The health risk/benefits of e-cigs by Yaniv riz/MD

[yanivriz]

In order to contribute to this great forum, I have decided to make a quick health review of e-cigs.

my name is Yaniv riz, and I practice medicine in Israel.


the first, and most important thing to say is what you guys already know-nicotine is addictive!
if you do not smoke or have already a nicotine addiction-do not try e-cigs.

e-cigs are meant for those who have already been addicted to nicotin via a cigarette.
and this little article will discuss the pro's and con's of this addiction, focusing on primarily nicotine it self, and the additives in e-cigs.

lets get started...

nicotine it self is not considered a carcinogenic (cause for cancer) in the medical literature, there were some studies that found it to be a statistically significant factor with breast cancer ,and was proven to contribute to angiogenesis of cancerous cells (meaning it might not be the cause for cancer but can help already cancerous cells to multiply, by helping more blood vessels to generate in the body, and feed it).

nicotine has been known since a long time to cause child defects, in case it was used by pregnant women.

nicotine is a powerful stimulant, a bit more than caffeine, thus can cause heart arrhythmia disorders ,prone in people with existing heart problems, thus it should be avoided by people with heart dieses.


now for the good part of it-

nicotine has been proven to be beneficial for Alzheimer patients, and to slow the progression of this disease, and to lower significantly the risk of even having it.

nicotine has a significant power to lower the chances of skin cancer, especially those caused by a virus, and are prone in immuno suppressed subjects, like HIV or transplanted people.

because of nicotine being a stimulate, it lowers depression, heightens your mode, and makes you feel concentrated will doing a task.


the bottom line-
if you are not pregnant, or having a known heart dieses, it is just like having a coup of coffee, and even a bit better.

what about the other stuff in e-juice?

if the other components are mainly PG or VG ,than these are inert chemicals, meaning that other than possible allergic reaction-do nothing in your body .thus the are not metabolized nor absorbed by your system.

the flavoring additives might be dangerous, especially menthol, that has been know to almost double the risk of cancer in cigarettes.
this doesn't mean that vaping it would cause cancer, because a burning process is much different, and chemically altering than just vaping it, but still I personally would avoid it, and wouldn't conduct this experiment on my body.


otherwise than caner, and actually the most known disease the smoking cause-is COPD.
since this disease is less "media attractive" than cancer, little know about this risk.
COPD-or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is the no-1 killer of smokers.

it is caused by the tar that is present in analogue cigs, and isn't present in vaping.


so finally to say-

if you are addicted to nicotine .it will be strongly advised for you to switch to e-cigs.
if you aren't pregnant or having a current heart disease, than vaping is actually like stopping your smoking habit. at least medically speaking.

in all other way, vaping is much better than smoking ,and eliminates the most 2 nectarous smokers disease such as cancer and COPD.

so enjoy your vape, and do it responsibly.

 

[dennic]

Thank you for a very nice nutshell analysis. Many have done pages more and will try to refute or deny these simple facts you stated. I used your explanations today to a non-smoker who tried to berate and belittle me in front of co-workers whom I'd just told that I'm trying vaping to help me quit. They were very supportive and told my critic to be silent until he was more informed. Thank you!!!!!

 

[classwife]

Moved to Health, Safety and E-Smoking from New Members

 

[PittBoss]

Thank you for sharing that information here Yanivriz!

 

[Stosh]

Thanks, Yaniv very informative., and Welcome to ECF !!!

If you're interested there is a private section of ECF for medical doctors, here : http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/medical-professionals-private-forum/

Just contact an Administrator for access...

 

[yanivriz]

thanks! Iv submitted a request.

 

[pyro13g]

So what, or any thoughts, on what causes the occasional to chronic flem feeling in some peoples throats from vaping?

 

[Petrodus]

So what, or any thoughts, on what causes the occasional to chronic flem feeling in some peoples throats from vaping?

The lungs are healing and discharging ... Many notice, what they think, is abnormal spitting
after switched to vaping. It's normal ... Just not normal for smokers.

