Vaping Eliminates Benefit of Smoking Cessation
For people who began vaping as way to stop smoking cigarettes may want to consider quitting after hearing this episode. A large study of people who quit smoking, those who switched to vaping had more than 50 percent higher risk of lung cancer and were twice as likely to die of the disease compared to those who quit outright. The study also suggests that using e-cigarettes to quit traditional cigarettes seems to negate some of the benefits of quitting outright but was still better than continuing to smoke.
To study the safety of vaping, researchers examined a dataset from South Korea's National Health Screening Program which included 4.5 million people.
They were grouped into current smokers, short-term quitters, and long-term quitters, as well as a high-risk group of adults aged 50 to 80.
The data showed the longer people quit cigarettes, the more their risk for lung cancer declined, but not if they took up vaping. Even long-term quitters who had stopped smoking for five or more years had significantly higher rates of lung cancer if they used e-cigarettes. In the high-risk group of the 50- to 80-year-olds, vaping after smoking was linked to a 90 percent higher risk of developing lung cancer and even higher chance of dying from it.
This doesn’t prove that vaping causes lung cancer but suggest that vaping is not benign. Its vapor contains toxic metals like lead, nickel, chromium, and arsenic from the heating coil inside the device.
The takeaway is smokers should not switch to vaping in hopes of reducing their cancer risk.
More Information
Vaping after quitting smoking is linked to lung cancer
A study of 4.5 million people suggests that ex-smokers who take up vaping are more at risk of dying from lung cancer than people who quit without the use of e-cigarettes
Electronic cigarette use after smoking cessation and lung cancer risk
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have gained popularity as a less harmful alternative to conventional cigarettes, yet their associations with lung cancer risk after smoking cessation remain uncertain.
What Are the Harmful Chemicals in Vapes?
E-cigarette aerosol contains dozens of potentially harmful chemicals, even though the liquid itself starts with just four main ingredients: vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, nicotine, and water. Those base ingredients account for roughly 89 to 99% of what you inhale. The remaining 1 to 11% is where the problems concentrate: toxic aldehydes, heavy metals, flavoring compounds, and other byproducts created when the liquid is heated.