Send this to anyone who uses E-cigarettes
/A new study published in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology compared the immune response to viral infections between 3 groups of people:
Cigarette smokers
E-cigarette smokers
Non-smokers
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of both types of smoking on the body’s immune response when infected with a virus.
In fact, they investigated that immune response particularity in “respiratory cells” (cells in the lungs), which are the ones which get attacked by SARS-CoV2, the virus which causes COVID-19.
What they discovered is the following:
“people who use e-cigarettes have significantly altered immune responses to influenza viruses, a worrying discovery as flu season approaches”
“people who vaped e-cigarettes showed more changes in the immune genes in their respiratory cells that fight off viruses.” (this means that the compounds in e-cigarettes suppressed the expression of genes responsible for immunity").
“They also showed a suppressed level of antibodies.”
“ this change was even more pronounced among e-cigarette users than among (cigarette) smokers.”
In fact, in one of the studies, they discovered that the viral load (amount of virus entering the body) was the same among all participants, but ones who used e-cigarettes had lower expression of genes responsible for immunity, as well as expression of genes responsible for protecting you from future infections.
This creates a worry about the effectiveness of a vaccine: the vaccine is designed to stimulate your body’s long-term immune response, but if e-cigarettes reduce the expression of those genes, the vaccine would be far less effective.
