Your vape may actually be really bad for your health

E-cigarettes have become the new cigarette, unsurprisingly, where not only do they give you the dose of nicotine that you crave, but they also, allegedly, make you look fucking cool.

Well, I am sorry to bring bad news to those who have traded in their fags for a vape, but they can damage vital immune system cells and may be much more harmful than previously thought, a new study has suggested.

Researchers have found that vapour from e-cigarettes are capable of disabling important immune cells found in the lung and can trigger inflammation. They ‘caution against the widely held opinion that e-cigarettes are safe’.

However, many medical boards - including Public Health England - are quick to point out that vapes are are still much less harmful than smoking and people should still use them while trying to quit smoking.

The problem is that smoking e-cigarettes has become a fashion statement, with designers creating their own at steep prices, which only fuels their use. Rather than working as an aid to wean people off cigarettes they are the must-have smoking accessory.

The experimental study, led by Prof David Thickett at the University of Birmingham, was published online in the journal Thorax. Studies conducted before this have chosen to focus on the chemical composition of e-cigarette liquid before it is vaped, but Thickett's teak decided to examine the vapour itself.

Researchers of the study devised a mechanical procedure to mimic vaping in the laboratory, using lung tissue samples provided by eight non-smokers. Vapour caused inflammation and impaired the activity of alveolar macrophages, cells that remove potentially damaging dust particles, bacteria and allergens, they found.

The team has cautioned that the results are only under laboratory conditions and admit further research is needed to ascertain a greater understanding of the long-term health impact. The changes were also only recorded over a period of 48 hours.

Professor Thickett said that while e-cigarettes were safer than traditional cigarettes, they may still be harmful in the long-term as research was in its infancy. ‘In terms of cancer causing molecules in cigarette smoke, as opposed to cigarette vapour, there are certainly reduced numbers of carcinogens,’ he said.

‘They are safer in terms of cancer risk - but if you vape for 20 or 30 years and this can cause COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], then that's something we need to know about. I don't believe e-cigarettes are more harmful than ordinary cigarettes - but we should have a cautious scepticism that they are as safe as we are being led to believe.’