28 September 2023 , 13:00
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Most of us are aware just how bad smoking is for us, but what about vaping?
Well the answer is it could be very bad, according to one doctor - who claims puffing on e-cigarettes is actually more dangerous than smoking tobacco.
Californian eye surgeon, Dr Brian Boxer Wachler, warned that vaping essentially 'barbecues the lungs' in a shocking new TikTok video which has so far attracted more than six million views. He said: “Vape temperatures can be significantly hotter than cigarette smoke, so vape literally could be barbecuing your lungs.
“[This could] explain why more younger people who vape need lung transplants versus younger people who smoke cigarettes,” he explained. Despite the claim, it is still a widely held belief in the medical community that vaping is safer than smoking - which is still the single biggest risk factor for lung cancer.
However, research carried out in recent years has shown that vaping does indeed pose a range of serious health risks, with the lungs and heart most affected. One such study, published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, actually found that vaping causes greater inflammation to the lungs compared to smoking.
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Earlier this year, the American Heart Association (AHA) revealed that the combination of nicotine, thickeners, solvents, and flavours in vape e-cigarettes poses greater risks to heart health than smoking cigarettes. Last year, research by the AHA showed young people who vaped had a 15 per cent greater risk of stroke than smokers.
Is second-hand vaping a health issue?
You may think that inhaling second-hand vape smoke wouldn't be particularly harmful, but research has shown this not to be the case. Teams at universities in Virginia and North Carolina found that when e-cigarette users vaped in their cars for less than ten minutes, the air around them became thick with potentially poisonous particulate matter known specifically as PM2.5.
These particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter can penetrate deeply into the lung, irritate and corrode the alveolar wall, and thus impair lung function.
In his video, Dr Boxer Wachler referenced a study carried out last year and published in Critical Reviews in Toxicology, which showed that of 11,350 patients with vape lung damage, half vaped both nicotine and THC, the high-inducing ingredient found in cannabis.
“Lung damage can happen with any kind of vape,” Dr Boxer Wachler said, before adding "please don't vape.”
Effect of vaping on the lungs
With the effect of vaping on the lungs being so severe, there is a condition specifically named after it. E-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury - also known as EVALI - is a severe lung illness linked to the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping products.
It was officially recognised as an illness in 2019. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms of EVALI include:
- Gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, or diarrhoea
Respiratory symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain
- Nonspecific constitutional symptoms, like fever, chills, or weight loss.
“Some patients have reported that their symptoms developed over a few days, while others have reported that their symptoms developed over several weeks,” the CDC says. “A lung infection does not appear to be causing the symptoms.”
If you experience symptoms of EVALI you should speak to your GP.
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What do YOU think? Do you feel that vaping is safer than smoking? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below: