Mirror Daily

Monday, October 19, 2020
Log in

E-cigarettes Affect The Immune System

By

Man comparing cigarette with e-cigarette.

E-cigarettes are dangerous for your health.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Recent research has shown that e-cigarettes might be as dangerous as normal cigarettes. Over the last few years, these electronic devices have been regarded as a possible replacement for traditional cigarettes.

However, many experts stated that people should be encouraged to quit smoking instead of receiving poor replacements that will do nothing more than keeping them addicted to nicotine. Plus, the costs are the same and even higher.

In addition to this, researchers have now accounted also for the consequences of e-cigarettes on our immune system. During the latest study, a team of scientists analyzed and compared the gene-expression profiles in e-cigarette users, cigarette smokers, and non-smokers.

Based on the results, they established that the use of e-cigarettes leads to significant changes in the nasal mucosa. More precisely, these abnormalities occur in the immune-related gene expression. It is also worth mentioning that these changes have been previously observed in cigarette smokers, meaning that e-cigarettes might have the same effect on our organism as traditional cigarettes.

Nevertheless, further research is needed in order to determine the whole variety of consequences brought by the use of e-cigarettes. Until now, experts are positive that these electronic devices and everything that implies vaping definitely have an effect on the health of consumers.

According to Ilona Jaspers, Ph.D. of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, latest research has proved that e-cigarettes are clearly not a safe alternative for smokers. Furthermore, the data collected until now showed that further investigation is needed to establish the specific risks of using these electronic devices.

She also stated that vaping affects the respiratory immune health, so everyone must be aware of this fact. Worse, based on the results of the latest study, participants who were e-cigarettes users had a greater impact on their gene-expression profile compared to the participants who were cigarette smokers.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no smoke-free law in Southeast states, at least not one that would prevent teenagers and children to start smoking. According to Corinne Graffunder, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, such a regulation is very useful as it helps smokers quit, improve indoor air quality, and it changes people’s perspective.

Plus, smoke-free laws also reduce asthma hospitalizations and decrease the risk of heart attack among Americans who are non-smokers. Hopefully, scientists will find out more about the use of e-cigarettes as soon as possible in order to raise awareness about the potential risks of using these electronic devices.

Image Source:Static Flickr

Electronic Cigarettes Are Not Healthier

By Leave a Comment

"Electronic Cigarettes Are Not Healthier"

The legislation concerning vaping is starting to become clearer.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – The Thoracic Society of America founded a Committee for Tobacco Action that discovered that electronic cigarettes are not healthier than combustible cigarettes. Apparently Pfizer knew about this but refused to share the information, thus endangering the lives of thousands of individuals who believed e-cigarettes were healthy.

The new trend of using e-cigarettes instead of combustible cigarettes is based on a misconception. The latest study discovered that electronic cigarettes are not healthier than combustible ones, on the contrary, they affect the health of users as badly as the regular ones.

Electronic cigarettes have been marketed as safer products because they eliminate the chemical agents that are formed during the combustion of regular cigarettes. Adding the fact that they offer a dose of nicotine in the same way a traditional cigarette would, but without the bad breath, the stench, and the additional chemicals, the devices were soon requested by more and more people.

And according to the CDC, ever since 2011, teenagers stopped smoking combustible cigarettes and started using their electronic counterparts. The latter were not only more accessible because of the loose legislation around vaping, but they also came in fun flavors that aroused the interest of adolescents and young adults.

The CDC discovered that teenagers are starting to smoke e-cigarettes more than they do combustible cigarettes. And in part, this is due to the fact that the first are much better marketed at the younger generations.

The salespeople from vaping kiosks don’t ID the customers as thoroughly as they should. Especially not as thoroughly as clerks from tobacco and liquor stores. And last week’s incident with the teen that is now partially blind due to an e-cigarette exploding in its hands stands witness of the looseness of the vaping industry.

As long as their product is sold it doesn’t matter if electronic cigarettes are not healthier than the combustible ones, or that they are a hazard for people, exploding at the slightest handling mistake.

Only a few days ago, people from Portland alerted the media that tobacco advertisements were placed next to products destined for children like toys and candy. But since e-cigarettes already have flavors like cotton candy, bubblegum, cherry cheesecake, and other sweets for the sweet spot, you can barely distinguish the nicotine bottles from the real candies in a store.

Electronic cigarettes are not healthier than the combustible type, but they are sure advertised that way. And this practice is endangering our children.

E-Cigarettes Speed Regulation Called After Worrying Youth Data

By Leave a Comment

Public health officials are piling up the pressure on the U.S. government to hastily regulate and bar access to e-cigarettes after new research data showed use tripled among high school and middle school teens last year.

The data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday raised worries among health authorities who warn e-cigarettes will build a new generation of nicotine addicts who will eventually turn to smoking conventional cigarettes.

Cigarette use fell more than a quarter over the same period. E-cigarette advocates explained the data could indicate e-cigarettes are steering young people away from traditional cigarettes, a theory denied by tobacco control advocates.

The Food and Drug Administration is the regulatory body of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco. It proposed to expand its authority to e-cigarettes, among other products, in 2014.

FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum announced on Friday the agency is “moving forward to finalize the rule.” Its purpose is to release it in June, but a delay is very probable. The agency was sent more than 135,000 public comments on the move and must review them all, in accordance to the law.

The proposal must be reviewed by the Department of Health and Human Services. The next step is the approval of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, which studies the potential economic consequences of the new regulation.

OMB has not yet obtained the rule, and when it does, it has at least 90 days to approve it.

The proposal would prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to people who are under the age of 18. Also, approval of new products will require FDA approval. Public health officials have also demanded a ban on flavored tobacco products, but also on internet sales and television advertising, which they claim attract children.

The agency has announced the rule would be the first step in a series of potential future rulings.

Some states are moving to set restrictions of their own. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer pushed forward a proposed legislation that would offer the Federal Trade Commission the right to determine what constitutes marketing to children, a step which would allow the FTC to collaborate with states’ attorneys general to impose bans.

At least 43 states have laws that restrict e-cigarettes sales to minors and some are targeting to incorporate e-cigarettes into clean air acts that ban smoking in public places.

Image Source: Guardian Liberty Voice

Categories