Recently, a research team from Shanghai 10th People's Hospital published a paper in the authoritative journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, pointing out that the impact of e-cigarettes on young people's lung health is significantly lower than that of cigarettes. Cigarettes can reduce lung capacity and lead to COPD, emphysema and other diseases, e-cigarettes almost will not cause related damage.

The paper is titled "Effects of long-term exposure to e-cigarettes on induced respiratory function decline and lung tissue damage - a direct comparison with combustible cigarettes".

It is understood that this study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Postdoctoral Innovation Talent Program and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. Animal experiments were used to let young mice use cigarettes and e-cigarettes respectively, and various risk indicators of their lungs were recorded (the lower the index value, the less damage). The results showed that each indicator in the e-cigarette group was much lower than that in the cigarette group, indicating that e-cigarettes are far less harmful to the lungs than cigarettes.

Specifically, cigarettes can increase inspiratory resistance and lead to decreased respiratory function; Enlarging the alveolar space, causing emphysema; Increased airway wall thickness, resulting in COPD... E-cigarettes do not cause significant pathological changes in the lungs. The lung health of mice with mild use of e-cigarettes (no more than 1 hour per day) was basically no different from that of ordinary mice.

Even heavy e-cigarette users have less lung damage than smokers. The data show that even smoking just one cigarette a day can cause serious oxidative damage to the alveoli. E-cigarettes do not cause this harm.

In addition to the less harmful effects of electronic cigarettes on the lungs, in recent years, a number of studies have confirmed that smokers switch to electronic cigarettes, which can improve the health of the lungs. In April 2021, the authoritative journal "Lancet" published a paper pointing out that smokers switch to electronic cigarettes can effectively reduce the intake of lung carcinogens. In May 2022, a study by Boston University in the United States showed that smokers switch to electronic cigarettes, respiratory health has been effectively improved, but when e-cigarette users become smokers, their risk of respiratory diseases will double.

"E-cigarettes are often seen as harm reduction products, but how they affect lung health in young people has not been fully studied." The authors conclude in the paper that mild use of e-cigarettes has a minimal impact on the lungs, and heavy use of e-cigarettes is also less harmful than cigarettes, which indicates that "cigarettes have consistently more damage to lung capacity, lung tissue and cell level than e-cigarettes."