Smoking electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes), colloquially known as vaping, has become a rapid global trend. In fact, about a fifth of Americans aged 25 to 44 are using e-cigarettes (Hwang et al. 667). E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that use a solution of nicotine, flavorings, and humectants, to produce an aerosol, which will be inhaled by the user. The popularity of smoking e-cigarettes may be due to various motivations, but the most practical reasons are to help the user quit traditional cigarette smoking and to allow the user to use nicotine within non-smoking areas (Kalkhoran & Glantz 1). However, the popularity of smoking e-cigarettes may have more detrimental health effects than the general public believed.
Popular Media
In this report, the authors wanted to publicize the results of a scientific study about the potential effects of smoking e-cigarette to human health. The study was led by Laura E. Crotty Alexander, together with the researchers from the University of California, Veteran Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, and San Diego School of Medicine. In the article, the authors emphasized that the aerosol from e-cigarettes can have detrimental health effects as suggested by the mouse study performed by Crotty Alexander et al. A brief description of the methodology was written in the article. Some of the mice were exposed to e-cigarette vapors for an hour a day, five days a week, for four weeks. Comparison of the exposed samples and unexposed samples showed that the exposed mice had elevated inflammatory markers in the blood and the airways of mice. The article also emphasized that the inflammatory changes from the exposed mice had similarities to the changes in the airways and blood of human patients with inflammatory lung diseases, cancer, and conventional cigarette smoking habit. Furthermore, their study demonstrated that the vapor from e-cigarettes can strengthen bacteria, specifically the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The article said that all mice with normal MRSA survived, while one-fourth of the mice with MRSA exposed to e-cigarette vapor died. Finally, the article stated that the study was performed using e-liquids from various manufacturers, but the results remained consistent (University of California, San Diego Health Sciences).
In my opinion, the article was intended for e-cigarette users and those who are related to e-cigarette smokers, as well as the e-cigarette manufacturers. According to the article, the researchers had proof that e-cigarettes have negative health effects, which is an interesting notion especially since e-cigarettes are popular, easily accessible and allowed inside non-smoking areas. According to John Oliver (n.p.), popular media, such as magazines and television news, almost always report a scientific study with misinterpretations and inaccuracies. Although these reports should be shorter and more concise, reporters usually overly generalize ideas without elaborating relevant information. Unlike other popular media, ScienceDaily reports in a more reliable way by including relevant information. Although most of scientific works remain within the scientific community, this article was reported by ScienceDaily.com, a website that is constantly reporting news and novel information in the world of science. And through this popular media, the general public can easily access novel information in science.
However, the scientific content of the article is lacking, such as technical explanations about the methods and sampling of the study. In particular, the authors of the article described parts of the methodology, although briefly. Nonetheless, the article has publicized relevant details enough not to cause confusion due to inaccuracy and lacking information.
Scientific Journal Article
Hwang, John H. et al. 2016. Electronic cigarette inhalation alters innate immunity and airway cytokines while increasing the virulence of colonizing bacteria. Journal of Molecular Medicine 94:6 (667-679).
In this journal article, the authors investigated the effects of vapor from an e-cigarette device to the cells in the airways and MRSA. The study demonstrated that exposure to e-cigarette vapor (EV) resulted to airway cells' reduced antimicrobial activity against MRSA. Moreover, exposure of mice to EV resulted to changes in inflammatory markers. Finally, exposure of MRSA to EV resulted to increased biofilm formation, resistance to antimicrobial peptide LL-37, up-regulation of virulence genes, and invasion and adherence to epithelial cells (Hwang et al. 667).
Based on the presented data and analysis, it is undeniably clear that smoking e-cigarettes has negative health impacts. The relevance of their study is that it contradicts the belief of many people, and the advertisements of e-cigarette companies, that smoking e-cigarettes is healthy. By informing the public with the information presented in the journal article, it could decrease the number of people using e-cigarettes. In fact, the use of popular media, such as the ScienceDaily, can help advertise the negative effects of e-cigarette smoking. However, there are differences between the presentation of the journal article differed and the report from ScienceDaily. For instance, the article from ScienceDaily stated that the EV can be toxic to the cells in the airway, but did not elaborate much. In the journal article, the cytotoxicity of EV was presented with data and explanation about how EV "kills" epithelial cells. In other words, the popular media presented information, but the scientific journal article presented an extensive explanation about the information.
In addition, the popular media emphasized more on general information that can be easily comprehended by the general public, while the scientific journal article focused on reporting the entire study. In my opinion, this is because the popular media is intended for the general public, while the scientific journal article is intended for the science community. Nonetheless, the basis of the popular media is a reliable scientific journal article, and they reported with sufficient information for the public.
References:
Hwang, John H. et al. “Electronic cigarette inhalation alters innate immunity and airway cytokines while increasing the virulence of colonizing bacteria.” Journal of Molecular Medicine 94.6 (2016): 667-679. Web. 2 July 2016.
Kalkhoran, Sara & Stanton A Glantz. “E-cigarettes and smoking cessation in real-world and clinical settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The Lancelet Respiratory Medicine 4.2 (2016): 116-128. Web. 2 July 2016.
"Scientific Studies." Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Perf. John Oliver. HBO, 2016. Web. 5 July 2016.
