Scientific evidence shows that vaping has the same harmful impact as conventional tobacco
Vaping devices are becoming more and more established among teenagers, almost 60% admit to having tried them
If young people start using electronic cigarettes at age 15, they could develop lung cancer at 30-35
New tobacco products such as vapes are increasingly They are gaining ground among adolescents from 13 to 18 years olda situation that worries specialists since, although there is still a lack of more scientific evidence, There is “sufficient data” that vaping “has the same harmful impact as conventional tobacco” and, as pointed out by the medical oncologist and the scientific secretary of the Spanish Lung Cancer Group (GECP), Dr. Bartomeu Masutti, the consumption of vaping devices could cause lung cancer in 15 years, just as happens with conventional tobacco.
Therefore, if young people start using electronic cigarettes at age 15, They could develop lung cancer at 30-35 years old. Although there is still insufficient evidence of this fact, Dr. Masutti has assured that “everything points to yes.” “The observation time is still short, but there is no data that says this is not going to happen,” he told the media during the TikTok GECP Awards this Tuesday.
“More than half of secondary school students, a 54.6 percent admit to having already tried electronic cigarettes“If this pace continues, it will become a highly consumed product among minors. In In just one year its presence has increased by 23 percent“, indicated the head of Oncology at the Doctor Balmis Hospital in Alicante, Dr. Bartomeu Masutti.
As harmful as conventional tobacco
In this sense, the doctor has warned that, although “this habit of consuming tobacco through these techniques different from conventional consumption is more recent,” there is “sufficient data” to say that “it has the same harmful impact as conventional tobacco consumption.”
“In relation to what is the lung cancer, which requires an interval between 15 and 20 years between tobacco consumption and the appearance of lung cancer, we still have very preliminary data, but we have clearer data on other tobacco-related diseases that appear earlier, with an earlier period of exposure,” he declared.
Thus, he explained that85 percent of lung cancer cases could be avoided since there is a clear correlation between smoking and the development of this disease. “There is an absolute symmetry between the curves of tobacco consumption at the conventional time of cigarettes and the appearance between 10 and 20 years later of lung cancer. And they are absolutely identical curves. Is this going to happen with electronic cigarettes or vapes? Everything indicates yes“, detailed the expert.
Vapers are gaining ground among the young population
“This change in tobacco consumption, especially in the adolescent population, can have, if we do not avoid it, very negative consequences in terms of health in the medium term“, has warned the scientific secretary of the GECP.
According to an analysis presented at the US Cancer Research Conference, people who had consumed conventional tobacco and vaping, “had a risk of lung cancer between three and four times higher than those who had consumed only conventional tobacco,” highlighted Dr. Masutti.
“These devices are the gateway to traditional tobacco products. The industry is creating a new generation addicted to these new, more attractive products. In addition, there is a false sense of security and safety that is totally far from reality,” explained the Dr. Masutti.
In this context, the new National Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2024-2027, recently approved by the Ministry of Health, contemplates the possibility of “equating the regulation of electronic cigarettes and related tobacco products (with and without nicotine) to the regulation of traditional tobacco”, despite the controversy that this point has caused since some groups consider that vapers can help them quit smoking.
Electronic cigarettes are not an option to quit smoking
On this issue, Dr. Masutti has stated that “it should be completely comparable” since It is “a mistake” to think that vaping can help smokers quit smoking.. “This has less and less evidence and is increasingly worrying. Using electronic cigarettes as a way to quit smoking, I believe, is a mistake. We must equate the risk and negative impact on health of conventional tobacco consumption with new forms of consumption, specifically with vapers,” said the expert.
Furthermore, vapers They pose an added risk to health since their manufacturing is not so homogenized. like tobacco and, therefore, the substances are not exactly known and “there may be a risk.” “There may also be an inherent risk since the way vaping is consumed makes penetration through the bronchi difficult. easier and goes further into the trachea than simple aspiration through a conventional cigarette, that is, the vape probably facilitates greater depth penetration,” added the doctor.
For her part, the lung cancer specialist in the Medical Oncology Service of the Puerta de Hierro Hospital in Madrid and member of the GECP, Dr. Virginia Calvohas pointed out that “there are clear reasons for concern regarding the potential oncogenicity of electronic cigarettes with a solid basic and molecular scientific basis.”
“We already have data that they are not really harmless, but that they do have risksrisks not only of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, but probably long-term oncogenicity and risk of lung cancerwhich is still early to be able to say, but we do already have data that can tell us that they certainly are not harmless and that they may have these risks of oncogenicity,” said Dr. Calvo, adding that, although they are ‘nicotine-free ‘, many of them “do have nicotine derivatives, they have aldeids, they have heavy metals, that is, they have carcinogens, which are substances that can end up giving rise to the development of cancer.”
Don’t let tobacco enter your life: a tiktok against tobacco
In order to promote awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco and vaping, the GECP in collaboration with the Bristol Myers Squibb company has held the ‘Don’t let tobacco enter your life’ awards ceremonyin which fifty high school students have been awarded for their ‘Tik Toks’ in a humorous way against this toxin.
He First prize has been awarded to the Santa Teresa Institute (Badajoz) for his tiktok ‘Beauty salon this is no longer popular.’ In second place is ‘El Ruinavidas’ from the Ramiro Izquierdo School (Castellón), which illustrates how smoking can negatively affect the lives of those who consume. Third place went to the IES Salvador Gadea from Aldaia (Valencia) with their video ‘Ninjas Cazafumadores’.
In addition, second prizes have been awarded to other outstanding creations, such as ‘The absurd bazaar of smoke, yellow teeth and cough’, from the IES José Isbert in Badajoz; ‘Your body when you smoke’, from the Santa Maria del Pilar Marianistas School in Zaragoza, and ‘Children of tobacco’, from the Ruta de Plata in Badajoz. In total, the contest has had the participation of 290 students from 1st to 4th ESO from schools throughout Spain.