Can Vaping Cause Cancer?

"We’re sure that you’ve seen the headlines that say vaping causes cancer.

You know that they’re bogus, we know that they’re bogus, but there are a lot of people that think these claims are true. We’re sure that you have a relative or two that believes those scary headlines and would love to share some solid research that refutes their claims.

There have been a lot of sensationalized claims about vaping and electronic cigarettes in general since vaping became prominent in culture several years ago. While much of it can be attributed to bias on the part of some anti-vaping advocates, others are a misinterpretation of studies and findings.

We know that you want the truth and that objectivity matters to you. That’s why we’re taking time out to debunk some of these claims. We believe that you should always do your own research, but that’s not going to stop us from commenting on them ourselves.

In case you’re wondering, all of these claims discussed in this article come from a study conducted by New York University School of Medicine researchers on the effects of vaping on humans.

Do Electronic Cigarettes Raise Levels of DNA Damage?

The first claim is also one of the easiest to debunk; and that claim is that electronic cigarettes may raise the levels of DNA damage in humans. Where to start? This study was conducted on mice primarily; live humans were substituted with lab-grown human lung and bladder cells. So from the outset, we have an odd conclusion from a study that focused mostly on mice.

But here’s where it really gets interesting: the study claims that nicotine and electronic cigarette vapor causes DNA damage, but the study doesn’t compare different nicotine levels to each other. The researchers also did not compare tobacco smoke to vapor, which to us would seem like a general step in the study.

But the most obvious sign that this is a speculative claim is that no conclusive research has been done in the field of vaping that indicate a link between DNA damage and vaping. The data just doesn’t exist. So go ahead add this to the list of unsubstantiated attacks on vaping based off of sketchy studies and baseless speculation.

Does Vaping Cause Heart Disease?

This study’s conclusions apparently suggested that vaping may raise the risk of heart disease. The only problem is that the study didn’t establish that at all, and the findings reported were suspect at best.

Again, this study was conducted primarily on mice. The tests that weren’t conducted on mice were done so on lab-grown human cells that were submerged in a nicotine solution. Yes, we said submerged. I suppose the folks over at New York University School of Medicine think we unwind at the end of the day by taking a bath in ejuice.

So while this headline would probably be shocking to your great aunt Mildred who’s just looking after your health, it’s completely fabricated. Aunt Mildred can rest easy knowing that there is no solid evidence that supports the theory that vaping causes heart disease.

Does Vaping Cause Cancer?

This common headline should immediately throw up some red flags to those that read it. Cancer is a group of diseases; and these headlines never specify what kind of cancer they’re referring to. Smoking cigarettes, which have thousands of toxins and carcinogens in each and every stick that you smoke, is known to be a common denominator for those who get lung cancer. There are also people who have never smoked that also get lung cancer.

You’re probably starting to see a trend here, but this study was not actually performed on humans. It was performed on mice as well as human lung and bladder cells that were lab-grown. And the study didn’t actually focus on cancer in humans. If you’re going to suggest that vaping causes cancer in humans, shouldn’t you conduct some studies on some, you know, humans?

Hopefully you’re catching our point. When you see a headline on Facebook or Google that essentially equates to “Study Shows That Vaping = BAD,"" then you should probably do yourself a favor and research the methods of the studies used in the article.

We want you, our awesome readers, to do your own research on any claims that you see surrounding vaping, electronic cigarettes, and cancer. There is a lot of information out there on the web, but it’s up to you to actually read through the studies, think critically, and come to your own conclusions. Let us know if you have found any other claims you’d like debunked or if you have found some that you debunked on your own. Let’s spread the information to our entire community.