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Study finds e-cigarettes affect airways, and quickly

The electronic cigarettes marketed as a safer alternative to the real thing produce immediate changes in users' airways, according to a new study.

By Amy Norton, ReutersThu, Jan 05 2012 at 3:21 PM EST
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electronic cigarette
LIGHTING UP: E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that allow users to inhale a vaporized liquid nicotine solution instead of tobacco smoke. They were designed as a way for smokers to get their nicotine fix without exposure to the toxins in tobacco smoke. (Photo: ZUMA Press)
NEW YORK - The electronic cigarettes marketed as a safer alternative to the real thing produce immediate changes in users' airways, a small study suggests.
 
Researchers in Greece saw changes in the lung function of healthy smokers who puffed on an e-cigarette for just five minutes — although it's not clear what the long-term result of those responses might be in regular e-cigarette users, the team reports in the journal Chest.
 
"E-cigarettes" are battery-powered devices that allow users to inhale a vaporized liquid nicotine solution instead of tobacco smoke. They were designed as a way for smokers to get their nicotine fix without exposing themselves, or other people, to the toxins in tobacco smoke.
 
But some scientists, including officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, warn that too many questions remain about the safety of these products.
 
"This is the first evidence that just one (e-cigarette) use can have acute physiologic effects," said lead researcher Constantine I. Vardavas, of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at the Harvard School of Public Health.
 
For the new study, Vardavas and colleagues in Athens had 30 healthy smokers puff on an e-cigarette to see how it affected their airways.
 
The researchers found that after five minutes, users showed signs of airway constriction — as measured by several types of breathing tests — and of inflammation.
 
It is not known whether that short-term response could translate into health effects in the long run, including lung diseases like emphysema.
 
"More studies on the long-term effects are needed," Vardavas told Reuters Health.
 
But, he noted, if e-cigarettes trigger airway effects after just a few minutes, that raises concerns about repeated use of the products over time.
 
"There are claims that e-cigarettes have no health effects," Vardavas said. "But that's not correct."
 
An industry spokesperson defended the products.
 
"This is a product that eliminates second-hand and third-hand smoke," said Ray Story, CEO of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association.
 
Third-hand smoke refers to the toxic particles that remain on smokers' clothes, furniture and other surfaces long after second-hand smoke has cleared.
 
"We already know e-cigarettes are much safer than the conventional cigarette," Story said, "because you're not burning it, and you don't have the five or six thousand ingredients in cigarettes, which are mostly dangerous chemicals."
 
Story said that e-cigarettes contain only five main ingredients: nicotine, water, propylene glycol, glycerol and flavoring.
"These ingredients are all FDA-approved," Story said.
 
But the FDA says on its website that "e-cigarettes may contain ingredients that are known to be toxic to humans, and may contain other ingredients that may not be safe."
 
Indeed, the FDA and the e-cigarette industry have had a rocky relationship.
 
In 2010, the agency sent warnings to five makers of e-cigarettes for marketing them illegally as stop-smoking aids. The FDA also tried to regulate e-cigarettes as drugs — and thereby block their importation into the U.S. — but a U.S. court ruled that the FDA could only regulate the devices as tobacco products.
 
Vardavas said it's not clear why e-cigarettes increased airway constriction in this study. But when they had 10 of the study participants use "control" devices — e-cigarettes that had the cartridges removed — they did not see the same airway effects.
 
So one or more ingredients in the e-cigarette may be responsible, but it's not known which they are, Vardavas said.
 
The study was partly funded by the Hellenic Cancer Society in Greece. The researchers report no financial conflicts of interest.
 
It's possible, according to Vardavas, that if people used e-cigarettes as a temporary "bridge" to quitting smoking, any short-term effects of the products would be outweighed by the long-term health benefits.
 
But no one knows if e-cigarettes actually do help smokers kick the habit.
 
"If you're trying to quit," Vardavas advised, "stick to the methods that are known to work."
 
Those, he noted, include nicotine patches and gum, prescription medications like bupropion (Zyban) and varenicline (Chantix), and counseling.
 

 

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Related Topics: FDA, Health & Well Being, Research & Innovation

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anonymous
hideandseek 01/08/2012 13:11 PM

So, I should keep smoking (have already smoked for 40+ years) and die of cancer instead of having some maybe side effects from the e cigarette.

anonymous
Plinky 01/08/2012 11:27 AM

That long post would be MichelleM's

anonymous
Plinky 01/08/2012 11:27 AM

Started using an e-cigg last week. Haven't had a real (or "analog" as they put it now) cigarette since. I've been smoking for over 20 years it took almost nothing to put them down, hopefully for good.

I have noticed no ill effects since starting, rather benefits since I no longer wake up in the morning and hack my brains out for roughly 10 minutes, my clothes or apartment or truck no longer smell like cigarettes, and little by little my energy & breathing levels are coming back..... More

anonymous
D Shields 01/08/2012 08:55 AM

I was able to quit by using an electronic cigarette it has been wonderful and cost saving and I would recommend people changing over @ least if they cant kick the habit completely!!! I am in support of more research tho as long as it isn't just propaganda!

anonymous
AndrewK 01/06/2012 19:40 PM

Nicotine causes bronhial contriction. It's a well, known and published effect. Obviously the author doesnt understand that the study is saying that e-cigarrettes arent doing anything other than what inhaled nictoine does nby itself.

anonymous
MichelleM 01/06/2012 11:42 AM

Three months ago I seen a group of teenagers and two were using e-cigs with the flavored nicotine in bottles. I noticed one of the e-cigs were pink and had to ask the girls a few questions about them? I couldn't believe that a middle aged man from a internet website met these young ladies and sold them three electric cigarettes, three bottles of the flavored liquid and gave them two additional bottles free, if the teens told friends and helped him and his wife get more business. More business.... More

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