PROFESSOR DAVID THICKETT
SARAH JAKES
“ It ’ s incomparable . For me , the improvement in my health was almost immediate and quite marked . I have had a look at this study that ’ s being spoken about today and I certainly haven ’ t seen any of the effects that are being predicted . The important thing with this is that vaping is very , very much safer than smoking cigarettes but no one ’ s saying that it ’ s 100 percent safe . If you look at the Public Health England report , the RCP report , they estimate that it ’ s about 95 percent safer ( or more ) than smoking cigarettes . This study didn ’ t compare the effects with cigarette smoke , so it brings nothing to the table in that debate . And what it tells us is that vaping may not be as safe as breathing fresh air which , to be frank , really isn ’ t news . If you ’ re a smoker , or if you ’ re tempted to start , this study doesn ’ t change anything about the fact that vaping is significantly safer than smoking .” Lead researcher David Thickett countered by mentioning that this is a bodily reaction we haven ’ t seen before which could spell the beginning of long-term damage , and that vaporised nicotine appears to cause more harm than in conventional cigarettes . However , the professor agreed that it is better to vape than smoke .
“ In our study , we looked , for the first time at the effect of vaped liquid condensates on human alveolar macrophages , which are the lung ’ s defence system against all the nasty things than you breathe in and they fight off infection . They are very much involved in the pathogenesis ( development ) of chronic inflammatory lung diseases such as COPD [ Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ]. Effectively , a very dilute level of vape liquid condensate can cause cell death . It promotes inflammation at sub-lethal doses where it releases chemokines and cytokines and proteases which actually damage the lung substance itself , reducing the ability of the macrophages to ingest bacteria and fight off infection . It effectively reproduces what happens to macrophages in people who have got COPD and that ’ s after only 24 hours incubation of e-cigarette liquid . Whilst we accept that e-cigarettes are safer than normal cigarettes , particularly in terms of cancer risk because there are no carcinogens in them , the nicotine in the fluid was very important in generating these changes in the macrophages . And therefore , if you chronically inhale nicotine over ten or twenty years , we don ’ t necessarily believe that what PHE and the NNA are saying is 100 percent true . It ’ s not disputed that it ’ s safer to vape . I accept that if you transition from cigarettes to e-cigarettes and then stop smoking after a few months , that ’ s a very beneficial thing to do . But a lot of people have switched and are continuing to vape . I think people need to be aware that potentially , in ten or twenty years ’ time that could cause them some trouble .”
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