I'm sure yanivriz can explain the reasons better than I can

 

[yanivriz]

most quitting smokers experience flem it their few weeks to 8 months after quieting.
when you smoke analogs,you destroy little "brush" like cell organelles that are called cilia.
these organelles are responsible for cleaning your bronchus from foreign materiel.
when quitting,those cilia grow gradually back,and you start to cough flem.

there are 3 types of flem you need to notice:

1-black dotted flem-that's the "good" flem indicating tar removal from your lungs.
2-transparent flem-indicates your e-juice (mainly seen in VG).
3-yellow-thick flem- indicating some kind of bronchitis,thus needing to see your PMD for consulting treatment.

if the flem is dotted black,than that's fine and a good sign of regaining your dead cilia.
if its white/transparent,and consistent, especially in the morning-you might consider replacing your e-juice,as this could be a symptom of intolerance,or could naturally occur if your vaping more than 4-5 cc of e-juice on a daily basis.
this type isn't bad,because its your normal body response to the deposition of fatty like juice. this doesn't harm the lungs,nor kill your cilia like smoking does.

 

[Digital-Dragon]

Thanks for this.

I experienced the black specs in phlegm, lasted for maybe a month. But it was after like 10 months of vaping and being tobacco free. It seems like it may have been caused by a flavor I was vaping... It was an organic gingerbread flavor extraction from Nature's Flavors. The numerous black specs and abnormally high phlegm production both went away about a week or two after I switched flavors. Maybe the ginger was helping to rid my lungs of tar? I'm really not sure...

 

[yanivriz]

Sounds like somewhat of a mild allergic reaction to somewhat component in the ginger juice, that was causing you excessive phlegm.
While allergic phlegm is white/transparent, you still have left over tar from your smoking period, thus your phlegm was black/grey spotted.
You will have tar in your lungs for the rest of your life, but as time goes by, it will seriously decrease, while this event has taken you a step forward towards that goal

I'm not sure that you should conclude that if so, then you should continue ginger vaping, since in the other hand, excessive phlegm can easily get infected, and lead to pneumonia or bronchitis.

Thus the cost-benefit ratio here is not so clear to me.

 

[DaveP]

Thanks for the analysis and you contribution to ECF, Yanivriz!

It's interesting that we see so many more uninformed reviews of ecigs, usually written by anti-smoking types. It's refreshing to see an MD with an unbiased opinion on vaping. We all know the benefits we have experienced and most of our doctors in the United States encourage us to vape instead of smoking.

 

[Digital-Dragon]

Thanks. I'm considering trying that flavor again, as I like it so much, and to see if it has a similar effect on me this time.

 

[lilith79]

My sister in law was told by her pulmonologist that inhaling nicotine from an e-cig is harmful, like smoking. Is this true? It doesn't sound accurate to me.

 

[yanivriz]

On what evidence based medicine ground could he conclude that?
If you want to judge the risk of vaping, you need to have data and researches, which will come thru in the future.

Till then, you can use your logic to predict in a good way the risks of vaping.

Since there is no tar or carcinogens in vaping, there is no reason to believe you will have a higher risk of cancer or COPD.
So I would ask the pulmonologist to tell me what in specific does he thing that makes vaping dangerous? and why like smoking???

seems to me, that he is just an old fashion doctor, fixated on the connection between inhaling any thing to your lungs-is dangers.

you don't need to be a MD to have the basic reasoning and logic to see that he has no clue of what he is saying.

 

[lilith79]

She's trying to quit, she was recently hospitalized for pneumonia and was told that she has the starts of emphysema. She's been smoking heavily for 25 years, and she's only 34. If she doesn't quit, she'll likely be dead by 40. She has an ecig, but doesn't find it to be the same thing, she likes holding a burning cig. And she told me that her pulmonologist said the ecig is just as dangerous as smoking because you're inhaling nicotine. I'm certain he's wrong, but she won't listen to me since I am not a doctor.

 

[BonesK98K]

Ok , I am no doctor, but I have to disagree with some of the statements in this thread from first hand experience.

I am relatively young for a emphysema diagnosis, but I have it at an early stage from years of smoking

Firstly excessive phlegm is NOT normal, and is usually caused by smoking and or irritation in the lungs and is an early sign of COPD. As smokers most of us will be diagnosed at some point and can be present for years before you notice it. Yes post quitting there is phlegm that may last a while, I however didnt experience more than usual

I have been free of analogs for sometime now, but still have phlegm because it is a symptom of lung desease.

