182 percent.
At smokers without infringements of work of lungs the given indicator has risen from 176 to 220 percent. In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, the use of one electronic cigarette did not cause an increase in airway resistance.
"In fact, we do not know if alternative nicotine products, such as electronic cigarettes, are safer than conventional cigarettes, although advertising convinces us of it. This study helps us understand how these products can be potentially dangerous, "said Professor Christina Gratziu, one of the authors of the survey.
"We found a sharp increase in airway resistance among participants in our study, which suggests that electronic cigarettes can harm a person immediately after use. Further research is needed to see if the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes continue in the long term, "Professor Gratziu added.
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