Does Vaping Cause Genetic Damage?
Science
The history of e-cigarettes dates back to the early 1960s, when a researcher named Herbert A. Gilbert first filed a patent for a “smokeless non-tobacco cigarette” that would heat a liquid solution and produce a flavored vapor. However, Gilbert’s invention did not gain popularity at the time, and the patent expired in the 1970s.
It wasn’t until the early 2000s that the idea of e-cigarettes began to gain traction again. In 2003, a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik invented the modern e-cigarette, which used a battery-powered heating element to vaporize a nicotine solution. Hon Lik’s invention quickly became popular in China. And eventually introduced to the international market.
The first e-cigarettes to hit the U.S. market became imported from China in 2006.
Early e-cigarettes became often marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes. And they quickly gained a following among smokers who were looking to quit or reduce their tobacco use.
Over the next few years, e-cigarettes evolved and became more popular. In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) attempted to regulate e-cigarettes as a drug delivery device. However, the court ruled that the FDA lacked the authority. In 2016, the FDA finalized regulations that classified e-cigarettes as tobacco products. And required manufacturers to submit their products for FDA review.
E-cigarettes became posed as the healthy alternative to tobacco cigarettes. However, a recent study from Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California proves contrary. The study shows similar damage in vapers and smokers alike.
Moreover USC; “analyzed epithelial cells taken from the mouths of vapers, smokers, and people who had never vaped or smoked. They found that vapers and smokers had similar levels of DNA damage—more than twice the amount found in non-users. DNA damage was higher among those who vaped or smoked more frequently. It was also higher in vapers who used vape pods and mods, as well as sweet-, fruit- or mint-flavored vapes.”
Ahmad Besaratinia, PhD, MPH, professor of research population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine and the study’s senior author said:
“For the first time, we showed that the more vapers used e-cigarettes, and the longer they used them, the more DNA damage occurred in their oral cells,”
“The same pattern held up in smokers.”
“We designed our study to tease out the effects of vaping in e-cigarette users who were neither cigarette smokers nor dual users at any point in their lives,”
“The devices and flavors that are most popular and highly consumed by youth vapers, as well as adults, are the ones that are associated with the most DNA damage,” Besaratinia said. “Clearly these results have significant implications, both for public health and regulatory agencies.”
The journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research just published the research.
What makes this research special is that it “is the first to clearly distinguish between the DNA damage that occurs in exclusive vapers versus smokers and to provide details about the risks vapers face based on how often they vape and what devices and flavors they use. Vapers are difficult to study because they typically have a history of cigarette smoking or are dual users, who both vape and smoke tobacco cigarettes.”
“The new study builds on earlier research from Besaratinia and his team, which showed that vaping is linked to alterations in gene expression, epigenetic changes and other biological changes that are implicated in disease development.”
Today, e-cigarettes find themselves widely used around the world. While some people use e-cigarettes as a tool to quit smoking, others use them recreationally or as a fashion accessory. Despite their popularity, ongoing debate about the safety and long-term health effects of e-cigarettes rages. And more research becomes required to fully understand their impact on public health.
Stella Tommasi and Hannah Blumenfeld of the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of USC joined in the study as well!
Science
Does Vaping Cause Genetic Damage?
