A new study has provided further evidence that vaping has no harmful implications for health, at least in the short to medium term. Carried out for Fontem Ventures, an Imperial Brands subsidiary that manufactures the Blu closed-system e-cigarette, the experiment involved a large group of smokers who volunteered to use a reduced risk product.
Scientists tested for short and longer-term effects
The clinical trial followed more than 200 volunteers who switched from smoking to an e-cigarette and used it continuously for two years; during this period they were monitored continuously for health problems, and at the end of the study they were checked for a range of key markers. The researchers found that there were no serious health issues linked to e-cig use; some users suffered headaches, coughing, sore throats and nasopharyngitis shortly after switching, but these faded over time.
More importantly, the volunteers showed no signs of heart or lung problems at the end of the trial. Nicotine levels were close to those at the start of the period; withdrawal symptoms were not significant, and had more or less disappeared by the second month. There were also no signs of weight gain, a common problem when people quit smoking using traditional methods. The overall conclusion was that “the aerosol of the EVP (Electronic Vapour Product) at study was well tolerated and not associated with any clinically relevant health concerns after usage for up to 24 months.”
Funding will attract critics – but the science is sound
While this study is likely to be criticised because it was carried out for the tobacco industry, the actual research was done by independent labs. The results were analysed by a team from Fontem headed by company science director Tanvir Walele, then peer-reviewed before publication in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. This research agrees with an earlier review by the Cochrane Collaboration, an internationally respected independent group; Cochrane also found no health risks associated with vaping.
Really Totti because I quit ciggs and switched to vaping over 4 years ago now, and my Dr. says my heart is in fantastic shape, as is the rest of my health that was deterorating under my smoking habit….
Well another study that was not funded by Tobacco industry found that vaping causes harm to heart veins ! hum…who do I believe?? its hard…the one financed by tobacoo companies who are trying to sell their products or neutral study??
I read that study; it was complete crap. They compared 30 minutes of vaping to 5 minutes of smoking, tested ONLY aortal stiffness, and then news outlets picked it up and proceeded to scream “WE DON’T LIKE VAPING SO DON’T DO IT. HERE’S WHY IT’S BAD.”.
Seriously, all the study showed was that 30 minutes of vaping created the same amount of aortal stiffness as 5 minutes of smoking. If that’s a concern for you, vape for 5 minutes instead of 30 and boom, it has less of an effect on aortal stiffness than cigarettes.
I suggest actually READING the studies themselves and not just the articles speculating and spouting biased nonsense.
Duh.