Kansas researchers have bad news if you thought vaping was safe

KANSAS CITY, Kansas – Many people think vaper their health savings because it allows them to inhale nicotine into aerosols instead of inhaling smoke after burning cigarettes.

A new research from the University of Kansas casts doubt on this point, highlighting the specter that nicotine vaping could cause the same respiratory problems as the plague and even kill smokers today.

"Vaping is simply considered harmless, even though there is no evidence to support this claim," said researcher Matthias Salathe. "There is more and more data to counter this statement."

Salathe heads the department of internal medicine at the KU School of Medicine, where his lab uses a robot that vape to test the effects on human cells obtained from deceased lung donors.

The team's latest research, released last month by the American Journal of Medicine Journal, found that nicotine vaping impairs the cells' natural ability to clear mucus.

This dysfunction leads to chronic bronchitis – and coughing, shortness of breath and fatigue that accompany it. Scientists such as Salathe fear that the wave of vaping that sweeps across the United States will result in an increase in the number of people developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Generally caused by smoking, COPD is already a leading cause of death in the United States.

Researchers at the KU have found that aerosols from nicotine electronic cigarettes also have adverse effects on the ability to clear mucus in sheep. (Sheep were used because of similarities between their respiratory system and that of humans.)

KU research however remains in the preclinical phase, which means that scientists still have work to do to answer the question with greater certainty.

However, taken in context with other research, Salathe sees a cause for concern. The results of his lab add to a growing body of evidence that vaping causes such problems, including evidence from studies of living people who vape.

Obtaining more definitive answers, however, takes time. Rigorous scientific research can not go as fast as the craze for vaping that has now inspired nicotine to millions of American teenagers. And diseases such as COPD manifest themselves over the years.

"To really know, you have to wait 10 to 20 years, right? To see if these humans actually develop the diseases we predict, "Salathe said. "The question is, now, from a political point of view, is it an acceptable experience to actually do in the population?"

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

More than 20 cities and counties in Kansas have banned the sale of tobacco-related products to people under 21 in the hope of keeping them from becoming hooked.

View a partial list of Kansas cities and counties with local rules pertaining to age 21

It's based on studies that show that most people who develop long-term addiction start using nicotine in their teenagers.

Last month, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld local bans on sales to people under the age of 21 in a lawsuit against vape and tobacco in the city of Topeka.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on the Kansas News Service on health and consumer education. You can follow her on Twitter @celialj_LJ or write to him at celia (at) kcur (dot) org. Kansas News Service is a collaboration between KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio, which focuses on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.

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