I also vaped for 6 months different flavors PG VG and ratios, and I can tell you with 100% certaintly if you have COPD there is no easy way but you HAVE to quit.

Chew on a mint, the gum, or the spray if you absolutely cant get off the nic but there is no body on this planet that can tell you its safe to inhale anything other than real medicine. If you have COPD or emphysema your lungs are already aged, sensitive and need to clear up as much as possible. For a person with breathing difficulties the last thing you want to do is put more stuff in there. I personally wished I came upon a post like this when I started because I would have steered clear as there has been a negative impact for a relatively short period vaping.

I was not inhaling anything after I quit and after a few months no longer needed the rescue inhaler. Well I havent vaped in a month or two but now back on the atrovent in the morning.

My heart goes out to people suffering from this disease, there is hope. For me and a few others PV are not a safe alternative.

 

[Lydia]

I have posted this December last in this health-forum and after reading the above post from BonesK98K I feel the need to do it again. So, I repeat some passages out of my older post:

Got my first exacerbation February 2010 and learned I have COPD stage 3, mainly the emphysema-variant and that means irreversible lung damage, so no cure. Stopping further lung damage and getting/keeping the best possible condition is the only I can do. My FEV1 was march 2010 37-38%. I immediately stopped smoking. Started vaping march 2010. In September 2010 my FEV1 measured 42-43%. December 2011 my FEV1 measures 48-50%. Of course happy with the last test result, but notice; intra-individual variance of testing FEV1 can be 8% of normal FEV1, so the 48- 50% is maybe a bit of luck, because I had f.e. a good day. However, what can be said is that I’m stable now, no further extra abnormal fast deterioration of lung function and results are shown like someone who stopped smoking; it looks like my vaping has had no negative influence on my test results et al. Test results in future will tell more. If my next 2 test results stay between 42-50% and also no exacerbations in between, it’s more certain. For now it’s promising.

One third of people with COPD can’t stop smoking, or start smoking again after a time. If you have COPD-stage 3 and keep on smoking, that will result in a soon and premature death after a bad “COPD stage 4” ….

Now back again to the above post of BonesK98K. There is stated “I also vaped for 6 months different flavors PG VG and ratios, and I can tell you with 100% certaintly if you have COPD there is no easy way but you HAVE to quit.’’
My question is now; why are you so sure of this? In general the culprit can’t be the PG/VG or the nicotine. PG is also in asthma-inhaler and nicotine is not toxic/bad for the lungs. Yes, COPD-ers have to be extra cautious with the flavours. Use the most safe ones and use them sparingly. Or use flavourless. Now my question to the above poster is…What’s left or overseen by me that makes the vaping so dangerous for COPD-ers?

 

[BonesK98K]

Hi Lydia,

I am glad you are doing well and better. Granted you have had luck with the PV, but I didn't and kinda miss it but not the breathlessness it brought. I guess I wasnt 100% certain as you have had some success. I however believe it shouldnt be given the benifit of the doubt, as there is allot on the line here. Urging people to be cautious and consider this carefully.

I hate to respond to your question with a question but ... What are considered safe flavors ? The same kinds that do not require respiratory protection during manufacture ? Flavorless sure prob the best bet, not everyone has access to this though. DIY sure lets ship concentrate nic juice all around, no idea where or how it was made. VG may be ok but lets face it, its essentially an oil common sense here long term inhalation that may build up in the lungs allbeit not cancerous and water soluable, but no possibility of build up? PG used in inhalers, which ones ? what quantities are delivered are they super heated in inhalers ? My inhaler doesnt have PG in it. What research suggests the safety of continous inhalation, besides 1940's research done with mice. The drying effect from PG is also a concern, I hear it draws moister to keep what it contacts moist could this not further comprimise areas of the lungs that aren't working that great ? For some people intolerance to any of these ingredients will prob lead to inflamation, this is not good either.

It has been said multiple times that vapers are the guinni pigs of this innovation, I am not very confortable with this

 

[Petrodus]

seems to me, that he is just an old fashion doctor, fixated on the connection
between inhaling any thing to your lungs-is dangers.

you don't need to be a MD to have the basic reasoning and logic to see
that he has no clue of what he is saying.

Truer words were never spoken