New research from the University of California – Riverside has determined e cigarette health concerns include damage to critical brain cells.

Stem cells mature into specialized cells that perform particular functions, including blood cells, brain cells or bone cells. As immature stem cells, they are more sensitive to interference. They become a bit tougher when they become the end-game specialized cells they are intended to be.

Researchers found that smoking e cigarettes causes a reaction within the stem cells known as “stress-induced mitochondrial hyperfusion” (SIMH).

Lead Researcher Prue Talbot, professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, told ScienceDaily, “SIMH is a protective, survival response. Our data show that exposure of stem cells to e-liquids, aerosols, or nicotine produces a response that leads to SIMH.”

The study appears in iScience, a publication from Cell Press. It was done using an e cigarette brand known as Vuse.

Atena Zahedi, a researcher who received her doctoral degree in bioengineering this year, told ScienceDaily that e cigarettes were initially marketed as safer alternatives to cigarettes, but they are not harmless just because they are absent of tobacco.

Zahedi said that the observations in the study most likely will be seen with any product that includes nicotine as an ingredient.

She explained that the extremely high levels of nicotine delivered through the vapor produced by e cigarette juices is enough to bind to receptors inside the stem cells, and hurt the mitochondria. The nicotine forces receptors to open, allowing calcium and other matter to enter through the cell’s membrane. She said too much calcium inside the stem cell can cause the mitochondria to swell, change the cell’s function, and cause cell rupturing that can lead to cell death.

Damaged stem cell mitochondria might accelerate aging and could be a precursor to neurodegenerative disease, said Zahedi.

The researchers said that pregnant women and adolescents should be particularly aware of e cigarette health concerns because developing brains are at risk of  nicotine exposure adversely affecting memory, learning and cognition.

Nicotine is an extremely addictive substance that causes a surge of adrenaline, a release of glucose, and increased heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure. Nicotine also causes dopamine to release in the brain. High levels of dopamine make a person feel more content. It has been said that nicotine is as addictive as heroin.

E cigarette Health Concerns Include Flavorings

According to a February 2019 report, also from the University of California – Riverside, the 20 most popular refill e cigarette fluids contain 99 flavor chemicals.

Each refill fluid packet contained between 22 and 47 flavor chemicals, most of which were “esters.” The study found that many of the flavor chemicals were cytotoxic, which means they killed living cells. Ethyl maltol, a chemical found in more than half of the products, was the most cytotoxic.

The U.S. Surgeon General says that more than 3.6 million American youth were using e cigarettes in 2018, including one in five high school students and one in 20 middle school students. A 2016 report said one-third of e cigarette users who were students also had used marijuana through the e cigarette delivery system.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.