Nowadays, anywhere you look you can see a pile of smoke coming from a fancy vape. The smell is incredible, they taste pretty good and they help users give up smoking. Still, with all that said, how good are they for your health?
A study by Cancer Research UK has discovered that vaping may, in fact, be a healthier alternative to smoking. The new vaping research conflicts other research by suggesting that vapers are much healthier than smokers.
The study looked at five different groups. The groups were combustible cigarette users, former smokers who now smoke e-cigs, former smokers on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), and current smokers who also smoke e-cigs or also use NRT.
The study found that vaping and NRT-only users had significantly lower levels of carcinogens, an agent that directly effects cancer, than cigarette smokers, cigarettes and e-cigs smokers and smokers of cigarettes who are also NRT users.
The research involved investigating the urine and saliva of up to 181 participants. The researchers found that levels of NNAL, a chemical linked to cancer, was 97.5 percent lower in ex-smokers who vape compared to continuous smokers.
Lion Shahab, one of the scientists working on the study, told Digital Trends:
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The take-home message for smokers and e-cigarette users is that using e-cigarettes long-term is likely to carry substantial health benefits, certainly in relation to cancer risk, compared with continued smoking. E-cigarettes are certainly safer than combustible cigarettes
Shahab says the next step of the vaping research will need to look at smokers over a longer period of time to determine their respiratory and cardiovascular health.
H/T: Digital Trends
