Sitting down to a lecture years ago, my amusement centres tingled when the speaker opened with: “Half of what we are going to teach you is wrong, and half of it is right. Our problem is that we don’t know which half is which.” This was attributed to the American cardiologist Dr Charles Sidney Burwell, who first said it to his pupils in 1944 as the Dean of Harvard Medical School.
This idea still holds true today and eternally roams at the back of my mind while reading research papers. I have a sneaking suspicion that it may turn out to be applicable when considering vaping. E-cigarettes have been marketed to us as a ‘safe’ alternative to cigarettes, but have we been sold a pup?
E-cig liquids contain all sorts of lovelies, including flavours and other chemicals like aldehydes, carbonyls, propylene glycol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein and vegetable glycerine. There is also a sprinkling of toxic metals such as arsenic, chromium, nickel, and lead. Not to mention that some 20mg/ml vapes contain a heart attack-inducing level of 40mg of nicotine (a similar amount to smoking one to two 20-packs of cigarettes).
That just doesn’t read like the ingredients of a health tonic to me. Moreover, contrary to what was initially envisaged, E-cigs would act as an alternative to regular cigarettes, due to the massive addictive nature of nicotine and the repetitive physical act of smoking, vaping is acting as a gateway to smoking cigarettes for many young people.
The latest oral research papers are finding that vaping is detrimental to our mouths and throats. It causes the throat and mouth to dry out, soft tissue sensations of burning, increased bone-eating gum disease, bad tastes, whiffy breath, sore throats, coughing, tonsillitis, uvulitis, throat swelling, headaches, nausea and laryngitis. Interestingly, vapes have been linked to teeth decaying more because they cause the enamel to soften.
Read more: Chancellor’s vape tax increase will ‘hurt working people’, says Labour MP
Our bezzy mate, the oral microbiome, doesn’t escape the battering, either. When the microbiome is disturbed, it allows the harmful organisms to take hold, which can leave a person with a dose of thrush or herpes.
Finishing on an up note, the body is designed to repair itself, and given half a chance, even lung cells can regenerate. Only time will tell if it is a happy or disturbing fairy tale ending for the E-cig.
