The use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping, has recently exploded. As of 2014, approximately 13% of U.S. adults had tried the product, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to WebMD, “e-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that can look like a real cigarette or pen. They all work the same basic way:
– They have containers filled with liquid that’s usually made of nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals.
– A heating device turns the liquid into vapor that you inhale when you take a drag.”
Even though e-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco, the other chemical ingredients, which can include nicotine, formaldehyde, diacetyl, and others can be problematic, according to new research published in the journal, Oncotarget. Researchers from the study found that these chemicals were “equally as damaging – in some cases, more damaging – to mouth cells as tobacco smoke.”
Furthermore, a study published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology found that “with exposure to e-cigarette vapor, the number of dead or dying cells rose to 18 percent, 40 percent, and 53 percent over 1, 2, and 3 days, respectively.”
In the end, even though the long-term cumulative effects of e-cigarettes are not yet known, these findings certainly raise some concerns among scientists, doctors, and dentists that some users could develop advanced diseases like gum disease and oral cancer.
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