Using electronic cigarettes may harm the body’s defences against pneumonia and flu, according to a new study.The research, which reopens the debate on the dangers and benefits of e-cigarettes, suggests the vapour produced by the devices can compromise the immune system in the lungs, leaving them more vulnerable to infection by harmful bacteria and viruses.Scientists from John Hopkins University in Maryland, exposed mice to e-cigarette vapour twice a day for two weeks at a level designed to proportionally mimic the amount a person who regularly used e-cigarettes would inhale.They then administered some of the mice with an influenza virus and others with the streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, which is responsible for pneumonia, sinusitis and other illnesses.Compared to a control group, the mice that had been exposed to the vapour were less able to fight off illness, and some died.Professor Shyam Biswal, senior author of the study, said the findings suggested “e-cigarettes are not neutral in terms of the effects on the lungs” and said that studies should now be carried out on people, particularly those with common lung problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which often affects smokers and ex-smokers – the main users of e-cigarettes.

Debate over the public health impact of e-cigarettes remains fierce.e cigarette amazonThey have been shown to be highly effective in helping smokers to quit, and there is a broad consensus that despite some uncertainty over their health impact, they are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes.e cigarette cilex neoHowever, this very uncertainty means other health experts remain concerned e-cigarettes could pose risks to future generations, particularly given evidence from some countries that they are becoming more popular among young people who have never smoked.glv vaporizerThere are also concerns that tobacco companies that are increasingly entering the e-cigarette market.praktkal vaporizer

The World Health Organisation has recommended they be banned in indoor public spaces – a measure the Department of Health in England has ruled out, but which is being considered by the Welsh government.vaporizer piece for bongThe new study, published in the PLOS ONE journal, also found e-cigarettes contain DNA-damaging toxins known as free radicals – but at levels about 1 per cent of that found in a cigarette.vaporizer polska“We have observed that [e-cigarettes] increase the susceptibility to respiratory infections in mouse models,” said Professor Biswal.“This warrants further study in susceptible individuals, such as COPD patients who have switched from cigarettes to e-cigarettes or to new users of e-cigarettes who may never have used cigarettes.” However, Professor John Britton, director of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies said the most important point was that harm to the lungs was less from e-cigarettes than from tobacco.

“The lung is an exquisitely delicate organ and therefore nobody with any common sense would believe that inhaling heated vapour many times a day would be harmless,” he said.“What matters here is not a comparison of the effects of e-cigarette vapour compared with nothing, but the effects compared with those of tobacco smoke.“Harm to the lungs will be less with electronic cigarettes than tobacco cigarettes, and any smoker who cannot quit using nicotine, and doesn’t find medicinal products effective, would be well advised to try an electronic cigarette.”A 31-year-old West Virginia woman with no prior lung disease contracted what doctors say is a rare form of pneumonia after inhaling vapor from electronic cigarettes.The woman had been vaping for about three months before being admitted to a hospital this year with a chronic cough.Soon after, she went into respiratory failure and was put on a ventilator, according to the doctors who treated her.In Vermont, a 60-year-old man suffered an acute lung injury and was diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis last year after vaping "red hot cinnamon" flavored e-cigarettes.

The two cases are among the first to surface highlighting severe lung injuries that physicians say are related to the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping devices."We are all very curious about this," said Frank Drescher, the doctor who treated the man at the White River Junction VA Hospital in Vermont."I am certain this is an underreported diagnosis."A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation last month found high levels of diacetyl and a second chemical known to cause permanent and sometimes fatal lung disease in locally made e-liquids and exposed inadequate testing that results in manufacturers claiming their products are diacetyl-free when sometimes they are not.There are no requirements that manufacturers test e-liquids, nor are there any standards to meet.Known for its links to injuries and deaths of microwave popcorn workers, diacetyl destroys the lungs' tiniest airways, leading to scar tissue buildup that blocks airflow.An earlier Journal Sentinel investigation found potentially dangerous levels of the chemical in coffee roasting facilities and exposed cases of lung disease in commercial coffee roasters and grinders.

Drescher and his colleague, Graham Atkins, who was also involved with the Vermont case, said they believe diacetyl may have played a role in their patient's illness.They said the man first came to the hospital with weakness, chills and a cough.He was treated with antibiotics and went home three days later feeling normal.He returned a month later with the same symptoms, this time with a fever.A CT scan showed an injury to the lungs that appeared to be related to a chemical exposure.When doctors asked the man what he had been doing, he said he had been vaping strongly flavored e-cigarettes — on both occasions before his illness.Doctors diagnosed him with a severe allergic reaction called hypersensitivity pneumonitis — more commonly known as "farmers' lung."The disease was prevalent among farmers in Wisconsin in the 1970s and '80s.It is often triggered by inhalation of dust with fungus spores from moldy hay, bird droppings or other decomposing organic compounds.It's treatable when caught early but can cause permanent scarring and damage if exposures continue over time.

"Inhaling chemicals of different sorts can cause all kind of lung diseases," Drescher said, noting the lungs are a delicate organ with a strong immune response.The man stopped vaping and recovered within several days.A follow-up three months later showed normal pulmonary functioning.The case was documented in the journal CHEST last week.A flavor called Hawaiian Blast made by Maryland-based MaddCatt was the likely culprit that sickened the woman in West Virginia, according to doctors at West Virginia University Health Sciences Center.In an interview, the doctors said the woman had started vaping the flavor — described as a "tropical fruity mix with a touch of creaminess" — a few months earlier in an effort to quit smoking conventional cigarettes.She arrived at the hospital and was quickly transported to the intensive care unit, her lungs failing.Her symptoms were similar to those of hypersensitivity pneumonitis: shortness of breath, cough, weight loss and labored breathing.But after seeing stains on her photo imaging indicating she had inhaled something fatty or oil-based, they diagnosed her with lipoid pneumonia.

She remained on a ventilator for several days."We can't say with absolute certainty that her illness was from the e-cigarettes, but it sure seems causal," said John E. Parker, a pulmonary critical care physician who helped treat the woman.The woman recovered within about a week and was sent home with supplemental oxygen.Tests three months later showed normal pulmonary functioning.Parker said he was aware of just one previously documented case of lipoid pneumonia related to e-cigarettes.In 2012, a 42-year-old woman was diagnosed with the illness after seven months of using e-cigarettes.Doctors suspected the vegetable glycerin in the e-liquid was to blame."We don't know if this is the tip of the iceberg," Parker said."Maybe it's going to be toxic to lots of people or maybe there is going to be a host factor that leads to individual people getting these diseases."Parker, an expert on diacetyl who studied cases of occupational exposure to the chemical in microwave popcorn workers in the early 2000s, said he couldn't be sure what role diacetyl might have played in his patient's case.

A study of more than 150 sweet-flavored e-liquids last year found nearly 70% contained diacetyl."It always takes a broad public health approach with epidemiologists, toxicologists, pulmonologists and industrial hygienists to really tease out the (causal) agent," he said.Parker said he and the other doctors involved in the case plan to have their case study published in a trade journal in the coming months.Meanwhile, users of e-cigarettes nationwide who suffer adverse reactions have been seeking help from the American Association of Poison Control Centers and have been filing reports with the U.S.Food and Drug Administration, which has been gathering data on the issue over the last several years.A 66-year-old female reported suffering a seizure in February 2014 within minutes of vaping an e-cigarette, according to FDA records.She was treated at a hospital and an MRI confirmed she had had a seizure.A woman in Missouri went to the emergency room in January 2014 after having an allergic reaction following inhalation of a flavor called Great Balls of Fire.