Study: E-cigarette puts you at risk of cancer, heart disease

A recent study has revealed that contrary to popular opinion, e-cigarette is harmful, and could lead to cancer and heart diseases.

The study, conducted by researchers from the New York University School of Medicine, exposed mice to e-cigarette smoke (ECS) for 12 weeks at a dose and duration equivalent to light e-cigarette smoking for 10 years in humans.

The findings showed that the smoke had caused DNA damage in the animal’s lungs, bladders and hearts, as well as limiting lung proteins and important DNA repair.

The study said e-cigarette smoke, through damaging DNA and inhibiting DNA repair, might contribute to human lung and bladder cancer as well as to heart disease”.

It however added that “further studies are required to substantiate this proposal”.

The researchers said: “It is well established that most chemical carcinogens, either directly or via metabolic activation, can induce damage in genomic DNA, that unrepaired DNA damage can induce mutations, and that multiple mutations can lead to cancer.

“We found that nicotine and its metabolite, nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone, can induce the same effects and enhance mutational susceptibility and tumorigenic transformation of cultured human bronchial epithelial and urothelial cells.

“These results indicate that nicotine nitrosation occurs in vivo in mice and that E-cigarette smoke is carcinogenic to the murine lung and bladder and harmful to the murine heart.

“It is therefore possible that E-cigarette smoke may contribute to lung and bladder cancer, as well as heart disease, in humans.”